By Tom Degun

Microphone April_29April 30 - A university student will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to commentate at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium later this week in a competition that will serve as the London 2012 athletics test event.


At the event, three finalists from the "Become the Commentator" competition, organised by BUCS, will receive coaching from BBC broadcast commentators John Inverdale (pictured below) and Paul Dickenson as well as the Olympic Stadium's presentation team.

The finalists – Joe Townsend, a politics student at the University of Birmingham, Ben Snowball, studying for a Journalism MA at the University of Sheffield and Thomas Gayle, a student of Life Long Learning at the University of Warwick – will compete in the commentary box during the morning heats. 

The winning student will then commentate on the evening finals in front of spectators on May 5.

"For budding reporters and sporting enthusiasts alike, 'Become the Commentator' is a unique and wonderful opportunity for university students to get involved in a London 2012 test event and Universities Week," said Inverdale, who is also President of BUCS.

"The entries were all of particularly high quality and [I am] looking forward to seeing the competition heat up on Saturday 5 May."

John Inverdale_april_29
The competition is being run in conjunction with the National Union of Student (NUS) which is also supporting Universities Week 2012 which takes place from today until May 7.

"Become the Commentator at the London 2012 test event is about making sure that students make the most of the once in a life time opportunity that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games presents," said Ed Marsh, the vice-president of Union Development at NUS.

"For one of our lucky three finalists of the...Become the Commentator competition, this means speaking to thousands of spectators at the Olympic Stadium during a London 2012 test event."

A compilation of the finalists' and others entry highlights are available here.

The BUCS Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships take place from May 4 to 7.

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