Sponsor Spotlight -- Earnings Reports Ahead; Armani for 2012

U.S. Sponsors to Release Quarterly Earnings

Top U.S. Olympic sponsors are set to announce quarterly earnings throughout July.

Coca-Cola will be the first to release its 2011 second-quarter results on Tuesday, July 19 before the stock market opens. The company will hold an investor conference call at 9:30 a.m. and a re-playable version will be available on the website a day later.

Both McDonald’s and GE are set to release second-quarter results on Friday, July 22. GE will have an earnings webcast at 8:30 a.m. featuring Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO; Keith Sherin, vice chairman and CFO; and Trevor Schauenberg, vice president of investor communications.

Visa will report its third-quarter results on Wednesday, July 27. Dow will release its second-quarter results on July 27 as well.

Procter & Gamble will webcast a discussion of its fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, August 5 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Italians Don Armani for London 2012

Italian athletes will compete in style at the 2012 Olympics.

Gianni Petrucci , president of the National Olympic Committee of Italy, announced that Giorgio Armani will design the team’s uniforms for the Games on Tuesday.

On July 20, CONI will hold a press conference on the designer threads.

The team wore Freddy, an Italian line of fitness wear, to the 2008 Beijing Games.

National Health Service Employee to Carry Olympic Torch

Samsung is partnering with the National Health Service to offer one of its employees the chance to bear the torch for London 2012.

The agreement is part of Samsung’s NHS Sports and Physical Activity Challenge 2012, or NHS Challenge, which tries to improve the health of its staff and contribute to the legacy of the London Olympics.

NHS employees can make nominations for torchbearers, which will be co-judged by Samsung and an NHS panel and then put forward to LOCOG by the end of October.

"The London 2012 Olympic Games provides NHS staff with an amazing opportunity to get inspired and get moving to improve their health," said Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation.

He added that improving health and fitness could help save the NHS $886 million in sick days.

"I'm delighted that hard-working NHS staff will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to run with the Olympic Flame, shining a light on everyone in the health service," said Farrar.

Torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame around the U.K. on its 70-day journey, traveling within a one-hour journey time of an estimated 95% of the population.

Japanese Olympic Team Picks Training Facility

Japanese athletes will use Stratford Circus, a multi-support house near the Olympic Park, as its training site for the 2012 Games.

Event-planning organization The Concerto Group worked with the National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health and the Japan Institute of Sports Science to finalize the plans.

The president of NAASH, Kiyoko Ono, said at a signing ceremony that Stratford Circus is a great facility for both its location and amenities.

"Not only was the distance between Stratford Circus and the athletes village very attractive to us, but also what Stratford Circus, with its high quality facility, could offer to our Japanese athletes for their final preparation towards the Olympic Games was very important," said Ono.

Robin Wales, mayor of Newham Borough, where Stratford Circus is located, said he hopes this decision would bring more teams to the area.

"We have some fantastic venues, which will provide the perfect options for Games-related accommodation. We believe this announcement will prove a catalyst, with many other teams staying here during the Games," said Wales.

The signing ceremony was also attended by Boris Johnson, mayor of London; Ken Okaniwa, a minister for embassy of Japan; and members of Stratford Circus and Newham Council.

The Concerto Group also placed the Japanese Olympic Committee in No. 4 Hamilton Place in Mayfair for the JOC’s home base during the Games.

Written by Ann Cantrell.