The WCF has announced the return of the Sports Media Trainee Programme after a four-year hiatus ©Getty Images

The World Curling Federation (WCF) has unveiled the winners of the 2023 Sports Media Trainee Programme, which made its return for the first time since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The awards are handed out to applicants who aspire to be journalists or photographers, and who then become part of the WCF's media team.

This is the eighth season of the programme.

Journalists who won the awards this time are Alison Umlah, who won the honour to cover the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and World Senior Curling Championships, Padraig Faherty, for the Pan Continental Curling Championships and Valerii Sazonov for the European Curling Championships.

WCF panel members selected the applicants who will serve as part of the media team ©Getty Images
WCF panel members selected the applicants who will serve as part of the media team ©Getty Images

The photographers who were successful are Logan Hannigan-Downs for the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and World Senior Curling Championships, Jaiden Tripi for the European Curling Championships and Rebecca Villagracia for the Pan Continental Curling Championships.

Members of the programme in the past have moved on to work for the International Olympic Committee and many other International Federations.

The next major events for the WCF will be the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and World Senior Curling Championships, which will take place from April 21 to 29 in Gangneung, South Korea.