Timing of the games: Then and now (photos)

CNET's Ina Fried has a look at the technology used to time and score the Winter Games, from analog stopwatches to the latest in high-tech sensors.

Ina Fried

Feb. 24, 2010 5:02 p.m. PT

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A long tradition

Omega has been the official timekeeper of the Olympics since the 1936 Winter Games, when a single Omega technician showed up to Germany with 27 stopwatches.

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A mini-bobsled

Omega set up a remote-controlled mini-bobsled in its suite at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver to show how its timing technology works. In both real and mini-bobsled, a light sensor measures when the sled crosses the start and finish lines.

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The starting gate

Christophe Berthaud, general manager of Omega Timing shows off the starting gate used at alpine skiing. The gate measures exactly when, within a 10 second window, a skier begins his or her run.

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Photocells, then and now

Two generations of Omega's photocell technology, one from 1964 and the other from 2005.

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Omega

The 'snowgate'

A new starting gate is being used for alpine skiing in Vancouver. The "snowgate" is designed to ensure that the start time begins when the bar is at the same angle for each competitor.

It also includes both a main and a backup system, one using purely mechanical technology and the other an electro-mechanical mechanism.