Luke Williams completed a BSc in Sport Development with Coaching in 2015. After working in industry, he returned to Sheffield Hallam to pursue an MSc in Sports Business Management. Since graduating in 2022, he has become a joint course leader and lecturer at Hallam.

This summer, along with Hallam students competing, Luke is one of three academics who are working at the Paris Olympic Games, helping to bring the big moments to a global audience.

“My role is a Mixed Zone Supervisor, which is part of the Press Operations Team. I’ve been managing the ‘mixed zone’ for the shooting competition, ensuring the press get access to the athletes after they’ve come off the field and won their medals. Essentially, I’m the liaison between the Olympians and the world’s press.

“It’s quite a hectic role and it can certainly be a challenge – especially working with such a diverse group of people – which is also my favourite part. You have press from all over the world speaking different languages and so finding a way to communicate is difficult, but as long as we can show the media that we are there to enable them, it’s a lot of fun.

“A highlight for me was when the athletes started to arrive – by this point the venue was looking very ‘Paris 2024’ and engaging with the athletes during their preparations was a great experience. Now that the fans are visiting, the place is a hub of excitement and the atmosphere is amazing – it’s all a huge highlight!

“Shooting feels like it has been a bit of a break-out star of the ‘less popular’ Olympic sports. This is thanks to some viral social media moments from the ‘laidback dad’, Turkish silver medallist, Yusuf Dikeç, and South Korea’s Kim Yeji’s ‘main character energy’. I met both athletes and helped to chaperone Kim Yeji through the mixed zone on her request, due to the masses of journalists who wanted to speak to her. It’s great for any sport to have some coverage like this and I hope it helps the sport to grow to even bigger heights in the future.

“It was always my goal to work in the sport industry, which is why I enrolled on the BSc in Sport Development with Coaching at Hallam. And as part of the course, I got the chance to volunteer at some major sporting events – in 2014 I went to Sochi for the Olympic Winter Games.

“After I graduated, I started working at the Youth Sport Trust in sport development, before joining the national governing body for Snowsport in England. But after six years in industry, I felt really keen to learn again and knew that it should be at Hallam, because of my incredibly applied experience at undergraduate level.

“I continued to work full time whilst doing my masters part time and so I really knew what I wanted from my experience – to learn in a way that I could apply to my future career.

“Now I’m a lecturer, I encourage my students to take advantage of all the incredible opportunities on offer at Hallam to work at real sporting events. In my opinion, and from experience, there is no better way to embed learning and to develop skills than getting hands-on experience – this is the Hallam way.

“Hallam students get opportunities to work at some of the biggest sporting events all over the world. Previous students have worked at the London Olympics 2012, Sochi Winter Olympics 2014, Rugby World Cup England 2015, Gold Coast 2018, the Champions League Final, Commonwealth Games 2022 and lots more. These opportunities give you experiences that you can draw upon for the rest of your life – just sitting in a classroom can’t do this, the two have to go hand in hand.”