European Athletics Championships in Zurich

From 12 to 17 August this year, Omega attended the European Athletics Championships which took place at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. Officially responsible for timekeeping at these competitions, the Biel brand deployed a group of experts and a veritable arsenal of measuring equipment throughout the event.

Omega also unveiled four new timekeeping instruments, namely the Myria Scan’O’Vision photo finish camera, a new system for detecting false starts, and two improved types of display panels.

Perhaps the most widely known sports timekeeping device used in athletics is the photo-finish camera, the equipment set up at the finish line of sprints, hurdles and other races. The Scan’O’Vision Myria is a combination of a time detector and a chronograph. Photo-finish images are produced using a high-tech image-capture device that records up to 10,000 digital images per second. Improved light sensitivity means that images are of higher quality than with previous versions of the photo-finish camera and thanks to its compact size it takes less time to assemble and disassemble.

The starting blocks are enhanced with built-in sensors which are a key component in Omega’s advanced false start detection technology. These sensors measure the athletes’ force against the footrest 4,000 times per second. In the event of a false start, the detection system will instantly send the force measurements to an onsite computer and create a «force curve» so the starter can visually analyse the reaction - this is possible because of new software and enhanced communication technology between the starting blocks and the false start detection system.

August 20, 2014