By Stuart Kerr, Technology Correspondent
Published: 2025-07-15 | Last updated: 2025-07-15Contact: liveaiwire@gmail.com | Follow @LiveAIWire
Author Bio: https://www.liveaiwire.com/p/to-liveaiwire-where-artificial.html
Beyond the Finish Line
The Olympic Games have always tested the limits of human ability — strength, speed, skill, and spirit. But in 2024, a new competitor quietly entered the arena: artificial intelligence. From coaching decisions to doping detection and even real-time judging, AI is reshaping not only how athletes train, but how fairness itself is defined.
As we look ahead to future Games, one question echoes louder than the opening ceremony’s flame: can sport remain truly human in an age of machine insight?
Training with a Digital Coach
Athletes today aren’t just working with human coaches. They're plugged into AI-enhanced systems that track biomechanics, predict injuries, and personalise training schedules. According to a ResearchGate study, these tools are helping reduce overtraining and optimise peak performance windows using real-time sensor data and predictive analytics.
Smarter, Faster, Stronger, a LiveAIWire feature, explored how Olympic-level competitors now wear AI-assisted wearables that interpret muscle fatigue and make adjustments mid-session.
But some critics argue that tech-driven enhancement risks privileging athletes from countries with better access to advanced infrastructure. If AI is the new performance-enhancing drug, are we heading into an era of digital doping?
A New Age of Judging
One of the most controversial roles AI has assumed is in officiating. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, AI-assisted judging was deployed in gymnastics, boxing, and track events. According to TTMS, real-time video analytics flagged scoring anomalies and potential errors, giving officials the ability to override or confirm calls instantly.
While this reduced disputes, it also raised questions. Who oversees the algorithm? Can athletes appeal a judgment made by code?
The AI Love Algorithm examined similar concerns in subjective AI decision-making — where machines may interpret emotion, intention, or form but lack full human context.
Doping Detection or Data Overreach?
AI has become an essential tool in the fight against doping, analysing biological passports and detecting micro-trends in athlete blood data. The IOC’s Olympic AI Agenda (PDF) outlines how machine learning is deployed to flag suspicious physiological changes over time — often faster than traditional lab tests.
Yet, a BMJ paper (PDF) warns of the risk of false positives, particularly among underrepresented athlete populations whose biometric profiles may not match dominant training datasets.
These systems also open the door to broader surveillance — turning anti-cheat measures into intrusive monitoring of lifestyle, diet, and even mental health. Where is the line between clean sport and constant scrutiny?
Fair Play in the Age of Machines
A 2025 review in Tandfonline called for universal AI ethics standards across sports, citing the uneven implementation of AI across federations. Transparency, oversight, and athlete consent remain inconsistent.
As Black Box Medicine points out, opaque systems deployed in life-or-death decisions can erode trust. In sport — where reputations, medals, and livelihoods hang in the balance — that opacity is even more dangerous.
Between Human Drama and Machine Precision
AI has already proven itself a valuable ally in sport — in protecting athletes, enhancing accuracy, and maintaining integrity. But the Olympic motto may need an update. Faster, Higher, Stronger… and Fairer — if only we can agree on what fairness means when both humans and algorithms are in the race.
About the Author
Stuart Kerr is the Technology Correspondent at LiveAIWire. He writes about AI’s impact on infrastructure, governance, creativity, and power.
Contact: liveaiwire@gmail.com | Follow @LiveAIWire