Winter Olympics 2026: Omega’s Quantum Timer Precision

From February 6 to 22, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, will host not only the world’s best winter athletes, but also some of today’s most advanced sports technologies. At the first Olympic Games in Cortina in 1956, the Swiss company Omega, based in Biel, introduced electronic ski start gates and pioneered the first automated timing technology of its kind.

At this year’s Olympic Games, Swiss Timing, sister company of Omega under parent company Swatch Group, unveils a new generation of motion analysis And computer vision technology. New technologies on offer include photofinish cameras that capture up to 40,000 frames per second.

“We work closely with the athletes,” says Alain ZobristCEO of Swiss timingOmega’s sister company within the Swatch Groupwho has overseen Olympic timing since 2006 winter games in Turin “They are the primary customers of our technology and services, and they need to understand how our systems work in order to trust them. »

Using high-resolution cameras and AI algorithms tailored to skaters’ routines, Milan-Cortina Olympic officials expect new figure skating technologies to be a highlight of the games. Omega

A figure skating technician completes the rotation

Figure skatingthe biggest TV draw of the Winter Olympics, is getting a substantial upgrade at Milan Cortina 2026.

Fourteen 8K resolution cameras positioned around the rink will capture the movement of each skater. “We use proprietary software to interpret the images and visualize the athletes’ movements in a 3D model,” explains Zobrist. “The AI ​​processes the data so that we can track trajectory, position and movement on all three axes: X, Y and Z.”

The system measures jump heights, flight times and landing speeds in real time, producing heat maps and graphic overlays that break down each program, all instantly. “The time it takes us to measure the data, until we show a matrix on TV with a graph, that whole chain has to take less than 1/10 of a second,” Zobrist says.

A range of different AI models help broadcasters and commentators process every move of every skater on the ice.

“There is AI that helps our computer vision system estimate pose,” he says. “So we have a camera that films what’s happening and an AI that helps the camera understand what it’s looking at. And then there’s a second type of AI, which is more like a large language model that makes sense of the data that we collect.”

Among the features offered by Swiss Timing’s new systems is blade angle detection, which provides judges with precise technical data to improve their technical and aesthetic decisions. Zobrist says future versions will also determine whether a given rotation is complete, so that “if the rotation is 355 degrees, there will be a deduction,” he says.

This builds on the Omega technology unveiled at Paris 2024 Olympics for diving, where cameras measured the distances between a diver’s head and the board to help judges assess points and penalties to award.

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, ski jumping will use camera and sensor-based technologies to make the aerial experience more immediate and in real time. Omega

Ski Jump Technician Finds Decisive Moments

Unlike the camera approach of figure skating, ski jumping also relies on the physical sensors.

“In ski jumping, we use a small, lightweight sensor attached to each ski, one sensor per ski, not on the athlete’s body,” Zobrist explains. The sensors are lightweight and broadcast data on the skier’s speed, acceleration and position in the air. The technology also correlates performance data with wind conditions, revealing environmental factors. influence on each jump.

High-speed cameras also track each ski jumper. Then, a strobe camera provides time-lapses of body position throughout the jump.

“The first 20 to 30 meters after takeoff are crucial because athletes get into a V position and lean forward,” says Zobrist. “And the timing and precision of this movement strongly influences performance.”

The system reveals biomechanical characteristics in real time, he adds, showing how athletes position their bodies at every moment of the takeoff process. The most common flight position error, over-rotation or under-rotation, can now be detailed and accurately diagnosed with every jump.

Bobsleigh: pushing the limits during the photo finish

This year’s Olympics will also include a “virtual photo finish”, providing comparative footage of when different sleds cross the finish line in previous races.

Omega’s cameras will provide virtual photos at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Omega

“We virtually construct a photo finish that shows different sleds from different races on a single visual reference,” explains Zobrist.

After each pass, composite images show the margins separating performances. However, more proven technologies still generate official results. A Swiss Timing score, he says, is still achieved through photocells, devices that emit beams of light across the finish line and stop the timer when it is broken. The company, however, offers its virtual photo finish as a visualization tool for spectators and commentators.

In bobsleigh, as in every timed event at the Winter Olympics, the line between triumph and heartbreak is sometimes measured in milliseconds, or even shorter intervals of time. Such precision, Zobrist says, will come from Omega’s Quantum Timer.

“We can measure time to the millionth of a second, so 6 decimal places, with a deviation of about 23 nanoseconds over 24 hours,” Zobrist explained. “These devices are constantly calibrated and used in all timed sports. »