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OMEGA - Official TimeKeeper of the First Youth Olympic Games
On the 14th of
August, 2009 OMEGA unveiled the first Countdown Clock for the Youth
Olympic Games. It was launched exactly one year before the Opening
Ceremony is scheduled to begin. The Countdown Clock was located at the
entrance of the historic City Hall Building in Padang and measures an
impressive ten metres in height. In February, a second clock was
inaugurated to mark the six-month prior to the start of the Games. In
April, the first clock was relocated from City hall to its conspicuous
location at Marina Bay to attract even more attention to the Youth
Olympic Games. Five additional OMEGA Countdown Clocks, each one two
metres in height, were placed in each of Singapore’s most prominent
districts.
OMEGA introduced the Countdown Clock concept at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games and it has already become a popular symbol of the Games. We are delighted to have these dramatic clocks throughout Singapore in the time leading up to the first-ever Youth Olympic Games.
HISTORY OF TIMEKEEPING
HIGHLIGHTS OF OLYMPIC TIMEKEEPING
At the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, OMEGA, the Official Timekeeper, will bring its century-long history of international sports timing and an Olympic legacy which began in 1932. OMEGA’s timekeeping and data handling team will draw on the experience gained at 24 Olympic Games and the competence which has given the brand an unparalleled reputation as a precision sports timekeeper.
Here is a short review of some of OMEGA’s Olympic timekeeping highlights. For more comprehensive coverage of this fascinating subject, readers are encouraged to visit the portion of our website dedicated to our Olympic timekeeping history: (www.omegawatches.com/spirit/sports/olympic-timekeeping)
1932
was a defining moment in the history of sports measurement: OMEGA became official Olympic timekeeper at the Los Angeles Games in 1932, supplying 30 high precision chronographs, all of which had been certified as chronometers by the Observatory at Neuchâtel, for use across all sports. It was the chronographs’ officially certified precision which convinced the Olympic Organizing Committee to select OMEGA for the Games. Official results were taken at fifths and tenths of a second.
1936
For the Summer Games in Berlin, 185 chronographs were taken from Bienne to the German capital in a suitcase carried by 29-year-old OMEGA watchmaker Paul-Louis Guignard. At the Berlin Games, the great Jesse Owens (USA) memorably won four gold medals in the days when athletes dug their own starting holes with small shovels.
1948
OMEGA used the cellular photoelectric eye for the first time at the 1948 Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz. Mobile and independent of the electrical network, it was water-resistant and could be adjusted to resist wide variations in temperature; its infrared technology was insensitive to the so-called parasitic reflection of the sun and flashes. For the first time, the timing system was triggered automatically when the starting gate opened.
For the Olympic Games in London, the British Race Finish Recording Co. Ltd developed the first photo-finish camera, dubbed the ‘Magic Eye’, with its continuous image and a recorded speed which could be modulated according to needs of the sport being practiced, from rowing to cycling. It worked in tandem with OMEGA timing equipment. It was at this Olympiad that machines began to out-perform human beings for accuracy.
1952
Capable from this point forward of showing hundredths of a second below the images of athletes crossing the finish line, the Racend OMEGA Timer succeeded the Magic Eye in 1949, and was renamed the Photofinish in time for the 1952 Games. The era of quartz and electronics had arrived, above all with the OMEGA Time Recorder, mobile and independent of the electrical network, which allowed the results to be printed out on a roll of paper, winning OMEGA the prestigious ‘Croix du Mérite Olympique’. Official times were now recorded to the nearest hundredth of a second.
1956
Starting gates were used for the first time in Alpine skiing at the 1956 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The start time was automatically triggered by an acoustic traffic-light signal, the buzzer timed to the red – yellow – green countdown. The most spectacular innovation was seen in the Melbourne pool at the Summer Games: the Swim Eight-O-Matic Timer, the first semi-automatic timekeeping device for swimming, with digital display, allowed timekeepers to distinguish between two individual swimmers who finished at virtually the same time.
1960
A controversial result at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, the last Olympic competition timed by OMEGA to be resolved with a human-eye decision, triggered the next big innovation in the pool: automatic touchpads, also invented by the Biel-based manufacturer, which wouldn’t, however, be competition-ready until 1967 for the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg.
1964
Invented in 1961, the Omegascope allowed the introduction of the concept of real time in televised sports reporting by superimposing luminous numbers on the bottom of the screen; it revolutionized timekeeping and left no margin for error because it was openly on display for millions of TV viewers. It was used at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, the first fully electronic Olympic Games. Never before had spectators beyond a venue been so quickly and well informed about events taking place elsewhere.
1968
‘Integrated timing’ was introduced at the Games in Grenoble and Mexico City, where automatic and electronic timekeeping was used for the first time, providing statistical analysis with results being fed to judges, coaches, media and, to some degree, the public. The birth of the photoprinter ensured that results were more rapidly and widely distributed than ever before. The concrete realization of modern timekeeping was a historic turning point for OMEGA.
The most talked-about technology was the touchpad in the pool which allowed the swimmer’s own hand to stop the clock, eliminating the need for poolside timekeepers.
Also, a loudspeaker linked to the starting signal and placed behind each starting block meant that all swimmers would hear the start signal at the same moment. The Swim-O-Matic, successor to the Swim Eight-O-Matic, was accurate to the nearest thousandth of a second but it would not be until 1972 that the full potential of the system was put into practice – and then only for one race.
1972
Spectators in Munich witnessed the controversy of the first and only gold medal in the pool ever to be awarded on the basis of thousandths of a second which forced a change in rules. In the 400-metre medley, Gunnar Larsson, the double European champion from Sweden, and Tim McKee (USA) stopped the clock at 4:31.98. Officials then declared Larsson the champion: 4:31.981 to 4:31.983. Days later, the FINA rulebook was changed to declare that times would only be measured to a hundredth of a second.
1976
One of the most memorable moments came when Nadia Comaneci’s perfect score of 10.0 appeared as 1.00 on the scoreboard which wasn’t equipped to deal with a flawless performance – but everyone knew exactly what had just taken place.
1980
The OMEGA Game-O-Matic, which calculated and displayed an athlete’s ranking the moment he or she crossed the finish line, was used for the first time at the Winter Games in Lake Placid.
At the Olympic Games in Moscow, the new version of the Swim-O-Matic was a chronometer briefcase that weighted only 1.2 kg, compared to the whopping 150 kg of its 1976 predecessor.
1984
The Olympics in Los Angeles were the first to feature colour photofinish images whose paper prints signed by the athletes were highly prized. 1984 also saw the Olympic début of OMEGA’s false-start detectors.
Timekeeping accuracy was responsible for the first shared gold in Olympic swimming history: Americans Carrie Steinseifer and Nancy Hogshead both clocked 55.92 seconds over the 100-metre freestyle.
1988
Calgary and Seoul were the first Olympic Games with computerised timekeeping, results and analysis stored in databases for posterity. The OMEGA video matrix board boasted colour images in Seoul.
1992
At the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, speed skaters were treated to the OMEGA Scan-O-Vision system that digitally measured times to the nearest thousandth of a second as the skaters crossed the finish line. The system effectively photographed time by fusing time and continuous picture in a single document. This heralded a new chapter in the science of timekeeping.
1996
The Atlanta Summer Games saw the inauguration of the first “global” Olympic timekeeping which realized, for each sport and every discipline, the timekeeping trilogy: timekeeping, data handling, and distribution of the results. Following the introduction of the Omegascope in 1961 and the integrated timekeeping at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, it represented the third major stage in modern timekeeping. Over at the sailing regattas in Savannah, the global positioning system (GPS) was one of 20 innovations that Swatch introduced in Atlanta. In athletics, acceleration and running speed were measured in sprint events, the data proving that the Olympic 100-metre champion Donovan Bailey was last out of the blocks but won by having the greatest acceleration, and the consistently highest speed to the finish line.
2000
2000 saw the introduction of OMEGA’s Live Timing at www.omegatiming.com . Within 15 seconds of a swimmer touching the pad, a complete set of splits, a ranking, and information on records was available to a global audience to read and download on the Internet. Technology allowed TV viewers to see a line across the picture that indicated how close athletes were to world records in some sports.
2004-2006
The radar gun, which had already been used at tennis events, made its debut at the beach volleyball events at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
At the Olympic Winter Games in Turin in 2006, transponders were strapped to the ankles of speed skaters so that timekeepers might capture a moment of sudden acceleration, the speed round a hairpin bend, the abrupt end to a challenge as a racer crashed to the ice.
2008
In Beijing, among the many improvements to the world of sports timekeeping were high-speed cameras along with new timing, scoring and false start systems. GPS systems and bib transponders were also used to great effect. This edition of the Games will long be remembered for the 100-metre butterfly when Michael Phelps defeated the silver medallist by a hundredth of a second – the smallest possible margin in a swimming event. The result was initially disputed but the high-speed video camera backup system confirmed that OMEGA’s electronic timing system had worked perfectly.
2010
The most talked-about bit of new sports timekeeping equipment In Vancouver was the new Electronic Start System. One of the most enduring images from any Olympic Games is the starting pistol, reminiscent of the revolvers so popular in movies set in the Old West. At Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games earlier this year, this was replaced by a streamlined, futuristic device composed of a flash gun and a sound generation box. When the starter presses its trigger, three things happen simultaneously: a sound is “played”, a light flash is emitted and a start pulse is given to the timing device. By pressing the trigger a second time within two seconds, the false start is audibly signalled. The sounds can be changed and downloaded by computer.
2012 AND BEYOND
At each Olympiad, OMEGA’s timekeeping professionals refine and redefine the art and science of world-class sports timing. There’s no doubt that they will continue to set milestones at the Olympic Games in London in 2012, Sochi in 2014 and beyond. OMEGA and the IOC recently extended their agreement through the 2020 Olympic Games.
SINGAPORE 2010
OMEGA AND OLYMPIC TIMEKEEPING TECHNOLOGY
OMEGA first served as Official Olympic Timekeeper at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932. At the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games OMEGA assumed the responsibility for the 24th time. OMEGA and the IOC have signed a contract which extends through 2020. For more than three quarters of a century OMEGA’s timekeeping and data handling efforts have been matched by the brand’s dedication to the improvement of timekeeping technology. At each Olympic Games OMEGA is proud to be at the service of remarkable athletes from around the globe. The company strives to ensure that their sporting performances are evaluated by uncompromisingly cutting-edge equipment and the world’s finest timekeepers.
OMEGA’S ROLE AT THE YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES IN SINGAPORE 2010
At this year’s Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, we are committed to the Official Timekeeping and data-handling for all 201 events in 26 different sports at 18 competition venues. Our presence at the Games will be impressive: 175 on-site professionals supported by 333 trained volunteers, 82 tonnes of equipment including 13 public scoreboards as well as 94 sport-specific scoreboards, 100 km (62 miles) of cables and optical fibre, 30 TV graphic generators and state-of-the-art timekeeping and data-handling technology developed by OMEGA and adapted to the requirements of each sport.
OMEGA is proud to be at the service of the greatest young athletes in the world at this inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
OMEGA SCAN’O’VISION
Perhaps the most widely known sports timekeeping device used in athletics is the OMEGA Scan‘O’Vision, the photo-finish camera set up at the finish line of sprints, hurdles and other races. Although the first “electric eyes” (photocells) appeared in 1920, it wasn’t until 1948 in London that OMEGA used photoelectric cells to trigger camera shutters at the Olympic Games. Since early versions of photo-finish cameras used film, it was several minutes before an adequate image could be developed and delivered to the judges at the end of race. OMEGA has continued to invest in research and development, and today’s Scan’O’Vision systems produce a definitive “photo-finish” image within seconds of the end of a race.
HOW THE OMEGA PHOTO-FINISH SYSTEM WORKS
The OMEGA Scan’O’Vision is a combination of a time detector and a chronograph. In fact, the familiar image of runners at the end of a 100-meter sprint flinging themselves across the finish line isn’t a photograph at all, at least not in the conventional sense. No shutter opens and closes to expose a film inside a camera. Instead, photo-finish images are produced using a high-tech image-capture device that records up to 2000 “scans” (digital images) per second. Each runner is captured by this timing and image-making device as he or she crosses the finish line, and each appears in the final “photograph” above a scale showing the time that has elapsed between the start and the finish of the race. Each scan represents a “slice” of time one two-thousandth of a second wide.
To produce the “photo-finish” image for the judges, the OMEGA system splices thousands of scans together to form a composite image on which each contestant is separated clearly from the others. On this image, the time that separates the runners as they cross the finish line is represented by the space between them. A photo-finish image is thus a composite “photograph”—not of physical reality, but of time.
STARTING BLOCKS AND REACTION TIMES
OMEGA’s photo-finish system is just one of the many marvels of timing and measurement technology that help make sprints and hurdles the dramatic events that they are. And if the finish is exciting, what about the start?
Built-in sensors in the starting blocks are a key component in OMEGA’s advanced false-start detection technology. Each set of starting blocks is outfitted with a loudspeaker linked to the starter’s pistol, so that all contestants hear the start signal at precisely the same time. At the start of each race, the false-start detection system measures each runner’s reaction time, defined as the interval between the sound of the starter’s pistol and the athlete’s response. Each runner’s response to the sound of the start pistol (pressure exerted by the athlete’s foot against the blocks) is detected by the sensors built into the starting blocks and measured by the OMEGA timing device. If the time measured is less than the time in which a person can possibly react to the sound of the starter’s gun, the runner has “jumped the gun”, and the timekeeper signals a false start.
PRECISE, ACCURATE AND RELIABLE HEIGHT AND DISTANCE MEASUREMENT
Less visible but no less important to the athletes and the outcomes are the various measuring devices that OMEGA’s timekeepers use in the field events. One of the most spectacular performances in the history of the modern Olympic Games was Bob Beamon’s record-breaking long jump at the Olympic Games held in Mexico City in 1968. Beamon jumped so much farther than anyone expected that officials were forced to use their back-up system—steel tapes—to measure the distance he’d flown. Bob Beamon’s world record stood for 23 years, but by the time Mike Powell broke it in 1991, steel tapes were a thing of the past.
Today, in field events where distance travelled must be measured as precisely as possible, OMEGA uses laser technology. Athletes competing in long and triple jump events or in the shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin-throwing competitions all rely on OMEGA to measure their performances with superb precision and reliability. For the athletes, precise timing and measurement are the basis for the decisions that make the difference between gold, silver and bronze, decisions that bring drama, thrills and excitement to the Olympic Games.
OMEGA TECHNOLOGY IN THE POOLS
OMEGA shares a long history with international competitive swimming, having timed the most important swimming events in the last several decades. OMEGA has also been behind the development of the key technologies in the timing and scoring of swimming competitions including the world’s first semi-automatic swimming timer, the Swim Eight-O-Matic Timer and the famous “touchpads” placed at each end of the pool.
The touchpads allow each swimmer to “stop” his or her own time by touching the pad immersed at the end of each lane in the pool. While they respond to contact with the swimmer’s body, they are not affected by contact with the water. The ends of swimming races are also recorded with OMEGA’s high-speed video cameras which the judges can consult if any dispute should arise.
At the Olympic Games and certain other major swimming events, OMEGA has virtual graphics -- including a “virtual record line” -- which gives television broadcasters the option of electronically superimposing a red line across the pool. The line advances at the world record pace for each discipline – if the lead swimmer finishes ahead of the “virtual record line”, a new world record has been set. Of course, in Singapore, each winning performance will establish a world record as these are the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
BIB TRANSPONDERS
The transponders (short for transmitter-responder) used by OMEGA Timing at the Olympic Games use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to help time the races and to determine the relative positions of the athletes or teams during the events. (In some cases, for example, walking events and the marathon, the competitors wear very small transponders in their shoelaces).
The devices weigh less than 9 grams so they are unobtrusive and athletes’ performances are not influenced. They are stuck to the inside pocket of the number bibs with adhesive material to prevent their shifting during an event.
High-Speed Video (HSV)
OMEGA Timing introduced a new high-speed video (HSV) recording system in swimming events in 2008 and it had an immediate and high-profile impact when it was used to confirm that the disputed result generated by the electronic timing system in the men’s 100-metre butterfly had been perfect. The system links four high-speed video recording cameras and allows judges to have real-time views of the images captured by the cameras even while they are recording. It’s possible to view the action recorded by all four cameras at once or to select any of them individually for a full-screen view. Backups of the recordings are made on easily-removable hard disks. They record 100 images per second and have a 1 Gb data transfer rate.
OMEGA Olympic Timeless Collection
MEGA’s Timeless Collection honours our long association with the Olympic Games. Each watch in the Collection has an innovative connection to the Games. The models feature either OMEGA’s extraordinary five counters (or subdials) positioned on the dial in the shape of the Olympic rings or a remarkable counterweight on the central seconds hand, which is colourfully made up of the five Olympic rings.
Each of the watches in the Timeless Collection is equipped with OMEGA’s revolutionary Co-Axial technology and all are COSC-certified chronometers, a testimony to their accuracy and precision.
The Collection is an enduring reminder of OMEGA’s proud Olympic legacy and of the first ever Youth Olympic Games OMEGA will deliver flawless timekeeping to the world’s greatest young athletes.
Seamaster Aqua Terra Chronograph
Ø44 mm
Speedmaster Ladies' Chronograph
Ø35.5 mm
Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph
Ø37.5 mm
Speedmaster 5-Counters Chronograph
Ø44.25 mm
The OMEGA Timeless Collection Speedmaster Date
To commemorate the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, OMEGA has selected the Timeless Collection Speedmaster Date. It features a lacquered white dial with black Arabic numerals and vintage red OMEGA logo and name, with the date window at 3 o’clock. The five coloured Olympic rings appear as the counterweight of the red central chronograph seconds hand.
Available exclusively with a matching brushed and polished stainless steel bracelet, it retains the typical Speedmaster feature of a tachymeter scale engraved on the stainless steel bezel. It is a certified chronometer and is water resistant to 100 metres / 330 feet.
Above texts are from OMEGA Press Release
Related Post:
1) Launch of the ‘Great Olympic Moments in Time’ Exhibition
This message has been edited by Kong on 2010-08-20 05:14:09 This message has been edited by Kong on 2010-08-20 05:15:52
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