![Start of the men’s 200m race in London, 2012, with the Omega time display in the background.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/start-des-200m-rennens-der-manner-in-london-2012-mit-der-omega-zeitanzeige-im-hintergrund-300x225.jpg)
Swiss timekeepers at the Olympic Games
Timekeeping is hugely important in modern sport, which is increasingly competitive, professional and international. It has made remarkable progress since its early days. A look at the history of timekeeping at the Olympic Games, and the role of the Swiss watch industry and diplomacy.
![Omega ad page in the NZZ newspaper on 20 June 1952 marking the Olympic Games in Helsinki and the company’s 20 years as official Olympic timekeeper.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/werbung-omega-nzz-19520620-6-215x300.jpg)
![Longines ad page in the Journal du Jura on 3 March 1960, after the Olympic Games in Squaw Valley.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/werbung-longines-jdj-19600303-260x300.jpg)
![Fully automatic Omega chronograph from 1948. The four timers were triggered by the starting pistol and stopped using photo cells.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/vollautomatischer-chronograph-von-omega-1948-300x210.jpg)
Post-war innovation
![Time display for speed-skating races at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, showing the brand logos of Longines and Omega.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/zeitanzeige-bei-den-eisschnelllauf-wettbewerben-bei-den-spielen-in-innsbruck-1964-mit-den-marken-logos-von-longines-und-omega-300x200.jpg)
Deploying diplomacy against the competition
![Mobile time display with Seiko advertising at the marathon in Tokyo, 2016.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/seiko-tokio-2016-300x225.jpg)
Oemga explains athletics timekeeping technology in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. YouTube / Omega
Growing precision
Swiss Sports History
![](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/swisssportshistory-300x225.jpg)
This text was produced in collaboration with Swiss Sports History, the portal for the history of sports in Switzerland. The portal focuses on education in schools and information for the media, researchers and the general public. Find out more at sportshistory.ch
This article draws, among other sources, on the work of Swiss historians such as Pierre-Yves Donzé, Gianenrico Bernasconi, Marco Storni and Quentin Tonnerre, which examines topics such as timekeeping in sport, its diplomatic aspects, and competition between the Swiss and Japanese watchmaking industries.