Discovery Unveils new Formats and Showcases new Anthem for Tokyo 2020 as Olympic Excitement Grows

June 4, 2021

discovery+ to be the Home of the Olympics in major European markets
Head to Head, Olympic Stories headline new formats on the road to Tokyo
New Olympic anthem, composed by Oscar-award winner Steven Price
Andrew Georgiou: “Our exciting new and exclusive formats and series are just the beginning and we’re looking forward to telling the Olympic stories that matter”

The road to Tokyo edges closer for millions of sports fans across Europe this week with Discovery launching new and original compelling formats as well as a sneak preview of its brand new anthem which is set to be the soundtrack of the Olympic summer.

Through captivating storytelling, innovative content and unrivalled expertise, an Olympic experience like no other will be delivered on discovery+ and Eurosport. In those European markets launching in 2021*, discovery+ will become the Home of the Olympics* in Europe with access to every unmissable moment, every medal, and every hero live and on demand meaning fans will have the opportunity to create a personalised Tokyo 2020 experience. In all other markets, Eurosport will continue to be the Home of the Olympics.

Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Services, said: “Nothing brings the world together like an Olympic Games. As all our communities look for the light at the end of the tunnel, this summer’s Games promises to be one of the most culturally relevant and significant in living memory, representing a much-needed celebration of humanity and global resilience.

“The way we bring this to life is by telling the most important stories, the ones that really matter on the road to Tokyo and help bring everyone closer to their heroes through our new and exclusive formats and series.

“Discovery’s unrivalled scale, coupled with Eurosport’s deep sports expertise, will engage the biggest aggregated audience across Europe during the Games and will be the only places to watch every unmissable moment, every medal and every hero as part of the most comprehensive Olympic Games experience ever.”

Eurosport Originals series – premiering on discovery+ and Eurosport

Complementing the brilliant Trailblazers series first launched in February, the 100 Days to Go milestone (14 April) will see Eurosport 1 host a special night of Olympic programming headlined by the premiere of brand new shows that will bring viewers closer to their heroes past and present via long and short formats.

Head to Head will see two of Eurosport’s esteemed experts compare and contrast some of the greatest icons of the Olympic era. The eight-episode series starts on 14 April with a double-header as an age-old debate centres on Usain Bolt and Carl Lewis followed by Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps to determine who are the greatest athletes in their field. Future episodes are set to pit tennis icons Steffi Graf and Serena Williams against one another, middle-distance gurus Mo Farah and Haile Gebrselassie as well as legendary heptathletes Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Jessica Ennis-Hill.

The Olympic Stories series, another Eurosport original, will also kick-off on 14 April looking at some of the iconic moments that have become etched in Olympic history. Eurosport travels across the globe to speak to the biggest stars and explore the most fascinating stories. “Big in Japan” opens the new format, a look back to Japan 1964 and what was known as the ‘perfect Games’. Future episodes will feature exclusive interviews with disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson as well as athletes who have broken barriers in their quest to compete at an Olympic Games.

A third new format, Essential Olympic Stories presented by Bridgestone, will premiere on 18 May which aims to tell some of the most thrilling stories in Olympic history. From Michael Phelps to Dawn Fraser and Muhammad Ali to Nadia Comaneci as well as featuring some of the forgotten heroes of yester-year, a new episode of Essential Olympic Stories will be released weekly until Games-time to be screened on linear complemented by long-form written articles and video clips published across Eurosport’s digital and social platforms.

A new anthem for a new era

Produced exclusively for Discovery, the 100 Day to Go milestone (14 April) will see fans given a sneak peak of its new on-air Olympic anthem for the very first time. Oscar-winning composer Steven Price – famed for the sounds of Lord of the Rings and Suicide Squad – has collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra, recognised as the world’s leading soundtrack orchestra, to record the four-minute anthem at the iconic Abbey Road Studios.

The new percussion-driven anthem illustrates all of the emotions and moments athletes and fans will experience on the way to the Games. The piano-driven segment that opens the piece of music is synonymous with the anticipation of Games-time itself and as the anthem accelerates, the tempo of the anthem builds slowly eventually into a crescendo representing that the Games have arrived.

The “calm” section of the anthem will be used within the 100 Days to Go 60-second on-air spot to fit the idea that final preparations on the journey for any Olympian competing at the Games start now, the quiet moment when an athlete builds up to their big moment. Clips from the stunning piece of music will be heard by fans on intros and outros for all Olympic programming on Eurosport platforms in the lead-up to, and during, Games-time.

The anthem will be used for all Tokyo 2020 content and programming, living beyond to Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and Olympic Games Paris 2024 to make it synonymous with all of discovery+ and Eurosport’s coverage of the Olympics.On the journey to producing the new anthem, Steven Price – who won an Oscar for his work on Gravity, explains: “It was an interesting brief. The start is all about the energy and excitement of the Olympics, a little bit of mystery, we’ve got the journey of the individual, the quiet little moment when you feel someone build up to their moment.

“So it was finding all these themes and managing to make them work as a four minute continuous piece but something you can take a certain section of it and feel a certain way – it’s been an adventure of trying to tell a story in a very small amount of space but on a scale you would use in a movie.”

100 Days to Go Programming Schedule (all times CEST):

Eurosport 1
20:00 Olympic Stories, Big in Japan
21:00 Head to Head, Athletics – Usain Bolt vs Carl Lewis
21:30 Head to Head, Swimming – Michael Phelps vs Mark Spitz
22:00 Trailblazers, Cathy Freeman

About Discovery’s Olympic Games Coverage:

As the Home of the Olympics in Europe, discovery+ and Eurosport* will be the only place to watch every unmissable moment from the Games, with Discovery’s localised coverage bringing fans closer to their national heroes than ever before. Fans will also be able to watch the choose the action they want the way they want it, meaning that they won’t miss any of the 339 events across the 33 different sports that matter to them across online, mobile or connected TVs.

Eurosport’s presentation of Tokyo 2020 will be underpinned by the award-winning mixed-reality Eurosport Cube. The original Cube was utilized for the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang before it was updated for Eurosport’s coverage of the most recent Grand Slam tennis events at the US Open, Roland-Garros as well as this year’s Australian Open. Details of the brilliant new and enhanced Cube studio, to be used during Tokyo 2020, will be released ahead of Games-time.

As announced at the original 500 Days to Go mark in March 2019, Discovery and Eurosport will become much more than a broadcaster, instead operating as cultural connectors to Tokyo 2020. Building on the previously released Eurosport Tokyo 2020 brand mark, Discovery and Eurosport have created a created a unique visual language with relevant sport iconography to dramatize and tie sport and culture together.

*Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be available to watch on discovery+ in Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain and United Kingdom. In all other European markets, except Russia, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be available on Eurosport.

Contact

Steve Stammers
Communications Director
+44 7795 062414
SportsComms@discovery.com