The International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday evening announced the winners of the Olympic Golden Rings awards for outstanding broadcast coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.
An international jury headed by IOC Member Gian-Franco Kasper, who was a Member of the Coordination Commission for the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, selected the winners.
Gold, silver and bronze trophies were awarded in six categories: Best Olympic Sports Production by Olympic Broadcasting Services, Best Digital Offering, Best On-Air Promotion, Best Olympic Feature, Best Athlete Profile and Best Olympic Programme. There was also a special award for the Olympic Video Player.
The awards ceremony took place in Monaco, which is currently hosting the 127th IOC Session, at the Monte-Carlo Sporting Club.
Around 500 guests, including HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IOC President Thomas Bach, attended the ceremony. Also in attendance were IOC members, members of the Council of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), the International Sports Federations and representatives from the rights-holding broadcasters. The trophies were presented by Olympic champions Jonathan Edwards and Yang Yang.
NBC won gold in three categories, including the Best Olympic Programme, Best Digital Offering and Best Olympic Feature. The BBC won the Best On-Air promotion category and ARD won the Best Athlete Profile category.
Created in 1976, the Olympic Golden Rings is a prestigious international contest through which the IOC seeks to promote and recognise excellence in television broadcasting of the Olympic Games. The contest is organised every two years on the occasion of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Winter Games.
The full list of awards, in order of presentation on the night, is as follows:
The Best Olympic Sports Production
Awarded by Gian-Franco Kasper
Gold: Alpine – OBS Producer – Ursula Romero; Director – Beni Giger
Silver: Figure Skating – OBS Producer – Haiwei Wang; Director – Michael Lansbury
Bronze: Cross Country – OBS Producer – Makoto Nakamura; Director – Tapani Parm
The Best Digital Offering
Awarded by Gerardo Werthein
Gold: NBC Olympics, NBCOlympics.com; Live from Sochi
Producers – Rick Cordella, David Gabel
Silver: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC Digital Project, Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
Producers – CBC Olympic Digital Team Sochi 2014; Directors – Dan Tavares, Ken Wolff, Mihira Lakshman, Andrea Lee-Greenberg
Bronze: Panorama (ANO Sports Broadcasting), Russia Sport mobile application
Producers – Vasily Kiknadze, Marina Shvedova; Directors – Maxim Belyakov, Artem Tovbin, Andrey Ermakov
The Best On-Air Promotion
Awarded by Nawal El Moutawakel and Ivan Dibos
Gold: BBC, Sochi
Producers – Edel Erickson /RKCR/Y&R; Director -Tomek Baginski
Silver: NBC Olympics, Sochi Olympic Winter Games on NBC
Producers – Barbara Blangiandi, Joseph Lee, John Miller
Bronze: America Movil, Team Latam
Producers – Gustavo Ramírez, España Beguerisse; Director – Santiago Arau Pontones
The Best Olympic Feature
Awarded by Marisol Casado and Danka Bartekova
Gold: NBC Olympics, XXII Olympic Winter Games – “Winter’s Theatre”
Producers – Matt Allen, Jim Bell, Aaron Cohen, Joe Gesue, Mark Levy, Philip Parrish
Silver: Network Ten Australia, Sochi 2014 Teaser & Opener
Producers – Lesley Tapsall, Jane Caswell, Kim Knox; Editor – Tim Hannah
Bronze: CCTV, The dream of Mengtao
Producer – Ni Ran; Directors – Wei Zhang, Gang Luo, Ping Wang, Fanhao Meng, Xiaobo Yang, Jingjing Liu, Ruchang Li, Chuan Liu and Ni Ran
The Olympic Video Player (Special Award)
Awarded by Lawrence Probst III
Matt Millington, Dalmacio Tola
The Best Athlete Profile
Awarded by HSH Prince Albert II
Gold: ARD / Bayerischer Rundfunk, Living for a Golden Moment – Maria Höfl-Riesch
Producer – Andreas Troll
Silver: NBC Olympics, XXII Olympic Winter Games – “Alex Bilodeau”
Producers – Jim Bell, Jack Felling, Joe Gesue, Mark Levy, Ryan Yaeger
Bronze: BBC, Inspire – James Woods Feature
Producer – Tom Gent
The Best Olympic Programme
Awarded by IOC President Thomas Bach
Gold: NBC Olympics, The XXII Olympic Winter Games
Producers – Jim Bell, Becky Chatman, Peter Diamond, Sam Flood, Joe Gesue, Lena Glaser, Mark Lazarus, Mark Levy; Director – Michael Sheehan
Silver: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Sochi 2014 – Olympic Winter Games on CBC
Producers – Chris Irwin, Sherali Najak, Karen Sebesta, Paul McDougall, Jeff Pearlman; Directors – Fred Parker, Steve Pennie, Chris Elias, Dawn Landis
Bronze: Panorama (ANO Sports Broadcasting) Ladies Free Skating Final
Producers – Vasily Kiknadze, Marina Shvedova, Teona Pernikova; Director – Irina Orenova
