The Visa Award now open to fans voting for the best moments of Friendship, Acceptance, Inspiration at Beijing 2022

Starting on 7 February, fans once again have the opportunity to vote on the Beijing 2022 FanZone platform for their favourite uplifting moments and the winter athletes who best exemplified three of the shared Olympic, Paralympic and Visa core values, which are friendship, acceptance and inspiration. For this second iteration, Visa has committed to providing USD 50,000 to each of the eligible charities chosen by the respective winning athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

While each edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games features extraordinary athletic performances, the moments that captivate and inspire fans around the world often rise above competition and national identity, uplift others, and represent the best of humanity. Designed to engage and unite audiences around the world during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Visa Award is also aimed at encouraging people around the world to believe in and support each other, so as to be stronger together.

“We are very happy to launch this second edition of The Visa Award as the world unites again to celebrate the best winter athletes about to live the most important moments of their career,” said Timo Lumme, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services. “Building on a successful Tokyo 2020 edition, we hope that fans will be equally engaged and have fun navigating our Olympic digital ecosystem while having a say in what they believe will be the most inspiring Beijing 2022 moments.”

Athletes who best represent the Olympic and Paralympic values will be recognised and celebrated throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games Beijing 2022, and a selection of the most emblematic moments will be added to the FanZone app and website for fan voting. Eight iconic moments and four Olympic nominees will advance for final voting, which opens today 7 February. Then six memorable moments and three Paralympic athletes will advance for final voting, which will open on 7 March. 

Jitske Visser, Chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council, added: “As a Paralympian, I have loved seeing the addition of The Visa Award to the Games. As we saw in Tokyo, there were so many wonderful moments of friendship, acceptance and inspiration from our athletes. It was especially pleasing to see so many sports fans from across the world engage and celebrate the very best of sport with the online voting. It’s fantastic also that, thanks to Visa’s donation, the good deed of a Paralympic athlete can have such a positive impact in their local community and the power to change lives. That is what our sport is all about, and I am sure that once again in Beijing we will see many athlete moments that inspire us all.”

Making an impact

To recognise and celebrate The Visa Award winners, Visa will give each winning Olympian and Paralympian the opportunity to choose an eligible charity that reflects the shared Olympic and Paralympic values, to which Visa will donate USD 50,000 in an effort to inspire communities to make a social impact and demonstrate Visa’s commitment to athletes and community giving.

For Tokyo 2020, Olympic skateboarder Rayssa Leal and Paralympic javelin thrower Holly Robinson were the athletes nominated by fans for the way they rose above the competition with their inspiring actions. Rayssa lifted her rivals' spirits with spontaneous acts of friendship, while Holly went to greet match officials immediately after winning the Paralympic title. The charities, which were selected by the winners – respectively Social Skate and Ronald McDonald House - received a USD 50,000 donation from Visa.