How can we stay at the forefront of technology and in step with the times? This question is plaguing the IOC, which has activated several levers: the eSports Olympic Games, which will be launched in 2027, but also artificial intelligence. The IOC has even launched an Olympic agenda for AI in 2024 with the objective of “Unleashing the full potential of AI to promote solidarity, advance digital transformation, improve sustainability and resilience, and strengthen the role of sport in society”The Paris 2024 Games have made this ambition more concrete and in this vein, new developments should emerge at Milan-Cortina 2026.
Optimize and innovate
Last summer, AI was used to help athletes combat digital threats and harassment. "The IOC has implemented the largest online abuse prevention program ever undertaken in the history of sport., explains Ilario Corna, CIO's director of technology and information, to NBC. We analyzed more than 2,3 million messages to detect potential cyber abuse. We identified more than 10.200 abusive messages that were automatically removed from social media.
AI also helped optimize camera positioning at competition venues, "even before being there", and reduce energy costs. "This allowed us to monitor all energy consumption in real time and then optimize it. For example, we noticed that fog lights were left on in stadiums, so we asked that they be turned off when there were no competitions."
Other beneficiaries of these technologies: broadcasters and viewers. "We implemented a highly innovative platform to automatically generate highlights, where broadcasters had the ability to choose by sport, by athlete, and to create their own formats. In the end, broadcasters generated 97.000 different clips, all personalized.", underlines Yiannis Exarchos, general director of the Olympic broadcasting service (OBS).
"In a number of sports, we have produced for the first time on a large scale multi-camera slow-motion replays which we have always believed added a lot of value to the storytelling and especially to the understanding of the sport." This was the case in athletics, gymnastics, and diving. AI has also been used to more easily identify athletes in mass events—marathon, race walking, and sailing.
Any news for curling, hockey and short track?
Innovation will continue at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games. "For the first time, we will be applying an artificial intelligence system that we have already tested and that will be able to very easily explain the rotations of curling stones, and above all, to show the exact trajectory that these stones follow. Sometimes we think that these stones follow a more or less linear trajectory, but this has nothing to do with what this sport really is.", insists Exarchos. The same principle had made it possible, in Paris, to show precisely the trajectory followed by arrows in archery or by the ball in golf.
In ice hockey, a puck tracking system is under consideration. This would be a first, making it easier to follow matches, as the speed of players' movements can sometimes be confusing for viewers. The IOC is working with all the Winter Olympic sports federations on possible technological advances ahead of Milan-Cortina. "We are looking at how AI models can be used to facilitate judging and provide the right data to judges., adds Corna. In short track, judging can take time because some contacts happen very quickly. So we're considering installing cameras on skaters' helmets. With AI, we're studying video analysis to understand these contacts and the penalties that are imposed. The idea is clear: to place the viewer at the heart of the action, while giving them a better understanding of the athletes' technique.
