BUSINESS PARTNER
FUKUSHIMA STUDENTS
Photo: IOC/Dave Thompson
PROMOTION
FUKUSHIMA STUDENTS Promoted Reconstruction
Six inspirational students from disaster-hit areas of japan have been sampling the olympic spirit, benefiting from a cultural exchange and acquiring life-changing experience through the ‘support our kids’ programme, delivered in partnership with the ioc and the swiss embassy
T
he students witnessed the magic of the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Lausanne 2020 and will continue their experience with a visit to the Youth Olympic Village t to participate in the athlete education activities, attend a number of events on snow and ice (and learn to ski themselves!), and serve as volunteers for a day with the Lausanne 2020 Organising Committee. On arrival in Lausanne they were welcomed at Olympic House by IOC President Thomas Bach. The six students are aged between 14 and 17, are all active
46
in sport, and hail from the three north-eastern Japanese prefectures that were hit hardest by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which claimed 15,000 lives and left more than 500,000 people displaced. They were selected for the programme after providing compelling reasons about how they would use the experience to acquire skills to aid reconstruction efforts back home, particularly with regard to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The students are the second group to visit the Olympic Capital from Fukushima, with another group coming over for
