A “live” report from the 2024 Olympic Games and a heartfelt tribute to the positive power of sport proved to be the winning combination in the International Olympic Committee’s video contest for the Olympic Congress.
Vanessa Lee of Canada and Lee Kang-Eun of South Korea submitted their separate videos in response to a series of video challenges from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and other Olympians that were posted on the IOC’s web site in August.
“I want to know what you think the future of the Olympics is going to be. Seriously,” Bolt said. French archer Berangere Schuh, British BMX champion Shanaze Reade, Jamaican hurdler Melaine Walker, British boxer James Degale and British runner Dame Kelly Holmes also called for submissions.
More than 200 people responded before the contest closed on 22 September, and more than 20,000 from around the world have visited the Olympic Congress site on YouTube. The IOC announced the winners today and will reward them with free trips to the Olympic Congress, which will take place in Copenhagen from 3 to 5 October.
Vanessa Lee, an archer who hopes to compete in the 2012 Games, presented her vision of the future in video that features an interview with her at “the 2024 Games in Sierra Leone.” Lee, 20, poses as a competitor and tells the viewing audience that it is her fourth Olympic Games.
“It’s great seeing so many athletes from developing countries really step up their game. They’re really the ones to beat these days,” she tells her interviewer, a friend who poses as a sports journalist.
Lee Kang-Eun used her video to offer her prediction that the Olympic Games would help make the dream of global harmony become a reality by 2024. Although from Seoul, she is currently studying sports marketing in Rennes, France, in pursuit of her dream of becoming an IOC member.
“I think the word ‘harmony’ is the best word to describe the future of the Olympic Games,” she says on her video. Lee, also 20, tells the video audience that the Games and Olympic athletes set an example that fosters both political and social harmony.
“The Movement sends the message that if you try your best, if you have a dream and you go for it — never give up — you can really achieve that dream,” she says.
Discover Vanessa Lee’s winning video.
Discover the winning video submitted by Lee Kang-Eun.
The messages from Bolt and the other Olympians, as well other video submissions from the public, are here.
Although the video contest is over, the IOC is encouraging video submissions from anyone who would like to share their opinion. Videos can be uploaded at www.youtube.com/olympiccongress