Asbury students have worked behind the scenes at the Olympic Games for decades, gaining hands-on media experience that prepares them for careers in sports broadcasting and beyond.
This winter, Asbury University students worked at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, serving alongside faculty and alumni in various roles. Asbury first took students to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984, to the Calgary Olympics in 1988, Atlanta in 1996, and then every Olympics since 2002.
The Olympics provides our students with an inside view of the largest television production in the world."
“The Olympics not only attracts the best athletes but also the best media. Our students get the opportunity to be mentored by media professionals from around the world, see cutting-edge technology, and have a cross-cultural experience.”
Asbury Student Quotes
Asbury Media Communication major Ella Liu ’27 worked as a camera assistant at the Cortina Sliding Venue, helping support broadcast operations during the event.
“Working at the Olympic Games gave me a deeper understanding of how professional sports broadcasting operates as an integrated system rather than isolated tasks,” Liu said. “I realized that every role is essential to delivering a smooth and high-quality broadcast to global audiences.This experience made me truly appreciate and admire the level of teamwork, communication, and precision required in high-level sports media, and it made me more aware of how much collaboration happens behind the scenes to bring sporting moments to people around the world.”
AU Media Communication senior Summer Hollis ’26 worked at the Predazzo Ski Jumping stadium as a broadcast production assistant, serving as a camera assistant to a handheld cameraman on the ski jumping hill.
“My job was to manage the cable of my cameraman and make sure he and other workers wouldn’t trip over the cables,” Hollis said. “I learned so much about live sports broadcasts and all the work that goes into producing one, but by far the best experience was the people with whom I worked from Italy, Norway, and other countries. The Olympics is truly a cross-cultural experience like no other because it gathers people from every country across the world into one country for just a few weeks.”
Asbury’s School of Communication Arts continues to provide students with hands-on learning.
“We prepare our students with the highest-level cameras and related film gear in the industry within an incredible facility that includes backlots, sound stages, Atmos audio, an animation lab, and virtual production,” Owens said. “Adding professional experience opportunities to this combination provides Asbury media students who are well-prepared to enter the media industry.”
The Asbury University School of Communication Arts offers Traditional Undergraduate programs in Communication, Media Communication, Multimedia Journalism, and Theatre and an Online Multimedia Design degree. Graduate programs include the M.A. in Communication; M.A. in Digital Storytelling; M.A. in Instructional Design, Innovation & Leadership; MFA in Film/TV Production; and MFA in Screenwriting. Learn more.