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Home News Road to Chengdu 2021: the selection of 12 international Young Reporters unveiled

Road to Chengdu 2021: the selection of 12 international Young Reporters unveiled

FISU 26 May 2023

FISU has announced today the list of the 12 international Young Reporters who will cover the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games, from 28 July to 8 August.

Under the FISU Young Reporters Programme (YRP) and in partnership with AIPS, the selected participants will help covering the competitions on all FISU platforms. Their contributions will include daily recaps, features articles, social media content and television interviews. In return, they will acquire a broader experience and enhance their skills which should boost their beginning journalism or digital media career.

A pool of four Young Reporters who had been selected for, and participated in the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Winter are returning and will travel to China. They are Annika Saunus (GER), Julieta Boschiazzo (ARG), Louis Gilles (FRA) and Miha Trošt (Slovenia)

Eight new Young Reporters will join them, following a thorough review of their applications: Andjela Cegar (CRO), Noor Saleha Salem (PHI), Pedro Consoli (BRA), Miriam Celebiler (USA), Netra Venkitasubramanian (IND), Ana Brenčić (CRO), Hassan Abdulsalam (NIG) and Piotrek Przyborowski (POL).

Three high level mentors – Michel Bélanger and Stéphane Jobin (from FISU) and Riccardo Romani (from AIPS) – will provide them with training, coaching and daily assignments and reviews. The Young Reporters will also benefit from lectures given by experienced professionals.

“This is an incredible opportunity. I am beyond grateful to have been selected as a Young Reporter for the FISU Games in Chengdu. There are no words to describe the honour and privilege I feel. This is a dream come true for me,” said Andjela Cegar from Croatia.

“I am truly honoured to be a part of the Young Reporters Programme in China, and I am looking forward to the enriching experiences and valuable learning opportunities it will bring. I am eager to contribute my skills and passion to the programme,” echoed Hassan Abdulsalam from Nigeria.

“We are very happy with the selection. It is a good mix of skills and practice, we wanted more digital media students to support our new social media-, multimedia- and television-driven strategy and we received really good applications covering these areas,” said Olivier van Bogaert, FISU Head of Media and Communications. “It is also essential to have journalists of the same age range as our priority target audience, since they are using the same communications tools.”

In Chengdu the 12 International Young Reporters, all aged 25 or slightly under, will take part in a series of cultural events. Moreover, they will mix with 12 Chinese Young Reporters, chosen by the Chengdu 2021 Organising Committee, during the whole duration of the event.

“The YRP is an educational programme and reflects well FISU’s approach to not only commit to sports. The interaction between students who are graduating in the same field but come from very different regions and cultures is a cornerstone of the programme,” van Bogaert added.

The 12 Young Reporters now have a couple of months to prepare for what will undoubtfully be an amazing moment in their (professional) life.

The Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games will feature 18 sports and 269 competitions, and more than 2,000 journalists are expected to cover the event on site.