While most people are watching the Olympics on their televisions at home, Chanel Lattimer and Randy Tate will be in China to get an up-close view of the Summer Games.
Lattimer, a UT Knoxville graduate student in sport management, and Tate, who graduated from UT in May with his bachelor’s degree in sport management, are part of a delegation organized by Tiffin University to go to the Olympics.
Seventeen students from 10 universities will leave Aug. 4 and spend 11 days in Beijing, China. During their stay, the students will learn about the organization of the Olympics and Chinese culture, observe some of the Olympic events and tour places such as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall of China.
Lattimer has been interested for many years in working for an Olympic committee.
"It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To be part of this delegation is exciting," Lattimer said. "The knowledge we’ll gain is priceless."
The trip will give the students a great opportunity to network in the sport management field and witness the talents of the best athletes in the world.
"In sports, the Olympics is the best of the best," Tate said. "Just getting to see men’s Olympic basketball will be better than any other sporting event I’ve been to."
The students will receive two credits for the trip.
Lattimer, of Severn, Md., earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology at Princeton University before coming to UT to earn her master’s in sport management. She plans to graduate in December.
Tate, of Nashville, is interested in pursing a career in sport management. Since graduation this spring, he has been on campus taking part in the Ronald McNair Summer Research Institute, a graduate school preparatory internship.