The 2026 Winter Olympic Games have started, and there have already been so many amazing moments. Many people must be on the edge of their seats watching the competitors and cheering for them. We are also really hyped up, but not only for the show itself. The technology being used this year is particularly interesting.

But what exactly are they using in Italy that makes it so fascinating? And what challenges had to be overcome to achieve such outstanding performance? Let’s dive in and learn how IoT is changing not only devices but also entertainment.

Challenges at location

One of the biggest obstacles was the terrain on which the whole event takes place. These Olympics are special because they are being held directly in the Alps rather than centered in a single city, as has been the case before.

Connectivity

This brings us to the first major problem: connectivity. While modern cities already possess robust infrastructure, mountains pose a significant challenge. Connection drops and fluctuations in transfer speed or quality were not an option. The Winter Olympic Games demands flawless connectivity, as the event’s architecture relies on virtual broadcast vans, drones, and AI systems to drive real-time engagement across virtual spaces.

It wasn’t just a matter of strengthening the existing internet connection, but rather building an entirely new network across the whole Olympic area. As a result, a sophisticated new infrastructure has been constructed. It spans 22,000 square kilometers, creating a ‘blanket’ over the entire region. Roughly 27 million kilometers of fiber-optic cables were laid and connected to the national backbone, ensuring that latency is kept as close to zero as possible. This guarantees that viewers across the globe can enjoy the competition in real time.

Harsh environment

Another major challenge was the weather, which, besides being unpredictable, creates harsh conditions for electronics. This made everything more difficult, as thousands of small sensors are used to monitor a competitor’s condition, calculate potential results, and track real-time weather and performance. While connectivity is no longer an issue, the sensors are a different story.

Many standard wearables were not designed for such extreme environments. Extreme cold can cause electronics to malfunction or behave erratically, which was simply unacceptable. First, inaccurate data could cause trouble not only for coaches and athletes but also for organizers and judges. Precise data leads to precise results, and at the end of the day, that is what truly matters. No one wants a controversy after the competition because someone felt they were judged incorrectly. To resolve this, the sensors had to be ruggedized to maintain consistent operation regardless of the conditions.

Broadcasting meets cloud solutions

In past years, if a TV station wanted to broadcast the Winter Olympic Games, they had to send a transmission van to the location along with a crew to manage the signal for the studio commentators. This generated high costs and made it difficult for broadcasters to maintain peak video quality. Today, the alpine terrain makes it even harder for such vans to navigate steep, vertical distances.

To resolve this, cloud-based solutions have been introduced. The broadcast is now managed by the organizers in 4K or 8K resolution with near-zero latency, made available via ‘virtual vans.’ Consequently, studios can be located anywhere in the world, transmitting the event remotely. This approach resolves logistical issues while saving significant time and money.

There are several key advantages to this system. First, high-quality feeds are provided directly at the source. Second, studios can be better equipped since there is no longer a need to transport heavy hardware. The signal itself is more stable thanks to 5G Network Slicing, which creates a dedicated private 5G lane for the broadcast. This ensures that even if thousands of fans clog the local network, the official feed remains unaffected.

Furthermore, cloud solutions have enabled the use of specialized AI agents to generate faster, high-quality highlights for social media. These agents are integrated into virtual broadcast rooms, helping to review and manage the best moments captured across more than 400 live video feeds, covering every angle and athlete.

High-speed drones as a pinnacle of recordings

This year, 24 drones have been deployed to capture the best shots from various perspectives, allowing viewers to feel even more immersed in the competition. This is a massive improvement over Beijing, where only 13 drones were used.

These drones not only make it easier to follow the action on the courses but also provide a unique point of view. Standard drones hover above different ranges to provide wide-angle shots. In addition, high-speed chase drones simulate a first-person view (FPV) from the competitor’s perspective. Capable of accelerating up to 160 km/h, they can follow an athlete down the track, providing viewers with the same exhilarating perspective. These drones are piloted using VR goggles, ensuring the operator maintains a precise ‘eye-level’ view.

However, this technology comes with a price, as the batteries required are far from standard. These drones utilize specialized high-discharge LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries that are pre-heated before takeoff. This ensures that the freezing temperatures do not drain 50% of the battery’s power instantly.

Furthermore, the drones are equipped with larger propellers to maintain stable handling in the thinner alpine air. They must also withstand the strong wind corridors typical of such an environment.

The use of drones also introduces security challenges. Because so many drones operate in close proximity to competitors, a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy has been integrated into the security systems. Every official drone broadcasts a unique Remote ID signal for verification. This prevents them from being affected by electronic jamming aimed at unauthorized or personal drones. If an unidentified drone approaches the area, it is swiftly neutralized by the safety systems.

AI for better informations and simpler highlights

This year’s Winter Olympic Games have brought multiple AI agents to life. With the constant need for real-time information and the vast amount of historical data available. Analyzing every detail is now difficult and expensive for viewers and broadcasters. Research requires hours of costly preparation.

Olympic GPT: Getting the answers from 2026 Winter Olympic Games

The Olympic GPT is the solution to these data challenges. Built on Alibaba’s Qwen models, it has been trained on over eight petabytes of historical Olympic data. Unlike generic AI models, it does not have access to general public information; instead, it relies exclusively on verified data from the past and the current Games.

Crucially, the model is fed real-time data, allowing viewers to ask questions about the latest events and decisions with full contextual awareness. Now, even if commentators miss a detail, Olympic GPT can provide a full explanation. The system is integrated into the official website and supports 12 languages, making it easily accessible to a global audience.

Intelligent highlights

Other AI models provide critical support primarily for broadcasters. Their main purpose is to automatically generate highlights from the more than 6,500 hours of content being produced. Doing this manually would require a massive team to constantly monitor, select, and edit clips for social media or studio analysis.

This process is now automated by interconnecting different AI models. There are three primary functions:

  • Identification Agent: Uses computer vision to recognize athletes by their faces and equipment.
  • Narrative Agent: Generates text descriptions of the action as it unfolds.
  • Selection Agent: Analyzes crowd noise, commentator excitement (based on volume and keywords), and even athlete biometrics to decide which moments deserve ‘highlight’ status.

Once these agents exchange information, highlight packages are generated within seconds of an event ending and are immediately pushed to social media. These clips are also available to TV stations for specialists to analyze and incorporate into their daily summaries.

Furthermore, AI has revolutionized visualization. By tracking the movement of equipment such as in curling it can provide a real-time overlay of the calculated path on the ice, helping viewers better understand the strategy and physics of the game.

Omega sensors

During the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, time measurement and judging decisions are being reinvented through advanced sensors, clocks, and cameras. Omega, the official timekeeper, has introduced new advancements to ensure every result is measured beyond the slightest doubt.

To determine who crosses the finish line first, a new camera has made its debut, replacing the old Myria model. This high-speed device captures a single vertical line of pixels 40,000 times per second. It also features a dedicated color sensor to eliminate pixel noise caused by the glare of bright snow. This technology makes it possible to differentiate between two athletes by less than a millimeter, even at top speeds of 128 km/h, making the results almost impossible to misinterpret.

To ensure perfect accuracy at the start, Snowgate technology is being utilized. The timing system is triggered the moment a competitor passes through the starting wand and it reaches a specific angle, with an accuracy of up to one microsecond. Along the course, invisible beams of light detect when a skier passes through them, uploading the time instantly to the cloud.

Behind all these calculations is the Quantum Timer. Its precision reaches one microsecond, with a maximum variation of only one second every ten million seconds. Furthermore, all timing data is synchronized to a single master clock, ensuring there are no discrepancies between the results in Milan and Cortina.

Sensorless tracking

Another significant shift is the move away from physical tags in several sports. While these tags were once the pinnacle of athlete tracking, they are now being replaced by AI-based sensorless tracking. By using high-definition cameras, AI models perform “skeleton tracking,” which calculates speed, jump height, distance, and the exact number of rotations in real time.

Summary to emphasize the technical progress

To say that things have changed would be an understatement. The technology used in this year’s Winter Olympic Games represents a massive leap forward. From broadcasting to time measurement and tracking, new solutions have been brought in to streamline the management of the event. The role of AI agents is also significant at every stage; they help process data sets that have become too massive for human teams to analyze and draw conclusions from alone. Furthermore, AI provides real-time information, helping viewers better understand complex rules and situations that might otherwise be difficult to follow.

It is clear that new technologies can now thrive in extreme environments and be used to reach new dimensions of entertainment. This is a great step forward, as technology is now able to eliminate human error by minimizing reaction times and visualizing the expected outcomes of specific actions. At WizzDev, we are incredibly excited to see what the future holds and which innovations will be the next to exceed expectations and set the highest standard of competition for everyone to enjoy.