Power Gems at Rio 2016 Olympics
Power Gems has played a part in many defining sporting events, reaching a high point this year with the Rio de Janiero Olympics. Over 2,000 Power Gems ballasts were installed around the field of play in seven of the Olympic venues.
In addition to the field-of-play lighting, we were involved with the artistic elements of the games, providing the ballasts for the 10 Robert Juliat Lancelot followspots used in the opening and closing ceremonies (shown below in the Maracanã Stadium, a showcase venue in Rio de Janiero.)
Power Gems worked closely with Olympic Games worldwide partner General Electric (GE), to bring the Olympic Games to life with flicker-free lighting. The organisers, the International Olympic Committee, demanded the highest broadcasting standards, specifying flicker-free lighting for super slow-motion cameras at 300 frames per second.
To ensure flicker-free lighting, Power Gems provided lighting ballasts for seven venues including the Maracanã stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremony and many of the football matches; the cycling velodrome (below) and tennis centre (also below).
As Rio geared up to host the Olympics, Power Gems became increasingly involved in the preparations for the biggest sporting event of 2016. In the run-up, Phil Ellams, owner and head of product design at Power Gems, flew out to Rio:
“In recent years the standards required for major TV sports lighting have increased dramatically. It’s now essential to have totally flicker free light right across the field of play, with well-controlled colour temperature, making electronic ballasts the ideal solution. Our ballasts are flicker free and regularly chosen for high-profile sporting events around the world.”
Power Gems have been used in the Beijing Olympics in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
GE has supported the Olympic Games since 2005, continuing with the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Korea, through to Tokyo 2020.
