London Summer Games: 1948

The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning, but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering, but fighting well.

OMEGA’s photo-finish, or “Magic Eye”, was first brought to the public’s attention at the winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. As there are not as many timed events at the winter games, it was a great practice run before the summer games in London.

There were several new developments for the summer Games in London. The photo-finish continued to be used by a three-man OMEGA timing team, which had made it’s debut at the winter Games. This new technology, which used a beam of light at the finish line to stop timers made it possible for athletes to be timed to the nearest 1/1000th of a second.

Timing was also made more accurate by the use of starting block, which were introduced at the 1948 London games. The timing devices were linked to a starting pistol for the first time. The use of starting blocks and starting pistol helped maintain a level playing field for all athletes.