Written by KATIE STONE
UNC Senior Director of Media Relations Kevin Best just finished working at his 13th Olympic Games. Best was the Information Manager at Paris La Defense Arena, which is hosting all Olympic swimming and water polo events.
Best’s job is to manage the broadcasters in the arena. After the athletes complete their event, they all walk through the mixed zone, which is where the media is located. There are more than 30 rights holder boxes in the mixed zone.
NBC is the long-time rights holder for the United States, but each country has its own rights holder. When Best arrives, his first job is to figure out who the rights holders are. He then helps get the rights holders to where they need to be to interview the athletes.
Best said, “It’s up to the athlete who they want to talk to, but we help facilitate that process.”
After speaking with the broadcasters, the athletes move on to talk to print media such as the New York Times and Associated Press. Best said, “At that point, I no longer am working with them. They are off to work with another group.”
Kevin Best (center) stands to the side of Olympic athletes being interviewed in the mixed zone during events at the Paris La Defense Arena as part of the 2024 Summer Games.
Best explained a common misconception about the television media sources. He clarified that what shows up on your television isn’t necessary filmed by an NBC camera, instead it often comes from an Olympic Broadcast Service (OBS) camera.
He said, “Really what OBS does is put on the worldwide feed, unbiased worldwide feed, where we show every athlete, we show every race the same way.” NBC and other networks around the world pick up what is recorded on OBS cameras.
Best’s in-depth knowledge comes from his many years of experience working at the Olympics. He has been working at the Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games. In addition to managing media for swimming in the summer Olympics, Best manages the media for alpine skiing in the winter Olympics.
Whether working at the summer or winter Olympics, the highlight remains the same. What Best values most about the Olympics is the opportunity to work with people from around the world.
He said, “I’m obviously an American, I have another American that’s on my staff, I have a South African, a Korean woman, French students, and that’s just this Olympics. The actual TV crew is from Australia. So, all these people coming together to put on the greatest, biggest sporting event in the world to me is a very cool thing.”
Best and his colleagues have witnessed amazing moments together over the past two weeks. The most electric moment that Best has seen at La Defense Arena thus far was when French swimmer Leon Marchand won two gold medals in the same night.
He said, “The place was going crazy. I heard or saw later that one sportswriter from the U.S. said it sounded like an SEC football stadium. It was so loud.”
Best plans to be back for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, the 14th and 15th in his career.
Featured photo via Katie Stone.
The Chapel Hill Media Group is partnering with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media to publish stories reported by students in Paris, France for the 2024 Olympic Games. Katie Stone is one of 25 student journalists working under the direction of professor Charlie Tuggle, who are publishing their stories through a variety of North Carolina outlets.
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