2022 Student Paper Competition: Standards Support Innovation, Cooperation, and Excellence at the Olympic Games

The Olympics are always an inspiring showcase of exceptional talent, teamwork, and human ingenuity–from the amazing athletic performances, to the cooperative work that goes into each host city’s preparations, to the broadcasting innovations that bring the excitement to viewers in more than 200 countries. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, these achievements have taken on an even more triumphant significance, as both a reminder of what humans are capable of and an uplifting escape for the world to collectively cheer. And standards play a key role in the collaborative work that enables Olympic dreams to become a reality for the thousands of competitors and staff involved, and a vicarious thrill for the billions watching around the globe. 

Due to the rescheduling of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics to July/August 2021, we now have the unique pleasure of both the summer and winter Olympics occurring within a year’s time, with Beijing in February 2022. To highlight the importance of standards in these global sports celebrations, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 2022 Student Paper Competition asks you to explore the use of – or identify an absence of/need for – standards that support health, safety, performance, efficiency, and/or innovation at the Olympic Games. 

It’s a broad topic, and you’re free to choose to focus on standards needs for your favorite summer or winter sport, event, or other specific activity at the Tokyo or Beijing games, or take a wider look at standards addressing any of the unique planning needs, building/venues, travel, accommodations, technology/ systems, infrastructure, and/or health and safety requirements that go into hosting a safe and successful Olympics. Whatever aspect of the Olympics you choose, we recommend that you focus on specific challenges that have been or need to be addressed by voluntary consensus standards – for example, for athletes to compete safely, fairly, and at their highest potential; so that host cities can successfully accommodate the games while maintaining or improving quality of life for their citizens; to enable enhancements in broadcasting, communications, or audience health and safety. You should reference specific American National Standards and/or international standards and the organizations responsible for their development whenever possible. Suggested resources:

You can also browse the official Olympic Games website for inspiration on what goes into an Olympic games. But be creative, and choose a topic that both appeals to you and highlights the importance of specific standards in supporting health/safety, innovation, and/or success for Olympic athletes, host cities, and/or audiences worldwide. 

All entries must be submitted by 11 p.m. Eastern on June 1, 2022, to Lisa Rajchel, lrajchel@ansi.org, and must adhere to the following requirements: 

Submissions will be reviewed by top-level industry experts participating on ANSI’s Committee on Education (CoE) as well as by ANSI staff. Winning entries will be published on ANSI.org and potentially in other media outlets. Winning submissions will be shared with and widely read by the domestic and international standards community, including experts in government, industry, professional societies, and academic institutions. Cash prizes will be given to first- and second-place winners; ANSI reserves the right to award no prizes based on the determination of the judges. The winning papers will be announced in Q3 2022.