How Omega Times the Olympic Games

In just a few short days, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will kick off in Paris, bringing nearly 11,000 of the world’s top athletes to the City of Light. Over 11 million tourists are expected to descend upon the city of 2.1 million, while billions of viewers will tune in worldwide. Taking place exactly one century after Paris last hosted the Olympics — and making Paris only the second city to have ever hosted the Games three times — it’s sure to be the event of a lifetime for those lucky enough to attend.

Timing the Games for the 31st time will be none other than Omega, maker of the famed Speedmaster and Seamaster watches and the official watch supplier to NASA. Since 1932, the Biel/Bienne-based watchmaker has provided cutting-edge equipment, trained personnel and over a century of experience to the Olympics, adapting and evolving its methodology throughout the years: While a single watchmaker with 30 split-second chronographs worked perfectly well in Los Angeles in 1932, Omega will send an entire timekeeping team over 550 strong, as well as 350 tons of equipment, to Paris.

A Brief History of Omega and the Olympics

Omega first timed the Olympic Games in its 1932 iteration in Los Angeles, succeeding such luminaries as Heuer and Longines. Four years later, Omega would return to time the Games in Berlin, the year when American athlete Jesse Owens famously won four gold medals. It was at the 1948 Winter Games in St. Moritz and Summer Games in London, however, that the Swiss watchmaker began to distinguish itself by virtue of technological innovation: Omega put the photoelectric cell to excellent use within its Magic Eye device, which captured the finish line results using a camera.

In 1952, the Omega Time Recorder allowed the brand to print competition results, down to a hundredth of a second, for the first time — a feat that earned it the Croix du Mérite Olympique. Four years later, at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the Swim Eight-O-Matic introduced semi-automatic timing to swimming competition using electronic counters in each pool lane, vastly increasing timing accuracy. Electronic scoreboards debuted in 1960, while the 1964 Games at Innsbruck saw the debut of the Omegascope, which superimposed numbers on television screens for the first time. In Mexico City in 1968, touch pads in the pool lanes allowed the swimmers themselves to activate Omega’s timing equipment.

At the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, Omega’s Scan-O-Vision tracked speed skaters down to a thousandth of a second, marking yet another first. After a hiatus, Omega returned as the Games’ Official Timekeeper in 2006, introducing the cutting-edge Electronic Start System in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Games. This system, which combined a red flash gun with a sound-generating box, replaced the traditional starter pistol, offering better accuracy while retaining a semblance of theatrics. 2012’s Quantum Timer, however, was a step firmly into the future: For the first time, Omega was able to measure times down to a millionth of a second.

New Omega Timing Equipment at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Omega will be debuting a suite of new and updated technologies in Paris. Here are just a few of them:

Scan-O-Vision ULTIMATE, the latest iteration of Omega’s Scan-O-Vision technology, is a digital camera system capable of capturing up to 40,000 images per second. Enhanced color senses make for cleaner imagery, while composite photos of each athlete’s finish line cross mean that officials are better able to quickly determine results.

Computer Vision, powered by artificial intelligence, allows Omega to compile a stunning amount of data during competition: Athletes’ moves will be captured and analyzed, as will reaction times, techniques, volley speeds and much more. Working in combination with arrays of cameras and sensors, three-dimensional models of athletes will allow officials to judge performance of, say, a swimmer in mid-dive.

Vionardo graphics technology, the spiritual successor to the 1964 Omegascope, will allow Omega to remotely display UHD (ultra-high definition) 4K graphics on television screens. Both Olympic broadcasters and volunteers will have access to its interactive user interface, and information will be broadcast in different languages.

Sport-Specific Timing Equipment

A vast array of specialized equipment is needed to time individual events:

Electronic starting pistols replaced traditional pistols at the 2010 Winter Games. When the trigger is pulled, it activates a speaker behind each runner and also emits a flash of light. This system improves upon a traditional pistol, in which light is seen before sound is heard — meaning that competitors farther away from the pistol receive an audible starting impulse later than those closer to it. Using this system, there is no question of any runner receiving an unfair start — even by a fraction of a second.

Starting blocks work in concert with electronic starting pistols to ensure that runners begin a race on time, and without any false starts. Integrated speakers play the sound from the electronic starting pistol, while sensors measure an athlete’s force 4,000 times per second against the built-in footrest and feed it to a computer. A reaction time that takes place before 100 milliseconds is considered a false start.

Swimming touchpads allow a swimmer to stop his or her clock by exerting pressure on the pad. This technology, first introduced at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, has since been upgraded with a sensor that responds to pressure measuring between 3.3 to 5.5 lbs.

Sports-specific scoreboards are tailored to each sport and placed in multiple venues. Live information is displayed along with animations, videos and graphics, and each athlete’s home country flag for easy identification.

New Omega Watches for the 2024 Summer Olympics

Omega released two special new editions to celebrate the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. If you can’t attend the games, at least you can celebrate with a snazzy new watch!

Seamaster Diver 300M “Paris 2024” Special Edition

Launched on July 26, 2023 — exactly one year before the start of the Games — this two-tone iteration of Omega’s Seamaster Diver 300M will only be available at the brand’s Parisian boutiques. Measuring 42mm in stainless steel with a bezel in 18K Moonshine gold, it features a laser-engraved dial in white ceramic with a matte finish and polished waves executed in positive relief. Applied indices with Moonshine gold surrounds are joined by large, luminous sword hands and a date window at 6 o’clock in the official Paris 2024 typography. (Look closely, and you’ll see that the central seconds hand also has a Paris 2024 emblem.)

Flip the watch over, and a commemorative caseback in inlayed Moonshine gold likewise features the Paris 2024 medallion against a laser-ablated background, while a stainless steel bracelet with the brand’s Quick Change System makes for swift strap swaps. (Omega is producing special Paris 2024 NATO straps this year.) Within the watch, the impressive Co-Axial Master Chronometer 8800 movement is certified by METAS to provide the best in chronometric accuracy as well as 55 hours of power reserve. The entire package ships in a special grey Paris 2024 presentation box.

Diameter: 42mm

Movement: Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8800 automatic

Water Resistance: 300m

Speedmaster Chronoscope Paris 2024

Also on offer is a new Speedmaster Chronoscope, Omega’s upsized Speedy with a multi-scale “snail” dial. Available in stainless steel or 18K Moonshine gold with a matching bracelet, the Speedmaster Chronoscope Paris 2024 adds subtle nods to the Summer Games on their casebacks while giving the already sophisticated dial some breathing room. Measuring 43mm in diameter, the watch features a silver opaline dial with three transferred timing scales in a 1940s-esque design: A tachymeter scale used to measure speed, distance or output; a pulsometer scale used to measure pulse; and a telemeter scale used to measure distance to an event. Contrasting black subdials in a dual-register format include a combination minute and 12-hour counter at 3 o’clock as well as a running seconds indicator at 9 o’clock. A set of Arabic indices in Moonshine gold and a matching, gold-coated leaf handset finish the elevated look.

A commemorative caseback features a stamped medallion with a frosted base and a mirror-polished Paris 2024 logo joined by the Olympic Rings and “Paris 2024” text. Inside beats the Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9908/9909, a METAS-certified, hand-wound movement with 60 hours of power reserve, a 4 Hz beat rate and resistance to magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss. And should the matching stainless steel bracelet not be to your liking, the Speedmaster Chronoscope can also be had on a perforated black calfskin strap (steel model) or a standard black calfskin leather strap (Moonshine gold model).

Diameter: 43mm

Movement: Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9908/9909

Water Resistance: 50m