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Press Packs Winter Olympics 2006

The 2006 Winter Olympic Games on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ
Coverage starts 10 February on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO

Category: Sport; ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO; Five Live
Date: 10.01.2006
Printable version

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport will bring the live action from the Turin Winter Olympics (10 to 26 February) back to the UK, across television – plus an interactive element - radio, and online – plus a broadband service.

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Roger Mosey, Director ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport, said: "These will be the first fully-fledged Winter Olympics of the digital age. We'll be using cutting-edge technology to make the coverage as compelling as possible; and then we'll be offering more choice of sport than ever before - with people able to get extra live events at the press of a red button."

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Some 2,500 of the world's greatest winter athletes come to the Games to take part in the world's biggest festival of winter sports. The competition not only includes the more traditional events such as figure skating and alpine skiing, but also the more extreme sports like snowboarding, the luge and skeleton.

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There will be daily live television coverage, plus an evening highlights programme.

Winter Olympics

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For the first time, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport has a studio at the Winter Olympics in Sestriere, putting ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coverage right at the heart of the event and providing a breathtaking Italian, snow-clad mountain back drop.

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Roly Keating, Controller ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO, said: "For 17 days this February, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO will be the home of the Winter Olympics, devoting over 100 hours of coverage to one of the great events in world sport.

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"It's the first time in 12 years that we'll be in the same time zone so audiences will be able to enjoy the action as it happens, in prime time.

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"And alongside the core coverage, a host of regular ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO programmes, from Top Gear to The Culture Show, will be getting in on the act with special editions and features exploring all aspects of the Winter Olympics and its wonderful location in the Italian Alps."

Winter Olympics

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport is leading the way in sports broadcasting innovation by using a technique never before seen on British television - called StroMotion - as part of its Winter Olympics Games coverage.

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StroMotion is an image enhancement which creates stunning trajectory video footage revealing the evolution of an athlete's movement, technique, execution and tactics over space and time.

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport viewers will be allowed to see an athletic movement, such as the line of a skier, unfold before their eyes by compounding video images into a frame-by-frame sequence.

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The StroMotion concept is based on stroboscoping, a means to analyse rapid movement so that a moving object is perceived as a series of static images along the object's trajectory.

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Digital TV viewers can enjoy some 500 hours of programming, through a choice of up to four extra screens, offering live events and news round-ups.

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This will be complemented by a text service offering news, results, medals tables and a viewing planner.

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There will be a dedicated ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport website at bbc.co.uk/winterolympics which will have all the latest news and features plus easy-to-understand breakdowns of all the major sports.

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Also on the site will be an interactive snowboarding guide offering insights into those spectacular tricks of the trade.

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At bbc.co.uk/winterolympics, broadband users can also choose from five channels showing simulcast coverage from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Television, plus all the best bits on-demand.

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On ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO Broadband there will be daily video round-ups as well as the best of the bloopers and best-ever moments.

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The three main television presenters will be the all-women team of Sue Barker, Hazel Irvine and Clare Balding.

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Steve Cram will be presenting and reporting and Colin Jackson will be a roving reporter around the Games. Commentators include ex-Olympians and experts such as Graham Bell and Robin Cousins.

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Vassos Alexander and Jamie Broughton will provide regular updates on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Five Live and there will be a round-up every evening in Sport on Five.

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport's operation in Italy will be run by Executive Producer Jonny Bramley and overseen by Executive Editor Dave Gordon. Gordon, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport's Head of Major Events, has run the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's coverage of the last three Winter Olympics. Philip Bernie will be the London-based Editor for duration of the Games.

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Expert Analysts and Commentators

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Barry Davies ... Opening/Closing ceremonies, Skating

Robin Cousins ... Skating

Ed Leigh ... Snowboard

Graham Bell ... Skiing/Ski Jump

Matt Chilton ... Skiing

Hugh Porter ... Speed Skating

Wilf O'Reilly ... Speed Skating & Short Track

Dougie Donnelly ... Curling

Kirsty Hay ... Curling

Brent Pope ... Ice Hockey

Emma Carrick-Anderson ... Skiing

Paul Dickenson ... Bob/Luge/Skeleton

Colin Bryce ... Bob/Luge/Skeleton

Bob Ballard ... Ice Hockey

Stuart Storey ... Cross Country, Biathlon and Speed Skating Harry Gration ... Cross Country, Biathlon & Nordic Combined

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WINTER OLYMPICS PRESS PACK: