THE TIMEKEEPER'S TALE

Behind each athletic achievement in the Olympics is a remarkable array of timekeeping devices. And behind these devices is one Swiss watchmaker

Nowhere do microunits of time have as much of an impact on the outcome of a situation, arguably, as they do in the world of sports. When it comes to timekeeping, particularly for an event as momentous as the Olympics, it’s about a lot more than thumbing buttons on a stopwatch. Medals, careers, records, legacies – all determined by the imperceivable minutiae of time. To accurately capture some of the most historic moments in the Olympics is a daunting task that requires vast resources, technological mastery and a reputation for fastidiousness. Clearly Omega’s exceptionally good at it, having been entrusted with the task on 28 occasions, since 1932. With the upcoming Tokyo Olympics marking the 29th time, we take a look at the technology and the efforts that have escalated the science of timekeeping to what it is today.

IN THE BEGINNING

The year 1932 marked the first time a single watch brand was appointed official timekeeper for the Olympics. A lone watchmaker was shipped out from Bienne, Switzerland, carrying 30 stopwatches. All of them were accurate to 1/10th of a second and featured split-second functionality at a time when most other watchmakers could only manage accuracy within 1/5th of a second. Electronic devices were yet to be invented, and the task of timekeeping was carried out by a handful of hawk-eyed people. Flash forward to 2021, where the Tokyo Olympics has 530 timekeepers, 900 volunteers and 40 tonnes of timekeeping equipment, and you get an idea of just how far the Games have come.