We now know how drones at the Olympics work, including who flies them and why NBC uses them

We now know how drones at the Olympics work, including who flies them and why NBC uses them originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Olympic skiing, snowboarding and more have featured drones making themselves quite known throughout NBC's television broadcasts.

They buzz, and they capture great camera shots, and they're pretty high tech.

They're also really close to the action, which makes them a fascinating addition to the Games.

The reality is that they're incredibly well thought out. The Washington Post's Barry Svrluga did a great story sharing more about how they work.

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For one, he shared that there are three-man teams with every drone.

"Each drone is operated by a three-person team — a pilot, a director and a technician — working in constant communication via a dedicated channel to manage flight paths, timing and technical adjustments, a level of coordination (Olympic Broadcasting Services) says is designed to prioritize safety while capturing dynamic shots," Svrulga writes.

NBC is loving the shots they get from these up-close, dynamic cameras.

“When a camera is chasing the athlete down the hill — right in front of them or right behind them — you truly get the sense of how fast they’re going,” said Michael Sheehan, the coordinating director of NBC's Olympics coverage, via Svrluga. “That’s virtually impossible to capture with a wide shot shooting from the side. The drone coverage takes us to a place we’ve traditionally never been.”

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That's definitely the main point here. Some of these camera angles have never existed in these sports until right now.

“Traditional sports coverage is perpendicular — cameras shooting as action moves left to right,” Sheehan said. “The drones let us be parallel to the athlete, right in front of them or right behind them, and that changes everything.”

These drones will start to raise the question, too: Can this be done in other sports outside of the Olympics? 

Don't be surprised if the major sports start to at least consider what this might look like in the future.

More Olympics news:

• This U.S. luge star was parodied on SNL
• NBC's drone cameras have everyone's attention
• The Winter Olympics mascots are adorable
• Mike Tirico had a crazy flight to get from the Super Bowl to the Olympics
• 5 U.S. women's hockey stars attended the same high school
• Jutta Leerdam, Jake Paul share golden moment with tears of joy