Beginning my public relations internship at the University of Hull, I didn’t think I would get the chance to meet two Olympic medalists from the Tokoyo 2020 Olympic Games a couple of days later.
The University recently held the ‘5k your way’ event which is part of the ‘I am Team GB’ national programme. You could complete the 5k in any way you wanted. The programme aims to encourage more people to get active and be inspired by Britain’s sporting heroes. Two of those heroes attended the event to support the programme – Bradley Sinden, who won the silver for Taekwondo and Bryony Page, who won the bronze for trampolining.
This year is the second one running for the University of Hull’s partnership with Team GB. I felt lucky to be given the opportunity to experience what the partnership represents, first-hand.
On interviewing Bradley, I asked how it felt the moment he won the silver - he initially said he was disappointed, having not won the gold! He explained however, that this is now his next mission for the 2024 Olympics, set to take place in Paris.
Both Olympians were very friendly and modest about their wins, and it was a pleasure to chat with them. They made an effort to chat to lots of attendees and were happy to answer our questions and pose for photographs.
‘It really was – 5K your way!’
It was great to see people of all ages and abilities taking part in the ‘5k your way’ event and it really was ‘your way’ – even a baby in a pram participated! The event catered for children - providing a bouncy castle and face painting. A BBQ and lots of water were also on hand to keep participants in the ‘5k your way’ hydrated.
Being given the opportunity to meet and interview Bradley and Bryony was fantastic and a great first insight into the world of public relations. As well as meeting the two Olympians, I met some of the PR team from the University of Hull in person, which was a nice change from Microsoft Teams!
I also spent some time with other media staff that were involved in the day, in particular the production team who were creating a video about the event. Meeting and working alongside them gave me some insight into the bigger picture of the media side of things – which I am sure will be beneficial to my internship.
Click here to watch a video with snippets from the day.
Even if you aren’t a big Olympics or sports fan, you could still enjoy ‘5k your way’, as it was about getting the local community together, being active and having fun. Not being a huge sports fan myself, I wouldn’t have attended the event had I not been doing my internship, but I’m glad I did.
On asking the attendees of the event what their highlight had been, the comments were a mix of how nice it was to experience so many people together, participating in the event, especially after the last year and a half, and of course, the BBQ!
Sarah Richmond, graduated with a degree in Philosophy, and is now working as an intern in the Press Office at the University.