FPV (First Person View) drones capable of reach one hundred kilometers per hour have burst into Olympic broadcasts with a disturbing promise: to turn sport into something visually indistinguishable from a video game. In alpine skiing, cycling and extreme sports tests, these aircraft equipped with synchronized telemetry systems They follow the athletes from angles that until recently were technically impossible, generating plans that seem extracted from virtual simulators.
Who is behind. Olympic Broadcasting Services (the organization created by the International Olympic Committee in 2001 to act as host station for the Olympic and Paralympic Games) is responsible for generating the television, radio and digital signal for media around the world. He began to implement this technology systematically in Beijing 2022. For Paris 2024 Its use had multiplied in disciplines such as BMX, skateboarding and sailing. The question is no longer whether drones can follow athletes, but to what extent this video-ludic aesthetic is reconfiguring our perception of sport.
The technology. The devices that Olympic Broadcasting Services has deployed at Milano-Cortina 2026 are not adapted commercial drones, but rather platforms built specifically for sports broadcasting. The Dutch company Dutch Drone Gods has developed a model for sleigh descent tests (bobsleigh, skeleton and luge) that weighs just 243 grams (less than an iPhone) and reaches speeds of 100 kilometers per hour.
These cinewhoop type devices They incorporate propellers protected by inverted ducts that improve aerodynamic efficiency. They allow smoother curves, essential for following athletes on steep descents. The technical key lies in the high-end COFDM transmission system that integrates directly with the infrastructure of broadcast traditional, allowing native HD HDR video (both progressive and interlaced) to be transmitted that is seamlessly incorporated into mobile units’ color adjustment systems.
How many are there? OBS has deployed 25 FPV drones in total for these Games. They are operated by teams of three specialists (pilot, director and technician) who work synchronized through a dedicated communication channel to manage flight paths, timings and technical adjustments. One of the pilots He assures that it is the most difficult job he has ever done: flying in small spaces up to fifty times per session, consistently, with no margin for error, with millions of spectators watching live.
The past. Milano-Cortina 2026 represents the massive winter debut of this technology. The path began in Paris 2024, where FPV drones were used for the first time in competitions. mountain bikingoffering an unprecedented immersive perspective. At the current Winter Games, the most dramatic application has occurred in sliding sports: for the first time, Spectators can follow complete routeswith athletes reaching speeds of over 140 kilometers per hour.
Previously, coverage of these disciplines was done with a succession of quick cuts between fixed cameras. Now we can follow the athlete without interruptions, which helps to have a better impression of the speeds they reach. In alpine skiing, drones accompany athletes down the legendary Stelvio descent. In freestyle skiing and snowboarding, the devices are launched with them from the 23-meter springboard. The characteristic high-pitched whir of the rotors has become a recognizable soundtrack of these Games. It is particularly audible during testing. snowboard big airwhere the synchronization between the athlete’s jump and the flight of the drone must be millimeters.
How we see sport. We reached this point after decades of developing sports broadcasts. In the mid-eighties there were already cable-suspended camera systems (with variants such as the SpiderCam) that offered aerial angles impossible for fixed cameras. The next step was portable cameras mounted on the athletes themselves. GoPro popularized action cameras during the past decade. Rio 2016 marked another milestone with the introduction of virtual reality, an attempt at total immersion in the sporting event.
Regulatory challenges. The 2015 incident at Madonna di Campiglio, where A 10-kilogram drone almost hit skier Marcel Hirschercaused a temporary ban from the FIS that lasted until the 2023-24 season. Race director Markus Waldner then declared that drones were detrimental to safety. A decade later, Milano-Cortina’s 243-gram drones demonstrate how lightweight design and improved protocols can mitigate these risks, although the recent incident with Australian snowboarder Ally Hickman emphasizes that the technology still requires improvement.
Header | Matthieu Pétiard in Unsplash – Ricardo Gomez Angel in Unsplash
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings