“Rachel Feltman reports that drones are being used to film ski and snowboarding events at the Winter Olympics in Sochi”

Sochi drone shooting Olympic TV, not terrorists
http://news.yahoo.com/sochi-drone-shooting-olympic-tv-not-terrorists-152517775.html

That drone you might have spotted hovering and zipping around the Sochi Olympic slopes isn’t searching for terrorists or protesters hiding behind the fir trees.

It’s being used to transmit live video of snowboard and ski jump competitions to a screen near you.

Q: Why use a drone to film Olympic events?

A: “We can go really, really close. And we are really quiet, so nobody is distracted,” said pilot and cameraman Remo Masina, who has used drones to film skiers in Switzerland for commercials.

And it’s cheaper than a camera crew on a helicopter.

Q: Couldn’t a drone crash onto the crowd?

A: It could, but so could a much heavier helicopter.

Masina said chances of drone crashes are close to zero when a drone is handled by an experienced pilot, because the drones are programmed to return to base at the slightest problem

Q: Could hackers divert a drone?

A: It’s possible.
But since the video drones are not armed, there’s a limit to the damage a hacker could do with them.

Q: Are drones legal to fly?

A: Local laws vary widely in terms of who can fly drones, where and for what purpose. Many countries impose restrictions for reasons of security and privacy, and so they won’t interfere with airplanes.

The Future of Sports Photography: Drones
They’re already at the Olympics. Soon, they’ll be at the football stadium.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/the-future-of-sports-photography-drones/283896/

Drones are being used to film ski and snowboarding events at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, as you may have noticed. But the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for sports photography is far from a passing gimmick. In fact, you should expect more and more athletic events to be filmed by drone.

The drones are quieter and cheaper than a manned helicopter (though they can still cost up to $40,000), he told the Associated Press, and they allow the filmmaker to get much closer to his subject.

Drones are also more flexible than cable-suspended camera systems, which are also present at the Winter Olympics.

Drones are being used to film ski and snowboarding events at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, as you may have noticed. But the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for sports photography is far from a passing gimmick. In fact, you should expect more and more athletic events to be filmed by drone.