Paris 2024: Creating the Olympic spirit with ISB's production of the shooting and modern pentathlon By Heather McLean
Monday, August 19, 2024 - 12:22
Print This Story
ISB's full team line up at the Ch teau de Versailles for the Paris 2024 modern pentathlon
The best thing I think about these Olympics is that the crowds were phenomenal, says managing director at International Sports Broadcasting (ISB), Ursula Romero. Every venue was packed all the time, which was really great in comparison to the last few Games.
Romero and a strong team from ISB were in Paris for the duration of the Games. While Romero was working on quality control at the IBC covering shooting, equestrian, modern pentathlon, rugby sevens, hockey, breaking, 3X3 basketball and surfing for Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), her ISB team produced first the shooting and then the modern pentathlon for the host broadcaster. ISB's head of production, David Taunton was leading the team of around 30 people that was producing the live OBS feed for shooting and modern pentathlon.
The shooting and modern pentathlon did not overlap, so the ISB team was able to have a day off in between the end of the shooting competitions and the start of the modern pentathlon, but it has a been a tough and long haul, notes Romero.
Romero comments: The team had one day to break [between shooting and modern pentathlon] because there was a turnover for the venue, which was also quite exhausting for the actual venue team, she says.
ISB's Oliver Valente, director for the shooting, Ursula Romero, ISB's MD, and ISB's head of production, David Taunton who was leading the team for the Olympic production of the shooting at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre
Olympic spirit
The shooting took place at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, which welcomed 340 Olympic athletes and is set to see 160 Paralympic athletes competing in shooting events during the Paris 2024 Games.
One of the difficulties for the shooting was the location, comments Romero: One of the challenges was that shooting is not one of the top sports, and it was in a venue that was quite far away [nearly three hours' drive from central Paris], so they were kind of isolated, and the whole Olympic spirit wasn't as palpable as at other venues. I think they were unfortunate; the venue was not very well dressed, so even though OBS tried really hard, I guess the budget was also something to consider.
Unfortunately, the venue didn't look very great. So that was a challenge for the team, because, especially in the indoor shooting range, the space is quite tight, there's not a lot of spectators, and the athletes are all standing very tight together, and [there are] cameras everywhere to try and cover different angles, so it makes it really hard to make it look good [on screen].
Although shooting is not normally a hot' sport for the Olympics, at Paris 2024 when Turkish silver medallist Yusuf Dikec went viral globally for his cool stance and casual demeanour, viewers started to pay attention.
Comments Romero on her team's production of the sport: I think, not to be sound big headed, but I think we did a really good job with the shooting. We really tried to make an effort to make it look better in the venue and we were lucky also because there was some really nice stories, like the Turkish guy, Dikec. So I think at the same time, maybe we helped the shooting a little bit because it's not generally one of the favourites.
Beautiful backdrop
For ISB's team, shooting at Versailles for the modern pentathlon was a completely different situation, with both space and a stunning backdrop. Versailles was really spectacular, says Romero. We were very lucky with the weather. They used the equestrian venue with a swimming pool at the back of it, looking out through Versailles to the Palace. It was great because everything was easily visible for all spectators, plus you had that beautiful backdrop; it was stunning. The stands were ram-packed, which was also really great.
The modern pentathlon put 72 Olympic athletes through their paces in five sports - equestrian dressage and jumping, fencing, swimming and laser run at the Ch teau de Versailles. An arena at Versailles staged the horse jumping and dressage competitions (for both Olympic and the coming Paralympic competitions). The individual and team eventing cross-country section was held alongside the Grand Canal at the Ch teau. Then in a very fast changeround for the venue's event team, the five modern pentathlon events were also organised at the Ch teau de Versailles.
Romero goes onto the challenges for the team working on the modern pentathlon: They had the equestrian sports [at Versailles] for a long time, then they had to in one day change over the venue completely and set it up for modern pentathlon, which had a different setup from the equestrian side. They had to set up the laser run, they had to set up the stage for the fencing. And then we only had one day of rehearsal.
So it was challenging for the ISB and venue teams, and also from a technical point of view. There was a lot of camera movements during the modern pentathlon, because obviously you try to use the camera placement efficiently and wisely, because everything is very visible; you don't want to have the field of play full of cameras. So, there was a lot of camera movements between the different [modern pentathlon] disciplines and it was a hard task for the team to move the cameras and get them into position. There's breaks between each of the different elements of the modern pentathlon, but it wasn't a lot, so it was quite hard on the team, but I think the end product looked very good.
The Olympic women of ISB's crew take a bow at the Ch teau de Versailles
Diverse team
Gender diversity w
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
Paris 2024: Creating the Olympic spirit with ISB's production of the shooting and modern pentathlon By Heather McLean 
