Chapters

Languages

THE BIRTH OF ELECTRONIC TIMEKEEPING

THE BIRTH OF ELECTRONIC TIMEKEEPING 1948

28 July – 14 August

At the Olympic Games London 1948, two of the most significant innovations in sports timing – OMEGA’s “Magic Eye” photoelectric cells and the slit photofinish camera developed by the British Race Finish Recording Company – ushered in the era of electronic sports timekeeping.

The photoelectric cell recorded the exact moment the finish line was crossed, solving the problem caused by the long-used finishing line tapes, whose elasticity made them inaccurate. The photofinish camera allowed judges to see, without a shadow of a doubt, the exact order in which athletes finished an event.

Intended only as a backup, the two systems proved their merit when called in to settle the result of the men’s 100 m sprint. Two sprinters both scored a time of 10.3 seconds, but an eventual winner was found when judges were able to view the now-familiar photofinish image. The following year, OMEGA and Race Finish Recording would combine forces to integrate both technologies into the OMEGA Racend Timer.

Olympic Games poster for London 1948

CHRONICLE

The story of Omega