Gangneung, Korea, January 18, 2024: “If you believe it, you can be it.”
This is the motto of the IOC Young Leaders programme, supported by founding partner Panasonic, and it certainly applies to Lee Sang Eun of Korea and Tania Lee Xu Yar of Malaysia.
The pair are working together at the IOC Young Leaders stand at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Village in Gangneung, explaining the concept and encouraging people to apply for the next four-year programme when applications open this September.
Lee Sang Eun launched the “Dream League” for female ice hockey players in Korea, while Tania Lee’s project was iLEAP – the Inclusive Leadership Programme to help young athletes become great leaders of the future regardless of their background, gender and abilities.
They were among seven Asian representatives to be named IOC Young Leaders for the term 2021-2024, and are busy relating their experiences in the YOG Village.
The IOC Young Leaders programme is delivered over four years to give participants sufficient time to go through the phases of developing a social business/project that provides a sport-based solution to a pressing challenge in their respective communities.
Each year of the programme is designed around the development of the young leader and their sport-based social business/project, with the young leaders receiving a CHF 10,000 “seed-funding” from the IOC. It is part of the IOC’s efforts to advance Olympism 365 – the initiative to keep the Olympic movement relevant every day of the year.
With their four-year terms coming to an end, the IOC Young Leaders are taking every opportunity to convince potential recruits that “If you believe it, you can do be it.”