The Asian Games Youth Reporter Project, conducted by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizing Committee (AINAGOC) and the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka, was successfully held on September 7 at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. The programme was facilitated by Director of Media and Broadcast of the OCA Mr. Jeans Zhou Jian and OCA Reporter, Mr. Alvin Sallay.
The programme concluded with the selection of Katie Speldewinde, a 17-year-old student of the Sri Lanka College of Journalism and the founder of the youth sports initiative P.L.A.Y. (Passion, Leadership, Action, Youth), as Sri Lanka’s winner. The OCA, noted that, while most of the other participants dwelled specifically on sports or the significance of the Asian Games, among other themes, Speldewinde, also touched on the 30-year-old civil war which ended in 2009 and had split the country across ethnic lines, writing: “Sport brings people together. And it’s not just about bringing people from different countries together, it’s about creating unity among individuals from the same country as well, as in the case of Sri Lanka where a 30-year-old civil war pitted ethnic groups against each other.”
Speldewinde was officially awarded at the Sri Lankan leg of the Asian Games Fun Run on September 8. She will now join the OCA Media Team at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games from September 19 to October 4, 2026, working alongside 9 other young reporters from across Asia to cover one of the continent’s largest sporting events.
In preparation for this programme, the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC Sri Lanka) conducted a preliminary workshop to facilitate the large number of applications received. The sessions were led by veteran journalist and publisher, and General Manager of NOC Sri Lanka, Mr. Lal Wickrematunge, and Bureau Chief of Agence France-Presse, Mr. Amal Jayasinghe.
From this stage, the cohort was narrowed down to the Top 20 participants (10 girls and 10 boys), ensuring gender parity, who then advanced to the main programme conducted by the OCA delegation.
As part of the programme, the OCA panel also assessed the participants during the programme and identified the Top 3 male and Top 3 female participants from Sri Lanka. These six young reporters were specially recognized and awarded by NOC Sri Lanka at the Fun Run.
The NOC SL extends its gratitude to all participants for their enthusiasm, commitment, and passion shown throughout the programme, and congratulates Katie Speldewinde on her achievement as she prepares to represent Sri Lanka on the international stage at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.
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