The 2021 Golden Rings Awards, which celebrate media coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, featured more submissions than ever.

The winners were selected by an international jury headed by IOC member Anant Singh, a leading film and media professional, chair of the IOC Communications Commission and a member of the IOC's Olympic Channel Commission and the Digital & Technology Commission.

NBC Sports, the American sports programming division of NBCUniversal, was named the Best Olympic Digital Service winner.

NBCUniversal's "Imagine" also won the gold award for the Best Olympic Feature/Documentary and its programme titled "NBC Olympics' Coverage of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad" was named the Best Olympic Programme and won the Best Equality & Inclusion Content award, presented by worldwide The Olympic Partner Programme sponsor P&G.

NBCUniversal's fifth award - Best Innovation - was shared with Eurosport as the Eurosport Cube - an immersive studio with three-dimensional zoom software to aid analysis and punditry - and "NBC Olympics' Friends and Family Integration" were both given the gold.

Other key awards went to Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) - Sailing Team, named the Best Coverage by the Host Broadcaster and TV Globo's "Rayssa Leal", which won Best Athlete Profile.

The Lifetime Commitment Award went to Velitchka Nedialkova of Dutch channel ZDF.

The OBS won the Digital Fan Engagement and Commentary awards.

France TV's "Sumo" won Best On-Air Promotion and 7Network's "From Little Things, Big Things Grow" won Best Social Media Content/Production.

Upon the announcement of the awards, IOC President Thomas Bach said: "The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 were the most engaged Olympic Games ever and another landmark moment in sports broadcasting history. 

"Through the IOC’s partnerships with leading media companies around the world, we are able to share the magic of the Olympic Games to inspire billions of people. 

"Our close partnership with our broadcasters is a great reflection that we can only go faster, we can only aim higher, we can only become stronger, if we work together – in solidarity. 

"There were more submissions for the Golden Rings Awards than ever before, and the breadth, diversity and creativity of the production is testament to the passion and commitment of the individuals who work with us to broadcast the Olympic Games."

Awards were handed out at the IOC’s headquarters, Olympic House, in Lausanne.