Celebrating the Olympics
AUT is proudly the official university partner of the New Zealand Team competing at Paris 2024.
We have a long history of excellence in sport and recreation, and are the home of New Zealand's top sport and fitness facility, AUT Millennium, and SPRINZ, the country’s leading sports research institute.
Our School of Sport and Recreation is one of the largest in New Zealand, with programmes from certificates to doctoral degrees and over 1,000 students, including 100+ research students. Our world-class researchers work with athletes and organisations around the world to advance current practices.
Latest news
AUT student wins gold at Paris 2024
Student represents Samoa at Paris 2024
AUT recently held a special pre-Olympic event to celebrate being the official uni of the New Zealand Team at Paris 2024.Behind the scenes: AUT alumni involved in the Olympics
From organising the Games to helping athletes reach their peak, many AUT graduates have been involved behind the scenes of the Olympics and Paralympics; this year and in the past.
View some of their stories below and check back later as more stories are being added.
Ashlee Tulloch
Bachelor of Communication Studies in Radio
“Emotions at the Olympics are high, and rightly so; after all it’s the greatest show on earth. As part of the Olympic Channel team I’ve been fortunate to interview hundreds of athletes, host daily live shows and Instagram lives, create vlogs, articles, podcasts and much more. It’s an immense privilege to tell someone’s story. Paris 2024 will be my eighth Olympic event.”
Misaki Tsuruta
Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Hospitality Management conjoints
“I love being part of a universal cause that promotes unity and excellence through sports and delivering the biggest sports event in the world in collaboration with experts in other areas. I’m responsible for planning, implementing and operating technology services in major non-competition venues, including the Olympic and Paralympic Village.”
Lucy Jacobs
Master of Sport and Exercise
“On a day-to-day basis I provide physiological support to athletes and coaches in the New Zealand Sailing Team and the Canoe Slalom New Zealand programme. I'm part of the Preparation and Recovery Team for the New Zealand Paralympic team in Paris this year where I'll be assisting athletes and coaches with any physical and recovery needs they have during Games time.”
Rebecca Longhurst
Master of Health Practice
“I’m privileged working in high performance sport that I get to sit in the waka with our athletes and watch them develop as athletes and as people. I’ve travelled the world with a variety of sports and athletes, and represented different countries through my role as a sports physiotherapist and have been lucky enough to attend multiple Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, World Championships and World Cup events.”
Ella Agnew
Bachelor of Sport and Recreation in Management
“What I most enjoy about this role is the sense of fulfilment I get as it aligns so heavily with my personal ‘why’ of using sport to build a sense of community. The New Zealand Olympic Committee is such a unique organisation as it brings together different organisations and sporting codes under the New Zealand team banner while aiming to bring pride to the New Zealand community back home.”
Surabhi Date
Postgraduate Diploma in Sport and Exercise
“Giving back to your nation feels good. I’m happy to have contributed to more than 50 international medal wins for my country in the past eight years, including medals at the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and World and Asian Championships in various sports.”
Jacinta Horan
Director, Bureta Physiotherapy
Master of Health Practice
“It’s a privilege to represent our country in our profession and assist our athletes to be the best they can be. I work as a regional provider for High Performance Sport New Zealand and at pinnacle events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games. I love the ability to support our athletes.”
Anuj Patel
Bachelor of Sport and Recreation in Coaching
“Reflecting on my journey, it amazes me to see the strides I’ve made in two years, from being an intern analyst to playing a crucial role with a high performance New Zealand sports team at the age of 23. A pinnacle experience for me was being part of the Blacksticks staff during the Olympic qualifiers. The qualifiers are an experience that I’ll hold dear.”
World-leading research at SPRINZ
Based at AUT Millennium, the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ) is New Zealand’s number one sports research institute. Its world-class laboratory facilities and international reputation attract many overseas researchers and students to New Zealand, and SPRINZ research has received funding from the Health Research Council, Sport New Zealand and the World Health Organization.
AUT Millennium
AUT is the home of New Zealand’s top sport and fitness facility, AUT Millennium, which helps our communities be healthy and our top athletes become champions.
A leader in sport and recreation
AUT’s School of Sport and Recreation is ranked in the top 30 in the world, giving students access to world-class facilities, high-achieving academics and researchers, and workplace experience with the biggest names in the sport and recreation sector.
Supporting top athletes
Many elite athletes have studied at AUT over the years. To encourage them to succeed on and off the sporting stage, we help these high performance student athletes combine their sporting goals with their education, career and other life goals.