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Tip/Winter Olympics

January 23, 2014 By Jenny Price

To: Media Representatives

From: Jenny Price, 608-262-8296, price3@wisc.edu

RE: TIP/ WINTER OLYMPICS

For 17 days in February, athletes and officials from around the globe will gather in Sochi, Russia, for the Winter Olympics.

UW-Madison has experts on topics including large-scale athletic events, Russian history, the politics of sport, digital and social media use by Olympic viewers, and LGBT activism. For more experts, follow us on Twitter @UWMadisonMedia, visit http://experts.news.wisc.edu/ or email experts@uc.wisc.edu

  • Kevin Chung, an assistant professor in marketing at the Wisconsin School of Business, has written about the value of celebrity endorsements on sales in sports and can discuss the value of an Olympic gold medal for an athlete’s brand and endorsement opportunities. Chung can be reached at kychung@bus.wisc.edu, 608- 265-4431.
  • Kathleen Bartzen Culver, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will be watching social media aspects of the games, including use of digital tools in addition to or instead of engaging with the games through broadcast television. She’s also focused on the role of social media in breaking news situations, given security concerns surrounding the games, and the flow of information and misinformation. Culver can be reached at kbculver@wisc.edu, 608-575-4082.
  • Finn Enke, associate professor of history, gender and women’s studies, and LGBT studies, is an expert on LGBT activism and can discuss the status of LGBT people and athletes in Russia and whether attention paid to the issue during the Olympics gives a false impression that LGBT athletes in the United States and other parts of the world are not stigmatized as well. Enke can be reached at aenke@wisc.edu, 608-263-2334.
  • David McDonald, professor of history, is an expert on the politics of contemporary Russia and the history of imperial Russia. McDonald can be reached at dmmcdon1@wisc.edu, 608-263-1807.
  • Shilagh Mirgain, UW Health sports psychologist, is available to address the following topics: how Olympic athletes train to develop mental toughness to handle this level of competition; what Olympic athletes do to get into the zone on the big day; how Olympic athletes quickly recover from a weak performance on one day to reset themselves to go for gold in the next event; injury rehabilitation; how Olympic athletes recover from injury and deal with the fear of re-injury to give their best performance, and what we can we learn from these Olympic athletes to develop peak performance in our own lives. To interview Mirgain, please contact Gian Galassi, UW Health Marketing and Public Affairs, ggalassi@uwhealth.org, 608-263-5561.
  • Kris Olds, professor of geography, has researched the housing impacts of mega-events since 1986. He can talk about the social, housing and urban impacts of the Olympics, as well as such large-scale events and the effect they have on the home city and country. Olds can be reached at kolds@wisc.edu, 608-262-5685.
  • Michael Schatzberg, professor of political science, teaches a course on sports and comparative politics and can discuss the politics and the organization of mega-events like the Olympics. Schartzberg can be reached at schatzberg@polisci.wisc.edu, 608-263-2392.
  • Dietram Scheufele, E. Ross Professor and director of graduate studies, life sciences communication, is an expert on new information technologies, including blogs, social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) and other online communication, and can talk about the role of social networking during the Olympics. Scheufele can be reached at scheufele@wisc.edu, 608-262-1614.
  • Alfred Senn, professor emeritus of history, taught a course on the political history of the modern Olympics and is the author of the book, “Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games.” He is an expert on Russian history and can discuss the politics of the games. He can be reached at aesenn@facstaff.wisc.edu

Looking for a taste of the Olympic experience at home? Memorial Union will offer viewing of the games in Der Rathskeller and Lakefront on Langdon and in The Sett at Union South.

Several current and former Badger athletes will also be providing updates on their Olympic experiences through Twitter:

Erika Brown: https://twitter.com/ebrowncurls
Meghan Duggan: https://twitter.com/mduggan10
Brianna Decker: https://twitter.com/Bdecker14
Hilary Knight: https://twitter.com/Hilary_Knight
Carla McLeod: https://twitter.com/carla_macleod
Ryan McDonagh: https://twitter.com/RMcDonagh27
Meaghan Mikkelson: ‏ https://twitter.com/Mikkelson12
Derek Stepan: https://twitter.com/DerekStepan21
Jessie Vetter: https://twitter.com/Vetter31
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Tags: UW Athletics