Juan Antonio Samaranch, Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and founder and Honorary President of the Samaranch Foundation, visited the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 1 August, where he communicated with Chinese interns from Beijing International Studies University (BISU).

Internship mentor Yan Hong from the BISU International Exchange and Cooperation Office introduced the internship programme and its operations. On behalf of BISU, he expressed sincere gratitude to the IOC Vice-President, the Samaranch Foundation, the Beijing Olympic City Development Foundation, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and its CEO Yiannis Exarchos. He said that this internship programme broadened the horizons of the participating BUIS students and honed their practical skills.

Intern representatives Li Wanze (left) and Xiong Hanrui share their work experience at Paris 2024 with the IOC Vice-President

Juan Antonio Samaranch noted that communication is crucial to the Olympic spirit, and younger generations are key to Olympic communication. The broadcasting work, in which the interns are engaged, connects the world by virtue of the Olympics and demonstrates the true value of the Olympics – not only as a spectacle for determining the world’s best athletes but also as a platform that conveys the possibility of building a better world together.

During Paris 2024, BISU, the Samaranch Foundation and the Beijing Olympic City Development Foundation co-organised the 2024 Paris Olympic internship programme. With support from the IOC, OBS provides 29 internship opportunities for students at BISU. This is the first time in the IOC’s history that OBS has granted internship opportunities to students from non-host countries.