IOC announces Olympic Golden Rings award winners

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) this 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

For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:

Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org.

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