TOP Sponsors, 2010 Olympics; Nike and USA Basketball Re-Sign

TOP Sponsors Prepare for 2010 Games

TOP Sponsors McDonald’s and Atos Origin are both preparing for the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

McDonald’s, the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games, will build three new Olympic venue restaurants in the Olympic Villages in Vancouver and Whistler and the Main Media Center in Vancouver to serve athletes, coaches, officials and media during the Games.

The TOP sponsor will also continue its McDonald’s Champion Kids program giving children from around the world the chance to attend the Games.

Atos Origin, the Worldwide Information Technology (IT) Partner for the Games, will complete testing of all the IT infrastructure, systems and processes in preparation for the Games.

Atos Origin will also send 5,800 computers, 800 serves and 5,000 PCs to 35 venues in the upcoming months.

“As Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games, we are delighted to confirm that with 100 days to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and just less than 1000 to the London 2012 Games the implementation of the technology for the information systems is on track,” Patrick Adiba, Atos Origin’s executive vice president for the Olympic Games, said.

Nike Re-signs with USA Basketball, Unveils Team USA Apparel

Nike has re-signed with USA Basketball for eight years and will continue its marketing partnership beyond the 2016 Olympics.

Nike chose to re-sign for eight years instead of the usual four years after the men’s and women’s team won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The deal makes Nike the exclusive on-court and apparel provider for the men’s and women’s team.

Nike is also a U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) partner and revealed the Team USA Medal Stand apparel and footwear collection for the 2010 Games last week.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes will wear the collection, which includes the Nike ACG Considered Design Waterproof Down Jacket, ACG Considered Design Waterproof Pant, Nike Air Blazer ACG boot, headwaer and other accessories.

“The Team USA Medal Stand look demonstrates Nike’s ability to blend performance and innovation with new sustainable features,” USOC Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Baird said.

Samsung Provides Mobile Updates; Samsung, Official 2010 Mobile Phone

Samsung, the Official Worldwide Olympic Partner in Wireless Communications Equipment, will provide up-to-the minute mobile updates during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

People across the globe can receive real-time updates after downloading Samsung’s Public WOW Application from Samsung’s official Olympic Games site www.samsung.com/vancouver2010 to their Samsung smartphone that supports Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.5 operating systems.

“Our focus for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games is on linking consumers around the world to the Games using Samsung technology in a way that’s not been done before,” Paul Brannen, General Manger, Samsung Electronics Canada, said.

Samsung’s mobile device the Omnia II was announced as the Official Mobile Phone of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games last week. Users can download the WOW Application for free on the Omnia II.

Briefs…

…TOP Sponsor Panasonic is presenting the stories of five athletes who have overcome adverse circumstances in trying to gain the opportunity to compete in the Olympics in a blog. The athletes include Robel Teklemariam of Ethiopia, Katharine Eustace of New Zealand, Kazuhiro Koshi of Japan, Tugba Karademir of Turkey and Clyde Getty of Argentina

…24 Hour Fitness, a U.S. fitness chain and the Official Fitness Center Sponsor of the 2010 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, has partnered with six U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls for the 2010 Games. Gretchen Bleiler, Rockne Brubaker, J.R. Celski, Chris Devlin-Young, Tucker Fredricks and Julia Mancuso will appear in 24 Hour Fitness’s Olympic marketing campaign, make promotional appearances at local clubs and develop signature workouts from members.

With reporting from Isia Reaves

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