Samsung engaging with athletes and fans at Lausanne 2020

Samsung has been supporting the Olympic Movement for more than 30 years, and in recent years has been a mainstay at the YOG, bringing its cutting-edge technology to young athletes and fans.

At Lausanne 2020, this support for athletes went a step further as Samsung hosted one of the “Chat with Champions” sessions, a one-hour Q&A with a diverse panel aimed at inspiring the young athletes, giving them the skills to create and grow a personal brand for themselves, and encouraging them to think beyond their limits and “Do What You Can’t”.

Enhancing the athlete experience

Headlining the panel at the session, which was held in Lausanne’s Youth Olympic Village on 12 January, was Dina Asher-Smith, Great Britain’s fastest-ever woman and the world 200m champion, who is a member of Samsung’s “Team Galaxy” of stars. This inspirational group are known for defying barriers to achieve meaningful progress and will be supported and have their stories amplified by Samsung in the run-up to Tokyo 2020.  

“I've already surpassed what, when I was about 14, I thought that I could do. So make sure you believe in yourself,” Asher-Smith told the young athletes. “Make sure that you don't impose limits on yourself, because your brain might tell you one thing, [but] your body might be able to do something completely different. So don't think [about] limits and just go for it.”

Asher-Smith was joined on the panel by Samsung’s Senior Vice President and Head of Global Marketing Team, Mobile Communications Business  Stephanie Choi; Facebook’s Global Partnerships expert Zac Farrer; and Janosch Nietlispach, a six-time kickboxing world champion turned content creator and social media influencer.

Samsung Ambassador Nietlispach had some great advice for the young athletes on boosting their numbers of followers and staying authentic. “If you only post the perfect picture, it’s getting boring,” he said. “We all have struggles, and if people see that then they can relate to it as well.”

The panel attracted a capacity crowd to the Yodli Café, with the YOG athletes able to ask questions and gain useful tips from the diverse range of guests. They left with a goody bag that included a special Samsung pin designed exclusively for the YOG, while three lucky athletes – from Kazakhstan, Slovenia and Great Britain – even walked away with a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note10 after a free raffle, drawn by the panellists.

Showcasing the latest technology to fans

Over at the Yodli Park, which is based outside the Vaudoise Arena and close to the Skating Arena, fans have also had the chance to immerse themselves in Samsung’s ground-breaking technology at the Showcase tent.

Here, a virtual reality experience tailored towards the Olympic Winter Games has proved extremely popular, with queues extending around the side of the dome. This tour de force of winter sports, which lasts around six minutes, seats eight and takes participants hurtling down bobsleigh tracks and downhill slopes. It’s quite a thrill.

There is plenty for kids too, who can pop next door to the Yodli tent to make their own tattoo sticker or postcard – and trade it for a Samsung pin made exclusively for Lausanne 2020. These collectors’ items are available to pick up in the Showcase tent alongside some of Samsung’s latest and most innovative products, including the Galaxy S10 5G, Galaxy Note10+ 5G, Galaxy Fold 5G and Galaxy A90 5G.

“The Samsung Galaxy, until now, has inspired our consumers through the amazing innovation that we have [been able] to push through, through the philosophy of defying barriers,” says Choi. “We will continue to strive and deliver on the amazing technology advancements; not really for the sake of technology, but to make sure that the technology can help bring meaningful experiences and enrich people’s lives.”