Tech at the Olympics
Every four years, the best athletes in the world gather at the Olympic Games for a chance to go down in history as one of the greatest athletes of their time. But while the Olympic Games are the gold standard of athleticism, they are also a space to highlight global unity, camaraderie, and most importantly for this article, technological innovation. From state-of-the-art starting pistols to artificial intelligence integrations, the 2024 Paris Olympics are shaping up to redefine sporting technology, and will make the Olympics more accessible, sustainable, and available to both the athletes and the billions of worldwide watchers. Here are a few of these innovations that we find particularly interesting.
Social Media Protection for Athletes
One of the biggest obstacles that athletes face after poor performance is the barrage of cyber abuse from disappointed fans. While social media platforms have safeguards and flags for cyber bullying, with the volume of users across the platforms, cyber abuse often slips through the cracks and makes its way to the already heartbroken athletes. Many athletes either find themselves taking extended social media breaks or, in some cases, taking a break from their sport altogether.
This year, in a push to prioritize the overall health of the athletes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is utilizing AI to monitor social media platforms and flag abusive messages. While the flagging of these messages does not remove them from the platforms immediately, it allows the social media platforms to more accurately and efficiently identify and remove these posts. This solution is not a catchall for all cyber abuse, but it does provide an extra layer of protection for the athletes.
Cloud-Based Technology in Broadcasting
The 2021 Tokyo Olympics had an audience of roughly 3.05 billion people worldwide (and this wasn’t even one of the top 5 most streamed Olympics!). In order to distribute high quality, uninterrupted live television, radio, and digital content globally, satellite broadcasting has been the preferred method for the past 14 Olympic games. While it has done as promised, the infrastructure needed to support satellite broadcasting has been immense. Not only does satellite broadcasting require a lot of on-site manpower to make it possible, it also requires a lot of physical space close to the venues and a lot of electricity to power all the equipment needed.
The Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) recognizes the importance of reducing the “broadcast footprint” and this year has pivoted to utilize more Cloud-supported technology (OBS Cloud) in order to do more with less. By making this shift, the Paris Olympics were able to reduce the venue's compound space by 11% and the venue’s energy requirements by 29% from the Tokyo 2021 Olympics! In addition to saving the Paris Olympics space and power, OBS Cloud makes content more accessible for users, more scalable, and offers more flexibility in terms of streaming quality compared to traditional satellite broadcasting. It also integrates well with AI technology to allow for more efficient audio clipping, transcription, and automated highlights.
High Tech Timekeeping
Time is a crucial part of the Olympics. The difference between an athlete winning silver or gold could come down to tenths of a second, and Omega, the official Olympic Games timekeepers, know this better than anyone. Having been the timekeepers of the Olympic Games since 1932 and the Paralympic Games since 1992, this Swiss luxury watch company has continued to revolutionize modern timekeeping each and every Olympic Games.
For this year’s Olympics, Omega is once again showing why they are the Olympic Games’ timekeeper of choice year after year. They are introducing the Scan O’Vision, a smart camera that captures up to 40,000 digital photos per second! This helps judges decide race results for super close finishes and eliminates the guesswork from the process.
In addition to the Scan O’Vision, Omega is also introducing electronic starting pistols. With traditional starting pistols, it was common that athletes in further away lanes would not see the flash or hear the bang which led to delayed starts. The electronic starting pistols eliminate this by connecting directly to the stadium speakers. When the trigger is pressed, not only is a light and sound emitted that can be seen by all athletes, it also sends a pulse to the timing device that begins the timer for the race.
Final Thoughts
As the 2024 Paris Olympics draw to a close, the seamless integration and innovation of new technologies will cement it as one of the most notable Olympics to date. Providing a better experience for both athletes and global viewers, the tech launched during these games are set to further expand the intersection between sports and technology for years to come, and carry on the Olympic spirit to all of the corners of the planet.
