USSA News SA’s Rudolph selected for FISU Young Reporters Programme The International University Sports Federation recently announced the six successful applicants of the 5th FISU Young Reporters Programme for the 29th Winter Universiade and South Africa’s Laykin Rudolph was one of them. On her successful selection Rudolph told USSA, “I can’t contain my excitement and I absolutely can’t wait to head to Russia in March.To know that I was chosen from many candidates from not only South Africa, but the whole of Africa is amazing! I had my sights on this programme for a very long time and made sure I worked hard enough to get it. I love my country; I love its sports people and teams and to know I’ll be representing South Africa at the first Young Reporters Programme for the Winter Universiade is something I can’t put into words. This opportunity will be a great asset to my career and I look forward to learning new things and developing as a journalist.” Rudolph completed a BA Language and Culture undergraduate degree (Applied English and Psychology major) then followed by a BA Honours Journalism degree, at Stellenbosch University. During her time at university, she worked at the community/campus radio station MFM 92.6 as a radio presenter, newsreader and sports anchor. She also worked as a sports writer for the student newspaper, Die Matie. She currently works as a Content Producer at Ten Four Media. Rudolph attests her love for sport from growing up in a household where everyone loved and watched sports. “Weekends were dedicated to watching all types of sport, this is why I love most sports, rugby, soccer, cricket, F1, MotoGP, tennis, aquatics, the Olympics... I think this is where my love for it developed,” the 24-year-old remembered. Her passion is motor sport, and her earliest memories come when she was four-years-old. “I used to climb onto my dad’s motorbike and regularly joined him at Killarney as he raced. I was always his biggest supporter and this is why I am obsessed with motor sport especially MotoGP, Rudolph remarked. One of her greatest experiences in her career came last year when she worked as a motoring/motor sport journalist, “I had to attend the Dakar Rally and test with Toyota, which meant driving in an actual Dakar Rally car. I got to drive with Rally winner, Giniel De Villiers. Not everyone can say they did this, it was my favourite article I wrote!” she said. She looks up to various female sports/motor sports reporters like Carol Tshabalala, Motshidishi Mohono, Cato Louw and Kass Naidoo because of their constant hard work and dedication. In terms of athletes, Caster Semenya and Natalie Du Toit are a few that come to mind as her favourites. One of her goals is to complete a Master’s degree in Broadcasting at an international institution. She successfully got into two of the best Master’s journalism courses in the UK, City University London and the University of Sussex. Unfortunately, she couldn’t secure funding this year, but she is actively looking for bursaries and scholarships for next year. Her career goals include working in motor sport, as a journalist and reporter. Something that many people wouldn’t know about her are, “Two things are important to me: sports and dresses. I have a bit of an obsession (maybe more than a bit), I have over 80 dresses. It’ll be difficult to leave them behind, the weather in Russian winter can reach -18!” she concluded. Rudolph will jet off to Krasnoyarsk and report on the 2019 Winter Universiade from the 2-12 March. Posted by Kimara Singh on 17 Oct, 2018. Source: