Business Ducks Represent in Paris

Were you among the 34.5 million viewers who watched the 2024 Summer Olympic Games?

If so, you likely saw a Duck fly by.

More than 30 athletes with links to Oregon competed in the games—several with direct ties to the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business.

Our Jorinde Van Klinken, MBA ’23 represented the Netherlands in women's shot put and discus throw. Aneta Konieczak ’22 represented team Poland in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase, and Alessia Zarbo ’23 represented team France in the women's 10,000 meter.

In fact, our business Ducks have been there every step of the way. You may have seen how a group of UO Warsaw Sports Business Center students helped make the U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field trials happen.

Beyond athletics, more than a dozen Lundquist College alumni flocked to the City of Lights to work supporting the Olympics and its sponsors.

Oregon Executive MBA alumna Jocelyn Bourgault, MBA , Paris 2024 programs lead for the Olympics and Paralympics at Intel, managed technical projects on-site in Paris, including a Universal Accessibility Project at the Team USA elite training center for Olympians and Paralympians. The project aimed to help people who are blind or low-vision get around the expansive training center.

"The athletes are arriving and want to focus on gold," Bourgault said, "The last thing we want them to do is waste time trying to find the place they need to be."

An additional project Bourgault ran focused on digital twinning. Some 30 participating venues were converted to detail-rich 3D digital designs that were then used by the Paris 2024 committee for planning purposes—from signage placement, to where the broadcast cameras should go, to ticketing and security—all powered by Intel Ai platforms and processors.

Ben Cooke earned his MBA in 2020 and worked on Deloitte's Global Olympic and Paralympic Partnership in Paris. As the Worldwide Management Consulting Partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Deloitte is using its considerable business acumen to help the IOC realize the possibilities of its strategic roadmap for the future, Olympic Agenda 2020+5, and its vision to build a better world through sport. Cooke's responsibilities on site in Paris were focused on managing Deloitte's signature talent activations (including the Torch Relay and Marathon Pour Tous), as well as rights management, where he reviewed and approved all marketing content that ultimately gets distributed to viewers globally.

In another example of Ducks on the ground in Paris, Warsaw Center alumna Ashley Paget worked on Delta's Team USA marketing team and shared a bit about her experience.

"My time in Paris included hosting and managing our space at Team USA House, some private events, and preparing for the Olympic flag flight," she said. "In partnership with LA28, we curated a special flight and arrival to transport the Olympic flag from Paris to LA. My time with Warsaw enabled me to add value in the sponsorship space and forge connections for this incredible opportunity. I'm so grateful! Sco Ducks!"

Additionally, our Lundquist College expert faculty provided insights to the media regarding Olympic sponsorship. In one example, T. Bettina Cornwell, Department of Marketing head and Philip H. Knight Chair, discussed why lower calorie Michelob Ultra's Olympic investment represents a "new chapter in beer marketing" with USA TODAY. Cornwell was also featured on the sites of ABC News, The Washington Post, and others.

Meanwhile, Lundquist College Instructor of Sports Business Yoav Dubinsky's expertise caught the attention of Time magazine, The Athletic, and the Associated Press, as well as on several podcasts and social media. Dubinsky also conducted onsite research at the Paris games, his fifth Olympic outing.

"I'm focusing on sports nation branding and public diplomacy and writing a book about the new era of Olympic movement," he said.

The work builds on eight published papers in the sport-diplomacy area in journals including the Journal of Global Sport Management and Sport in Society. His previous book, Nation Branding and Sports Diplomacy: Country Image Games in the Times of Change won the University of Oregon Provost's Book Publication Award in 2023.

When the intersection of sports and business happens on the international stage, Ducks are there for every exciting moment.

If you are a Lundquist Duck and would like to share your Olympic experience, please email info@uoregon.College for possible inclusion in a future story.

— AnneMarie K-S '05 and Jim Engelhardt , MS '98, Lundquist College of Business Communications