Sony And World Athletics Debut Broadcast Innovations

Sony Corporation and World Athletics will roll out a suite of broadcast innovations at the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, from 11–13 September.

Sony will serve as an official global partner, deploying its proprietary optical tracking system to produce a new sprint finish visualisation as a proof of concept at the event.

Leveraging Sony's long-standing work with top-tier broadcasters at major sporting occasions, the collaboration aligns with World Athletics' ambition to reimagine how the sport is presented and to deliver more immersive, emotionally engaging viewing for audiences around the globe.

Presented as a bold new global championship uniting the world’s leading athletes to determine the sport's best, the Ultimate Championship places broadcast innovation at the centre of the fan experience. The initiatives aim to make defining moments clearer, more immersive and more emotionally resonant for viewers worldwide.

Developed for track disciplines, Sony's technology captures athlete movement data and reconstructs the decisive moments of sprint races as immersive three‑dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) visualisations. These assets will be integrated into the host broadcaster’s international feed, which will be carried by more than 30 major broadcasters, including the BBC (United Kingdom), NBCUniversal (United States), CCTV (China), ARD/ZDF (Germany), NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), L’Équipe (France), CPSL (Caribbean), Polsat (Poland) and TBS (Japan).

By turning split‑second performances into dynamic visual storytelling, the proof of concept is designed to offer audiences a fresh perspective on athletics, showcasing the exceptional speed and athleticism of the world’s top competitors.

As part of the partnership, Sony will also continue to support accredited photographers at the on‑site Camera Service Booth to help streamline their creative and delivery workflows. Hawk‑Eye Innovations, a Sony group company, will provide video replay services to assist World Athletics officials in making accurate and efficient decisions throughout the championship.

www.sony.co.jp