UQ has a range of experts available to comment on the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games – from sports coaching and sports psychology to tourism and marketing.
Journalists can contact the experts below or search by topic or name at UQ Experts.
Sports coaching and athlete wellbeing
Professor John Cairney
Professor Cairney is an expert in physical activity, sport and child health. He can comment on athlete development and sport pathways, sport performance, mental well-being of athletes and leadership in sport.
Contact: j.cairney@uq.edu.au
Associate Professor Steven Rynne
Dr Rynne has worked and conducted research with a variety of peak domestic and international sporting bodies aimed at fostering high performance through learning. He can provide insight into how athletes perform in elite sports, the craft of coaching and Indigenous sporting programs.
Contact: s.rynne@uq.edu.au
Dr Townsend’s current research examines social, cultural and historical aspects of sports concussion. He can provide comment on concussion and brain trauma, sport protest and athlete activism, along with Games legacy.
Contact: s.townsend@uq.edu.au
Dr Wergin is attending the Paris Games to support a number of athletes. Her research explores performance breakdowns in teams and individuals. She can offer expertise on fear and anxiety in elite sport and sport psychology. She can also comment on the inner workings of team environments.
Contact: v.wergin@uq.edu.au
Para sport
An expert in Para sport, Professor Sean Tweedy leads the Para Sport and Adapted Physical Activity Research Group in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. He can comment on exercise science, disability and sport and the Paralympics.
Contact: s.tweedy@uq.edu.au
Tourism and marketing
Associate Professor Judith Mair
Dr Mair’s work in the Tourism Discipline Group in the UQ Business School focusses on Olympic Games legacies and the positive impacts of tourism and events on the communities and societies which host them. She is happy to lend her expertise to the economic, social and environmental impacts, and sustainability and legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Contact: j.mair@business.uq.edu.au
Associate Professor Monica Chien
Dr Chien's research focuses on marketing communications and consumer behaviour in the fields of tourism and sport. She can comment on sponsorships, along with transgressions, misconducts and scandals in sport. Her research also deals with sport fan and tourism behaviour, and the social, environmental and economic impact of mega-events.
Contact: m.chien@uq.edu.au
Associate Professor Sheranne Fairley
Dr Fairley is an expert in sports and events tourism, volunteerism, and the globalisation of sport. She can comment on Olympic and Paralympic volunteers, Games tourism, the short and long-term impacts of the Games and Games legacy.
Contact: s.fairley1@uq.edu.au
Read about UQ’s Office of 2032 Games Engagement.
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