Working behind the Scenes at the Olympic Games

Published 23rd July 2026

Supporting the Video adjudication facilities for the Olympic Watersport Events at Lake Lagoa, Ipanema.

The Olympic Games have always given rise to a burst of innovation, with broadcasters improving their production processes with each tournament to keep up with the demands of the viewers as well as the ever more precise requirements for the judges.

Contrast Events worked on the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, supporting the technology (Provided and working for Creative Technology, London) that enables the judges of the Rowing and Kayak events to adjudicate quickly and reliably.

As part of filming and working on location, beside a lake as opposed to a nice dry studio, with the obvious limitations and risks, we were able to seamlessly deliver on spec for each competition. While there were other crews staffing mixed zones for athlete reactions, and also crews for news from across all nations and regions, as well as digital teams, our focus was on the equipment required for the judging process.

Creative Technology provided two Panasonic Ae150 Cameras and a bespoke software solution for recording, (playback and slow motion of the races for easy adjudication) who we’ve worked with for many years, with the main requirement being that the judges needed instant replay.

With the speed of the events and six to ten judges for each event, this was a high-pressure environment with no room for error.