MADRID—As the countdown to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang continues, the Olympic Channel wants to offer its viewers a special look into what it takes to compete as an athlete during the games through a new original virtual reality series. “Trending Gold” is a seven-episode, multi-part series that will premiere Thursday, Jan. 4.
“Trending Gold” is filmed entirely in 360 VR and was produced exclusively for the Olympic Channel by Jaunt. The series gives fan a first-hand look at the life of an athlete who prepares for the Winter Olympics. Additional immersive content will include 360-degree video, behind-the-scenes episodes and other short-form videos, all of which will be available on the global platform. Full episodes can be viewed on major VR headset systems, as well as the Jaunt mobile app.
The show features nine athletes and Olympic hopefuls representing six countries who will participate in snowboard big air, alpine skiing, short track speed skating and bobsled. The athletes include Jamie Anderson (USA) and Max Parrot (Canada), who will compete in snowboarding; the first ever Continental African bobsled team from Nigeria—Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga; alpine skiers Luca Aerni (Switzerland) and Ilka Stuhec (Slovenia); and speed skaters Ye Jin Kim and Dae Heon Hwang (South Korea).
Two episodes will be devoted to the Nigerian bobsled team, the snowboarders and alpine skiers, with the final episode following the Korean speed skaters.
All episodes will be available on olympicchannel.com and on its mobile apps.
The 2018 Winter Olympics will take place from Feb. 9-Feb. 25.
