Riley Friend assigned to broadcast tennis at Paris Olympics

Athleticism is not the only key to procure one’s pass to the Olympics. Riley Friend, a 2019 Fairfield graduate, has been selected for an internship at the 2024 Paris games. He is part of an audio and visual production crew from Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. 

The college, under the guidance of Professor Jim Owens, PhD, has contracted with Olympic Broadcasting to provide Asbury media communication majors with hands-on experience. There will be 84 current and past Asbury students taking part in the Olympics media production.

Owens has worked on national projects for ESPN, ABC, CBS, and NBC. As a freelance photojournalist for newspapers, magazines and the Associated Press, he photographed major news and sports events. His assignments ranged from shooting an Evil Knievel motorcycle jump to traveling with Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan on the campaign trail.

An acquaintance on the Olympic Broadcasting team was Owens’ connection to providing internship arrangements for Asbury students. He serves as the Academic Director of the Broadcast Training Program, a  project of the International Olympic Committee’s broadcast division. The program has trained over 10,000 students to work with professional broadcasters at the last nine Olympics. (2000-present), both winter and summer games.

And this year, Riley Friend will be one of Owens’ trainees. 

Riley spoke of his upcoming opportunity, saying, “I am thrilled to work as a media logger for the sport of tennis. I will create clips from the event and categorize them so that regional stations like NBC in America can use them to broadcast the various athletes in the tennis competition.” 

Riley begins in Paris on July 17.