The 18-year-old athlete was selected from a high calibre list of youth applicants from across the island and is set to be a member of Team Cook Islands, attending the Nanjing Youth Olympics running from August 16 to 28.
Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee chief executive officer Robert Graham says they received great applications for the young ambassador role and they selected Bishop based on her sporting and cultural background.
As well as International Olympic Committee criteria, Graham says that CISNOC also included a number of Cook Islands specific criteria and Bishop’s credentials ticked all the boxes.
“We wanted someone that had a strong background in sports as well as a strong Cook Islands heritage and understanding of the culture,” says Graham.
While Bishop will be a member of the youth Team Cook Islands, she will have a separate programme of events once the team arrive in Nanjing in August.
Bishop, who will be in a team of 205 young ambassadors from the 205 member nations, will be expected to man a Cook Islands booth for a few days in China promoting the Cooks as well as taking part in cultural exchange events and taking in some of the sport during the youth sporting event.
Bishop will get her first taste of China in March when she travels with the youth Team Cook Islands chef de mission George Hosking to Nanjing for the chef de mission seminar.
Graham says they expect Bishop to return with reports on the trip which she will then use to update a Facebook page as well as the CISNOC website.
Graham says this is a huge opportunity for Bishop as the young ambassador’s path could lead her to future job prospects within the sporting realm.
The 18-year-old Cook Islands cultural dancer and athlete, who dances for the Te Korero Maori dance group and plays netball, soccer and touch rugby for her Avatiu village, says she was excited when she heard the news that she had been selected as the Cook Islands young ambassador.
She is looking forward to learning more about the Olympic Movement as well as sharing her Cook Islands culture and heritage with her peers in China.
Bishop knows there will be a lot of work involved in the lead up to the games, during the games and post games too, but she is looking forward to the challenge.
The excited youngster is grateful to CISNOC for the amazing opportunity as well as to her family and friends for the on-going support.
At this stage, sailing, golf and swimming are the three codes targeted to prepare athletes to represent the Cooks at the Youth Olympic Games, with athletics likely to be the fourth sporting code that will make up Team Cook Islands.
Last Modified on 18/01/2014 07:00