The first weekend of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is over. Medals have already been awarded, there’s been great success and also some devastating moments. But what has been on my mind all weekend is a certain consistent buzzing noise during almost every downhill run: FPV drones.
FPV drones are being used in almost every aspect of the Olympic production this year in Milan and Cortina. From chasing down athletes as they skate down the luge track or skiers on their way down a hill, the new “chase cam” option is changing the way we view Olympic sports, and it’s likely here to stay.
If you haven’t been watching the Olympics, we’ll have to catch you up. The majority of the sports using drones over the weekend were any downhill ones, primarily fast-paced ones like luge, freestyle skiing, or downhill skiing. The added angle from the FPV drones gives nearly a third-person view of the action, almost making you feel like you’re inside the athlete’s historic run.
These views are thanks to the Olympic Broadcasting Services, the agency in charge of capturing every aspect of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The OBS are the ones manning the cameras that then provide live feeds to broadcast networks like NBC that provide live commentary to you.
FPV drones were showcased for the first time in 2024 at the Paris Olympic Games. The success that summer has brought the technology front and center this year.
For the most part, it seems like each sport has one drone active at any time, and the pilots aren’t tracking every run. You’ll know the drone is being flown for that run when you hear the unmistakable high-speed buzzing of the propellers just ready to rip down the slope or track.
It’s safe to say that while FPV drone shots may have (in my opinion) been overdone in recent years to an almost cliché level, the addition of their regular use by the Olympics is a really great touch to create fresh takes on iconic views.
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