Sport | OMEGA
OMEGA - and Paris 2024
| 2024-07-02 |     |
Our 31st Olympic Games
The countdown is almost over, the athletes are ready, and the timers are set to begin. On July 26th, the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will ignite a summer of sporting action in the heart of the French capital. For the 31st time since 1932, OMEGA will fulfill the role of Official Timekeeper, recording dreams in all 329 Olympic events across 32 sports. Overall, the Swiss brand brings more than 90 years of experience to its timekeeping role and will arrive in Paris with the most advanced technology it has ever delivered. This will be followed by the Paralympic Games, beginning on August 28th, at which OMEGA’s experience and expertise will be required again. The brand has proudly timed this competition since 1992 using the same reliable equipment as the Olympic Games, along with many pieces of adapted technology.
At every edition of the Olympic Games, the motto of “faster, higher, stronger - together” certainly rings true. World Records are constantly being broken and the margins of victory are becoming slimmer by the split-second. For that reason, OMEGA is forever evolving and updating the equipment that athletes, judges, and spectators rely on. Paris 2024 will highlight OMEGA’s next leap forward in the field of modern timekeeping. Raising the standards of precision and performance, the brand will not only measure the results that separate gold, silver, and bronze, but will also unleash a wave of in-depth data that shows exactly how each event is won or lost. Take your place on the start line – and prepare to witness the emotions, triumphs, and stories of this special moment in time.
A Legacy of Dreams
There is no other watch company with the Olympic Games experience and time- keeping expertise of OMEGA. The brand’s legacy began in 1932, when for the first time in history, a single watch company was selected as the Official Timekeep- er for every event. It was a defining mo- ment in the history of sports measurement that set the course for an incredible future. OMEGA sent one watchmaker all the way from Bienne to Los Angeles, armed with 30 high-precision stopwatches that were ac- curate to the nearest 1/10th of a second. This was followed in 1936 with the Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where OMEGA was again selected as Official Timekeeper, this time accept- ing the challenge of snowy events such as speed skating and alpine skiing.
From these first forays into timekeeping, it was clear that OMEGA excelled in precision, with reliable equipment and dedicated professionals who could fulfill the huge task required. It has now been 92 years since Los Angeles 1932. The reliability and trust of the IOC has remained constant throughout that time, yet the technology that OMEGA brings to the Olympic Games has been in continuous evolution.
While 1948 saw the arrival of the elec- tronic era, with OMEGA’s first photofinish camera and photoelectric cells, there was more to come in 1956 and 1968, when the sport of swimming was revolutionized with semi-automated timers and the now-iconic touchpads. In athletics, devices such as starting blocks and false start detection have seen ongoing development and improvement since 1984.
Today, the modern era only proves how far OMEGA has come. Gone are the days of the stopwatch, now replaced by quartz-driven Quantum Timers, first intro- duced in 2012, that can split time by a mil- lionth of a second. Since 2018, OMEGA has also been the leader in motion sensor and positioning systems, where every ath- lete’s performance can be measured from start to finish – revealing exactly how each event is won or lost. Certainly, it has been a journey of ground-breaking technology alongside historic sporting moments. More than a duty, the Olympic Games for OMEGA has become a passion that perfectly rep- resents the company’s quest for precision, quality, and achievement.
New Technology for Paris 2024
The margins have never been clearer. At Paris 2024, OMEGA is proudly introducing the next generation of its essential photofinish technology. Now enhanced with the highest resolution of any photofinish camera on the market, the Scan‘O’Vision ULTIMATE can capture up to 40,000 digital images per second on the finish line of races. This will ultimately make it faster for judges to decide the result and separate close finishes with maximum clarity. Dedicated colour sensors will also enable cleaner images, without pixel interference. This improved version replaces the former Scan‘O’Vision MYRIA, which was able to record 10,000 digital images per second. It’s the first time that the Scan‘O’Vision ULTIMATE will be seen at the Olympic Games. Producing a composite photo of every athlete crossing the line, it will determine the official results in athletics as well as track cycling.
Taking the next step in performance data, OMEGA will be tracking athletes and other objects throughout the events at Paris 2024 – in order to provide interesting and useful sets of metrics. Computer Vision uses a combination of single or multi-camera systems, each feeding Artificial Intelligence models that are specifically trained for each sport. As in previous years, this live data will tell the comprehensive story of a whole event, revealing how it was won or lost, and the critical moments that led to an athlete’s final result. The infor- mation gathered by OMEGA will allow for in-depth sporting analysis, and no longer requires physical tags attached to the athletes.
The thrilling Olympic Games experience would not be the same without OMEGA’s in-depth and informative graphics. From live timing and scoring, through to final results and athlete information, these live and continuous on-screen displays are now a familiar and essential part of television viewing. OMEGA’s role with TV graphics began at Innsbruck 1964, when the new “Omegascope” technology superimposed the times of athletes on the bottom of TV screens for the very first time. This moment introduced the concept of “real time” sports reporting and brought OMEGA’s precision to millions of viewers. Now, 60 years later, the latest generation of OMEGA’s media graphics will arrive.
OMEGA Watches for Paris 2024
Seamaster Diver 300M Paris 2024. In tribute to the coveted medals that every athlete strives for, this OMEGA watch is crafted in stainless steel and 18K MoonshineTM Gold. Most prominently, the gold is used for the watch’s bezel, which features a laser-structured diving scale in positive relief. The laser-engraved dial is produced in white ceramic, with a matte finish and polished waves in positive relief. On the date display at 6 o’clock, OMEGA has cleverly used the Paris 2024 typography to inscribe the numbers in black, while the central seconds hand carries a small yet visible Paris 2024 emblem. On the reverse side, the commemorative caseback reveals an inlayed 18K MoonshineTM Gold medallion, featuring the distinctive element of the Paris 2024 emblem, polished against a laser-ablated background. This is perfectly complemented by the stamped words “Paris 2024” and the iconic Olympic Rings in stainless steel, which are polished on a frosted structure.