Former U.S. astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, on Feb. 15 came to Turin, Italy, as a guest of Omega, the Swiss watch brand that’s the Official Timekeeper of the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

Following a visit to the Olympic Games Exhibition in the Galleria San Federico at the Omega Pavilion, Cernan noted similarities between athletes who train for years to reach the Olympic Games with his 1972 Apollo 17 mission to the moon, which he described as “my own olympic games.”

Reflecting on the progress in sports timekeeping, Cernan recalled that when he was a boy, sports events were timed with stopwatches, which allowed for human error. Today’s timekeeping systems, though, have virtually eliminated the possibility of human error affecting results. Cernan himself wore an Omega Speedmaster on his missions into space and walks on the moon.

Later, Cernan boarded a bobsleigh for a photo session at the Omega Pavilion and met with guests of Omega and local VIPS.

JCK