Massey University student wins international Olympic design competition

Massey University student Zakea Page has won the International Olympic Committee’s medal design competition for the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lausanne 2020.

Massey University student Zakea Page has won the International Olympic Committee’s medal design competition for the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lausanne 2020.

Mr Page’s design Beauty in Diversity was chosen from more than 300 entries from 60 countries by a panel of judges made up of “young change-makers, young reporters, IOC Member Danka Bartekova, Lausanne 2020 President Virginie Faivre and ERACOM (Lausanne art school) Dean Viviane Morey”.

The 20-year-old said his design was named after a quote from the poet Maya Angelou, ‘In diversity there is beauty’. “This is fitting because the Youth Olympic Games are not only a celebration of human excellence, but also of culture and humanity. The spiral represents a culture of respect, friendship and excellence as young athletes gather at the Youth Olympic Games to celebrate their success,” he says.

Mr Page is in his second year of a Creative Media Production degree at Massey’s College of Creative Arts in Wellington. A prolific artist, last year he flew to Los Angeles to take part in the Performing Arts World Championships and won three silver medals with his unique art-form, which blends sports and painting.

“I am thrilled for my design to have been selected. Sport and design are my two passions and I am currently working on combining the two as part of my degree at Massey. My dream is to perform my live performance art paintings at the Olympic Games opening ceremony,” he says.

As part of his prize, Mr Page will attend the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2020 including the Opening Ceremony, and witness athletes being awarded medals featuring his design. In addition, he will receive his own set of medals and a Samsung tablet.

To see the winning and short-listed designs and to read more, please click here.