The Times used 3-D animation, machine learning, custom data pipelines, and unconventional storytelling techniques to bring readers visual coverage of the Paris Olympics.
The Times created a visualization of the 100-meter dash that allowed readers to understand how the high-speed event unfolded. As these events happen in a matter of seconds, this new visualization gave readers control of the race’s time, allowing them to experience the competition at their own pace.
Custom-written software, machine learning and computer vision were used to extract the speed of each runner from burst photography The Times captured at the event. This speed data was then overlaid onto a composite photograph of the race, allowing readers to see how the race’s competitors compared in real time. The team fine-tuned this complex pipeline, and the visualization was published within a couple of hours of the event. It explained how Noah Lyles pulled off an incredible, come-from-behind victory in the men’s 100-meter, which was the closest in modern history. The team also covered the women’s event, which showed in detail how Julien Alfred dominated the race right from the start to win gold.
The Times also developed a series of data-driven, quick-turnaround visualizations of every swimming and running event to offer readers instant recaps of these competitions. The team built an efficient system to render miniature 3-D animations within seconds based on live event data.
Here’s how it worked. When a race finished, a Node.js app built by the team transformed results data into a series of original 3-D animations rendered by JavaScript in the browser. The team, watching the Olympics in real time, used a bespoke authoring tool created for this project to immediately review the animation for accuracy and generate a series of video files. These files, designed for specific platforms, were ready to publish in minutes.
To cover swimming, the team studied and modeled the four different strokes used by swimmers in the various events. They refined the sequences of dives, kick turns and relay events to best replicate the feeling of the real swimmers. The running events required a combination of realistic animation sequences and clever camera work to capture the turns of the Olympic track. The team chose lo-fi characters to maintain quick rendering performance and to lean into offering something that felt new in a competitive coverage area. Composers worked with the graphics team to produce an original soundtrack and data-triggered sound effects to add momentum and polish to the visualizations. The animations were an original way to capture the drama of some of the biggest Olympic moments.
“How Fast Is That Going?” was a unique quiz format that cut through the glut of conventional advance stories about the Paris Games. It engaged readers by asking them to guess the speed of various objects featured at the Olympics, based on original high-speed video of athletes The Times captured from multiple locations around the country. This unconventional, visual approach gave readers a new way to understand the physics of these sports.
