The World Championships in Ashgabat was easier to watch than ever!
IWF, Lagardère Sports set numerous production and distribution milestones in Ashgabat.
The IWF and Lagardère Sports continued to build on their successful partnership with a fantastic showing at the 2018 IWF World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Entering its third consecutive World Championships as Host Broadcaster for the World Championships, Lagardère Sports maintained its top-notch production standards for the IWF’s signature event, while implementing new production elements that raised the sport to new heights.
Working in partnership with domestic broadcaster Turkmenistan State TV (TKM TV), Lagardère produced over 50 hours of live coverage from Ashgabat, including all 20 A Sessions along with select B Sessions. TKM TV provided state of the art production facilities, equipment and technical support throughout the 10-day event.
Lagardère’s production included many historic firsts for the sport of weightlifting, from a record 16 cameras covering all the storylines both on and off the competition platform, to the implementation of new TV graphics designed to make the Championships more understandable for new audiences. Among the many first-time production enhancements implemented in Ashgabat was the use of multiple crane cameras, providing an enhanced spectator experience and unique viewing angles from both the stage and warmup areas. Lagardère Sports also used 3 portable Radio Frequency cameras in Ashgabat, with 2 cameras dedicated to the warmup area to capture every strategic coaching move.
When factoring in the 8-camera production from TKM TV and a 6-camera webcast production for B, C and D sessions, an astounding 30 cameras caught every angle of competition over the 10-day event.
In its role as media rights distributor for the World Championships, Lagardère Sports ensured that this historic production was available to a record 
number of fans around the globe. After negotiating distribution deals in nearly 150 countries with major international broadcasters such as ESPN, Fox, CCTV and L’Equipe, Lagardère conducted an unprecedented agreement with Olympic Channel to air all 50+ hours of fully-produced action live in every remaining available market in the world.
Lagardère Sports and the IWF will look to build on this success at the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand in September.
—
