Curations: 4 of Richard Mille’s athletic partners strike gold at the Tokyo Olympics, equipped with competition-ready timepieces during history-making performances

It may not come as a surprise to learn that Richard Mille made several appearances on the medals podium during the Tokyo Olympic Games. After all, the Swiss luxury brand is not only known for its sporty, performance-engineered timepieces, but it also counts numerous world-class athletes among its partners.

Richard Mille watches could be spotted in action on the wrists of competitors at several events during this year’s Games, from the track to the golf links. Four of the brand’s family of athletes captured gold, setting milestones in their respective sports and even creating an iconic Olympic moment in the process.

Belgium’s Nafi Thiam won her second heptathlon gold medal in Tokyo, racking up 6,791 points to defend her title first earned in Rio five years ago. The 27-year-old is only the second woman ever to become a back-to-back Olympic champion in the event.

While competing, Thiam wore a classic Richard Mille design: the RM 007, which originally debuted in 2005 as the brand’s first automatic watch for women. This titanium timepiece is able to endure the demands of the heptathlon’s seven disciplines, reflecting her winning mindset.

“Heptathlon is a sport that demands a certain mental resilience,” she says. “You can’t fall apart; you have to know how to pull yourself together.”

German dressage rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, meanwhile, had a remarkable Olympic debut in Tokyo, striking double gold with her horse TSF Dalera BB. One medal was for the team competition, and the other for individual dressage.

“From the very first to the very last second, Dalera was 100 per cent with me,” says the 35-year-old champion, who relied on a close bond with her horse to accomplish the winning performances.

Also accompanying von Bredow-Werndl throughout her Olympic journey was the RM 07-01 women’s watch made of Carbon TPT, a composite material that is lightweight yet strong. It features the in-house calibre CRMA2, a skeletonised automatic movement that includes a variable-inertia balance to maintain exacting performance – a feature well-suited for the precision required in this equestrian sport.

On the links in Tokyo, Nelly Korda of the US scored a dramatic one-shot victory in the women’s individual golf event, securing the gold medal with her final putt on the 18th hole. It makes her the first golfer, man or woman, to win both the Olympic gold and a major tournament in the same year, having won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June.

“It was very stressful, but I kept it together. I fought pretty hard,” says Korda, 23, who is also ranked No 1 in the world in women’s golf.

She is another Richard Mille sports partner who wears the RM 07-01 women’s watch in Carbon TPT. This model, in the brand’s signature tonneau shape, also features a variable geometry rotor that adapts its rotational speed according to the wearer’s activity.

For Korda, the timepiece makes an elegant yet sturdy companion on the golf course. “As an athlete, your sport is your art. This means we can appreciate all the more how much work the Richard Mille watchmakers put into their art,” she says.

Capping the achievements among Richard Mille’s family of athletes in Tokyo is one of the most memorable moments of these Olympic Games, courtesy of high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar. After becoming locked in a tie at the men’s high jump final with his friend and fellow competitor, Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy, Barshim proposed that they share the gold medal.

While the two celebrated their victory together, with the world watching what is now known as an iconic display of both friendship and sportsmanship, Barshim said: “I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold. But [Tamberi] did the same thing, so I know he deserved that gold too.”

The shared gold joins Barshim’s Olympic collection of a bronze medal from London in 2012 and silver from Rio in 2016, which is when he became the muse of Richard Mille himself. “He clears the bar with such ease, you might think he was dancing in the air, like a bird. It is precisely this synthesis of elegance and performance that drew me to him,” Mille says.

The watchmaker created the RM 67-02 High Jump with Barshim in mind. This thin automatic model, weighing in at just 32 grams, has been ergonomically designed to feel like a second skin. The case is crafted in the brand’s exclusive Carbon TPT and Quartz TPT composite materials to provide a high level of shock resistance, with the extra-flat calibre CMRA7 operating inside.

The sports watch also features a non-slip, seamless elastic strap in white and a finish in crimson-hued resin, emulating the colours of the Qatari flag in homage to Barshim.

The 30-year-old champion high jumper considers this RM 67-02 model to be the ideal accessory for his competitions. “My discipline requires the ultimate from me physically – I need to be light in weight, yet extremely accurate with every step I make, just like every tick of my watch,” Barshim says.

“My body is the only tool I have in my sport ... it’s just me up against the challenge. I want my watch to be similar – pure, accurate, perfect, yet as light as possible, and totally reliable, without question.”

With the next Summer Olympics – set for 2024 in Paris – already starting to approach, Richard Mille is adding to its family of elite athletes. The newest member is Miles Chamley-Watson, a 31-year-old fencer who originally hails from London but competes for the US.

Powered by his unique fencing style, which includes a behind-the-back move named after him, Chamley-Watson won Olympic bronze in the men’s team foil event in Rio in 2016. He also was the first US male fencer to ever hold an individual Senior World Championship title.

“Time is it in my sport. You can train your whole life, but the merest millisecond means the difference between gold and nothing,” says Chamley-Watson, who describes himself as “a massive watch person”. With this outlook, he was a natural fit for Richard Mille.

He wears the RM 67-01 Automatic Extra Flat in white gold set with diamonds. The timepiece hugs the wrist with a slim case that holds the in-house calibre CRMA6, a highly skeletonised movement that measures just 3.6mm thick. It also features a gearbox-style function indicator that switches between winding, date and hand-setting mode.

“It’s so much of what fencing is all about – precision, timing and style,” Chamley-Watson says of his watch.