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OMEGA Partners with U.S. Speed Skating Superstar Apolo Anton Ohno to Celebrate Great Olympic Moments in Time at the Vancouver Games

Poised to Make History in Vancouver, Ohno Joins OMEGA, the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, as a Member of its Olympic Family and Ambassador

Vancouver, BC, Feb. 11, 2010 – OMEGA, the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, today announced a new relationship with U.S. speed skating star and three-time Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno.  As an Ambassador, Ohno will join OMEGA to celebrate great Olympic moments in time at the Vancouver Games, where he has qualified for three individual and one relay short-track events and is poised to make history.  Ohno, a top medal contender and Olympic favorite, is two medals shy of surpassing Bonnie Blair as the most decorated American Winter Olympian. 

As the newest member of the OMEGA family, Ohno will wear the OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean Olympic Timeless Collection Chronograph.  To celebrate this new relationship, Ohno will visit the recently-opened OMEGA Boutique in Vancouver for a special appearance following his performance at the Games, and will visit the OMEGA Flagship Boutique in New York City for a special appearance upon his return to the United States. 

OMEGA began its Olympic timekeeping tradition at the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games.  In addition to its prominent role as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, OMEGA has been behind many of the most important technological developments in all of sports timekeeping – including new technologies for the sport of speed skating, many of which Ohno has experienced first-hand.  

"In my sport, where the difference between a gold, silver and bronze medal comes down to 1/1000 of a second, OMEGA's cutting-edge timekeeping technology and unmatched accuracy give me the confidence to keep my focus on performing my absolute best," said Ohno.  "I am proud to partner with OMEGA here in Vancouver and help celebrate the brand's rich Olympic history. It is an absolute honor to receive their support and be part of a brand that means so much to the Olympic Movement." 

At the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, OMEGA introduced its Scan-O-Vision system for speed skating that digitally measured times to the nearest thousandth of a second as the skaters crossed the finish line.  The system effectively photographed time by fusing time and continuous picture in a single document, heralding a new chapter in the science of timekeeping.  At the Winter Games in Turin in 2006, where Ohno won three medals, transponders were strapped to the ankles of speed skaters so that timekeepers might capture a moment of sudden acceleration, the speed round a hairpin bend, or the abrupt end to a challenge as a racer crashed to the ice. 

"We are very proud to support Apolo here in Vancouver and look forward to watching him compete," said OMEGA President Stephen Urquhart.  "OMEGA has a long history in the sport of speed skating, using its expertise to develop new timekeeping technologies for competition.  Apolo is poised to make history of his own here in Vancouver, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the OMEGA family as an Ambassador."

A five-time Olympic medalist, Ohno is currently tied for the most career winter medals by a U.S. man.  He has won an Olympic medal in every event that he has competed, capturing gold (1500m) and silver (1000m) medals at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games and gold (500m) and two bronze (1000m, 5000m relay) medals at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino.  He has been the top American short-track skater since 2001, capturing 12 U.S. National titles, three overall World Cup titles and becoming the first and only American to win the overall World Championships title.  After conquering the short track in Torino, the Seattle native made his mark in Hollywood, winning the coveted "Dancing with the Stars" disco ball trophy in 2007. 

The OMEGA Boutique in Vancouver, which will remain open throughout the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, is located on the ground floor of the Fairmont Hotel and showcases a full range of OMEGA's timepieces, including the Olympic Games-themed Timeless Collection and the Seamaster Diver 300M "Vancouver 2010" Limited Edition watch created to commemorate the 24^th time that OMEGA has served as Official Timekeeper for the Olympic Games. 

About OMEGA and the Olympic Games

OMEGA, as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, is not only responsible for timing every Olympic event, but also for data handling, the display of the results at the venues, and the distribution of the results to the world's media.

At OMEGA's first timekeeping assignment for the Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in 1936, a lone OMEGA technician brought 27 stopwatches that were used to time each event at the Games.

Seventy years later in Turin, OMEGA deployed 208 professionals – 127 timekeepers and 81 data handlers – armed with 220 tons of equipment.

Those numbers have been exceeded at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games as OMEGA mobilizes the largest timekeeping contingent in the history of winter sport, with 235 professional timekeepers and data handlers, 290 specially-selected and trained volunteers and more than 250 tons of equipment.

The Games in Vancouver will take place over a 17-day period beginning on the 12th of February. Some 5,500 athletes and officials from more than 80 countries will make it the largest Olympic Winter Games ever. The Paralympic Winter Games, for which OMEGA is also Official Timekeeper, start on the 12th of March and will continue for ten days. The Games' organizers anticipate that the Paralympic Winter Games will attract 1,350 athletes and officials from more than forty countries.

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