There are things that will never change. As an epic athlete – the appearance combines effort and naturalness very little. Or the magic of such a beautiful discipline – an artistic patina – that follows that most of the audience will gather in the presence of the panelist. Or a paper of all the games, the most important people of the Winter Olympics. Referee.
Some fear that the profession will disappear. Nothing more than reality. In sports like soccer, they are decisive because the famous VAR has been used for years to determine whether a goal is successful or not in a game, just as no one can do it in sports where the final result is not determined by a long time or where Cruz scores a goal until he gets a higher score.
Figure skating, like rhythmic gymnastics or trampolining, can be the most unfair sport in the world, because the bottom line, which decides whether you win a gold medal or win with a heartless and cruel core, carried in the hands of a man made by men.
And it’s not that people have fallen, but also that, taking into account the second half of the 21st century, it’s absurd not to return to what technology offers us to do our jobs better. Ahí enters artificial intelligence and the concept of “augmented referees”.
The juices you make at work, but just like using gafas to be better than them, you can use AI to refine your points.
We all know it’s coming, but at the Milan-Cortina Olympics he performed with a special intensity. In the rare mountains of the Dolomites, we are witnessing a revolution in the way artificial intelligence has transformed sport. For sports fans, spectators and referees.
However, today we are witnessing something qualitatively different. It’s not just about more accurate hardware, but about intelligent systems that intervene, analyze and, in some cases, make decisions. AI is not an add-on: it is critical infrastructure. And that redefines the five pillars of the Olympic spectacle.
- Augmented arbitrage: from the human eye to a predictive model
The first big transformation is arbitrage. In winter sports, where miles and yards mean the difference between gold and darkness, subjectivity has historically been a minefield.
In figure skating or halfpipe snowboarding, stunts are valuable in execution, difficulty and style. Now, artificial vision systems trained by thousands of hours of leading competitions analyze jump height, precise spin, impact angle and rear stability in real time.
We don’t want to replace the game, but to enhance it. Machine learning models generate objective metrics that serve as a second validation step. If the algorithm detects a 12-degree subrotation in the triple axis, this information is integrated into the decision panel.
The result is twofold: more transparency and less controversy. Every decision can be audited with data. The referee is not alone in front of the media; It features a support system that reduces human error.
- Smart cameras: from the right level to immersive analysis
The second revolution is in retransmission. The cameras at Milan-Cortina 2026 don’t just take pictures; they interpret the scene. Automatic AI-based tracking systems identify each athlete, predict movements and adjust position without human intervention.
Likewise, the production includes super-analyses: heat maps on speed patina tracks, instant comparisons at specific times, 3D simulation of the ideal line. AI not only improves the aesthetics of the signal; convert it into a pedagogical tool.
The viewer will have a better understanding of who is coming and why the athlete made a difference. We are moving from retransmission as a linear narrative to retransmission as an extended experience.
- Kumantic watches and obsession for a thousand
The third change is less visible but crucial: time. Since the differences are reported in thousands, the development of the watch based on many principles has enabled an accuracy that exceeds a thousandth of a second.
Synchronized through atomic reference networks, these systems reduce drift and accumulated errors to virtually negligible levels. In sports like skeleton or speed skating, where an infinitesimally small difference can decide the gold, this precision is not technological boom; It is a guarantee of competitive fairness.
- Drones: aerial choreography and predictive security
The fourth great transformation takes place on our heads. Drones have been transformed into key pieces for both relaying and security and logistics.
Audio-visually, they offer impossible plans for just a decade: tracking planes at low altitude on snowboard cross slopes, dynamic shots on curling slopes or immersive runs on cross-country tracks. But the real innovation is in autonomy.
Drones work with AI-powered navigation systems that avoid obstaclesadjust routes according to weather conditions and coordinate routes without interference. They are not just remote control devices; they are intelligent nodes inside the red.
- Olympic Chatbots: conversation as a service
The fifth change is in the pocket of the spectator. Chatbots using advanced language models have been integrated into official apps and distribution platforms to offer personalized attention to thousands of fans.
This is not an automated FAQ. These systems respond to complete queries regarding calendars, historical results, specific regulations or comparative statistics. It is possible to explain why one point in the artistic patina is worse than another or Give the exact format of the stress test in biathlon.
AI in Milan-Cortina 2026 is not a futuristic experiment. When the number of judges increases, the cameras get brighter and the time is half a million, the technique becomes invisible. It’s time to create a part of your own result.
*** Alicia Richart is Afiniti’s General Manager for Spain and Portugal.
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