The Olympics countdown timer by Olympics timekeeper Omega finally reached zero as Tokyo welcomed athletes around the world to compete for the highest sporting distinction. Omega’s role as timekeeper is to capture the glorious moments, recording every microsecond as the world holds its breath to witness world records shattered.
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The task sounds straightforward enough but that is far from the truth. Every sport presents a different set of challenges for Omega, as the introduction of karate, sport climbing, surfing, baseball/softball and skateboarding brings the total sport tally to 33 competed across 339 events.
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Omega as the Olympics Timekeeper in Los Angeles 1932
Omega was first unveiled as the Olympics Timekeeper in Los Angeles 1932, marking a defining moment in the history of sports measurement. Armed with 30 high-precision Omega stopwatches that were accurate to the nearest 1/10th of a second, an Omega watchmaker was sent from Bienne to Los Angeles to record the competition timings.
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Omega’s transition to electronic equipments
1948 marked the start of the electronic era in London. A photofinish camera that pinpoints exact finish positions in races, and the first Photoelectric Cell, which electronically stopped the clock as the first athlete crossed the finish line, replaced the use of human eyes. Omega would then go on to improve its timekeeping capabilities by leaps and bounds over the coming decades to provide precise and accurate bits of information.
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Pressure-sensitive touchpads first introduced in the Mexico City 1968 Olympics
Pressure-sensitive touchpads to stop race clocks were the solution to accurately determine a swimmer’s race time amidst the turbulent waves and splashes. It was introduced in Mexico City 1968 and was the only sport where competitors stopped their own running time until the introduction of speed climbing in Tokyo 2020. A similarly sized touchpad at the top of a 15m wall marks the finish point for climbers and records their timings.
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The Omega Scan’O’Vision MYRIA
Usain Bolt successfully defended his men’s 100m Olympic gold medal in London 2012 setting an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds. On-site was the debut of the Omega Quantum Timer that recorded Bolt’s heroics. Microcrystal components embedded in the timer ensures it deviates only one second out of every ten million seconds. Omega’s Scan’O’Vision MYRIA photofinish cameras were on standby to capture the narrowest winning margins with the ability to capture up to 10,000 digital images per second to produce a composite photo for judges to determine the official rankings.
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An electronic starting pistol synced to speakers positioned behind each racer was the solution to ensure competitive fairness as sound from the old-school starting pistol took a longer time to reach runners furthest away from the umpire. Athlete’s starting blocks were integrated with built-in sensors that measure an athlete’s force against the footrest 4,000 times per second to detect false starts. The rules of World Athletics fix the minimum reaction time at 100 milliseconds (a tenth of a second). Any reaction which takes place below this limit is considered to be premature and places the runner in a false start situation.
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True to Omega’s tradition, the Olympic games coincided with the release of a trio of special edition Omega Seamasters with special Olympic insignias case back.
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The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Tokyo 2020 Limited Edition features a ceramic dial crafted with a polished blue finish and a laser-engraved Tokyo 2020 emblem. Omega presented the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Tokyo 2020 Limited Edition as a tribute to the Japanese national flag with an all-white execution with contrasting red lollipop second hand and red liquid ceramic “20”. Both collections are limited to 2020 pieces to mark the year of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.
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The Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Tokyo 2020 rounds up the series with a laser engraved white ceramic dial, blue ceramic bezel ring filled with a white enamel diving scale.
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