To bring athletics fans closer to the action than ever before, the broadcast technology at this year’s IAAF World Championships will feature an array of new cameras that will provide innovative angles on the competition and behind-the-scenes pictures that have never been shown to the audience.
The event will launch the world-first technology of Block Cam at Khalifa International Stadium. Two miniature cameras have been installed in each starting block which will provide a new dimension to the coverage of the 100m and sprint hurdles, broadcasting the first pictures of athletes’ faces in the moment before they hear the starting pistol, and capturing the athletes as they leave the blocks.
Other new cameras being used by IAAF Productions will also include body cameras placed on officials (in the call room and officiating on the race walks course), drones, rail and wire cameras on the back straight, a rail camera in the tunnel between the warm-up track and stadium, a super slo-mo remote camera in the discus cage, and hand-held cameras for athletes to take on victory laps.
The technology has been developed in collaboration between the IAAF and its long-standing timing partner Seiko over the past year to be ready for the event.
“We’ve embraced innovation throughout the Championships, showing more behind-the-scenes footage from the moment the athletes arrive at the stadium, through their whole journey to the end of the Event – and with more than 130 cameras inside and outside the stadium, we can’t wait to broadcast these unique Championships to a prospective audience of more than a billion people,” said James Lord, director of broadcast, IAAF.
