The World Athletics (WA) held a virtual seminar on 21 July 2021.
The AAA President, Gen Dahlan Al Hamad welcomed the delegates of the member federations and others and wished them all success at the Olympics. The focus of the seminar is to bring the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) and member federations up to date with its preparations for a comprehensive coverage of the athletics events in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Athletics events will run from July 30 to August 8.
“We want to have the most comprehensive coverage of our sport,” said Jackie Brock-Doyle, Executive Director of Communications, WA, at the virtual meeting organized in collaboration with the AAA.
Apart from outlining what WA was planning by way of web coverage and coverage on social media platforms, Ms Brock-Doyle explained what Area Associations and member federations could do to augment the coverage in their own areas.
The WA expected each Area Association to have daily stories highlighting the athletes from their areas on their websites during the course of the athletics events at the Olympics, said Ms Brock-Doyle. It also wanted member federations to feature their athletes and their exploits at the Olympics on their websites.
Towards making athletics the “most talked-about sport” during the Olympics, WA wants Area Associations and member federations to feature their athletes on their websites through stories, photos, graphics etc to complement its own efforts.
Michelle Sammet, content and communications expert, explained certain content ideas that the Area Association and member federations may adopt.
They included: introduction of your team (bios, fun facts), educational pieces about various events and “how to watch athletics in your country” as a pre-Olympics build-up.
In case there were flag-bearers from athletics for their countries at the ceremonies, the WA encouraged member federations to highlight them on their websites, citing their achievements and prospects at the Games.
During the Olympics, one could provide details about which athletes are competing, how did they perform, what reaction was received in home country, record-breakers etc.
Post Olympics, websites could devote space for coverage of reception to teams at home, “moment of the Games”, fan polls and news about where athletes were heading next on the circuit, Ms. Sammet explained.
WA would provide daily content from Tokyo including reports and photographs. It will have a 13-member team at Tokyo, eight persons manning the Monaco communications set-up and 20 others backing them remotely.
