News On 10 February 2005, Omega started its official countdown to its return to Olympic Games timekeeping at the XX Olympic Winter Games - Torino 2006. To mark the occasion, the brand organised a press conference that was followed by a unique photocall with a host of Olympic winter Games legends.
The photo session was the most fitting way to mark the occasion for Omega, since nearly all of the Winter Olympic Games legends invited to the event had their own personal anecdotes about Omega's timekeeping of past Olympic Games. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean from Great Britain and Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat from France (gold medallists in mixed dance at Sarajevo in 1984 and Salt Lake City in 2002 respectively) represented the figure skating discipline, which although not marked on time, still requires routines to be synchronised with the musical composition.
The other athletes are famous in sports in which timekeeping plays a vital role and the difference between winning and taking part can be a mere hundredth of a second. They were speed skaters Bonnie Blair (gold medallist over 500m at Calgary in 1988 and double Olympic champion over 500m and 1000m at Albertville in 1992 and Lillehammer in 1994) and Dan Jansen (gold over 1000m at Lillehammer) from the USA, Claudia Pechstein from Germany (gold over 5000m at Lillehammer and Nagano in 1998 and over 3000m and 5000m at Salt Lake City in 2002) and short track champion Lee-Kyung Chun from South Korea (gold over 1000m and 3000m relay at Lillehammer and Nagano), skiers Marco Albarello and Gustav Thoeni from Italy (gold in the 4x10km at Lillehammer and in the giant slalom at Sapporo in 1972 respectively), Michela Figini from Switzerland (Olympic downhill champion at Sarajevo in 1984) and Kenji Ogiwara from Japan, who took gold in the Nordic Combined men's team at Albertville and Lillehammer. Between them, these athletes account for a total of 23 gold medals alone.
Given the fame of the Winter Olympic Games legends present, Omega called upon the services of a legend in photography to capture this important moment for the brand. As one of the biggest names in fashion photography, Peter Lindbergh has seen his photographs printed in every major fashion magazine and has photographed the advertising campaigns for the foremost designers in America and Europe, including Giorgio Armani, Prada, Dona Karan, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander and Hugo Boss.
Despite the challenge of grouping the 12 Winter Olympic Games legends and the Omega countdown clock in the same photograph, Lindbergh managed to add a depth of emotion that perfectly conveyed the sense of continuity, with the Olympic legends harmonising with the modern countdown clock to represent the past, present and future for Omega at the Olympic Games.
March 09, 2005
