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The Swatch Group Ltd. will be the Official Timekeeper and Results Service Partner for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens in 2004, the XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin in 2006, as well as the 2008 Olympic Games and 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Following its success at the Atlanta and at the Sydney Olympic Games, the IOC selected The Swatch Group Ltd. to undertake the Timing and Scoring Services delivery and has also elected to extend their mandate to include On-Venue Results Services. The agreement also foresees the provision of similar services for the 2004 to 2010 Paralympic Games.

Commenting on the partnership, Nicolas G. Hayek, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of The Swatch Group Ltd., suggested “the Olympic Games are not only the greatest sports event in the world, they are much more then a sporting event - the Games are an emotional festival and the most perfect, peaceful and warmhearted competition between the youth. The Olympic Games fit perfectly with Swatch’s strategy.”

The IOC President Jean Antonio Samaranch said “The Swatch Group has been a long standing Partner of the Olympic Movement, developing the necessary equipment and know-how, continuously training their experts. The Swatch Group has been, with a very few exceptions, the timekeeper of practically all the Olympic Games of the 20th century. The IOC is very pleased to be extending its relationship with the Swatch Group over the next decade.”

The agreement marks the first time that the IOC has entered into a long term agreement for the provision of Timing, Scoring and Venue Results Services. The partnership further reinforces the IOC’s strategy to develop a long term technology consortium, lead by the Sema Group as the systems integrator and composed of a small core of key technology partners to ensure the successful delivery and transfer of knowledge from one Olympic Games to the next.