Ski‑mountaineering’s Olympic inauguration captured in Bormio The 2026 Milan‑Cortina Games featured ski‑mountaineering for the first time, with athletes climbing a steep course in Bormio, Italy. Photographer Gabriele Facciotti used a 70–200 mm lens and manual focus because heavy snowfall disabled autofocus, allowing him to freeze the climbers against a backdrop of geometric stair‑case lines. The resulting black‑and‑white image highlights the sport’s intensity and the orderly architecture of the venue, underscoring the event’s historic debut[1].

Robotic cameras deployed across remote Olympic venues three‑person AP robotics team spent weeks before the Games installing and testing remote camera systems at distant sites, marking the agency’s first widespread use of such technology. Photographers positioned cameras in previously inaccessible locations, including crawling into a hockey goal to fine‑tune angles, thereby capturing unique perspectives of speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, curling and short‑track events[2]. The robotic setups expanded visual coverage beyond traditional viewpoints, delivering striking images that complemented human‑shot photography.

Synergy of manual and automated imaging enriches storytelling Both articles, published on 19 February 2026, illustrate how AP combined Facciotti’s manual expertise with robotic systems to document the Games. The manual shot of ski‑mountaineering and the robot‑captured moments across multiple sports together provide a richer, more immersive narrative of the Olympics. This dual approach demonstrates AP’s commitment to innovative visual journalism while preserving the artistic eye of seasoned photographers[1][2].