POSTED: Thursday December 4th 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO 2016 FURTHERS OLYMPIAN AND PARALYMPIAN RECRUITMENT EFFORTS IN SUPPORT OF THE BID

Legendary Olympians Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, and Paralympian world record-holder April Holmes to assist with athlete engagement

CHICAGO (December 3, 2008)—Chicago 2016 announced today that Olympians Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci and Paralympian April Holmes have been named athlete ambassadors to the bid. An extension of Chicago 2016’s athlete relations team – which includes Olympians Bill Scherr and Diane Simpson – Conner, Comaneci and Holmes will help manage the engagement of additional athletes in Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Since the bid’s inception, Chicago 2016 has gained the support of more than 1,300 Olympians and Paralympians, including members of Team USA and those representing other countries.

 

Athlete support is critical to the bid, helping to engage the community in Chicago’s Games plan and increase awareness of the Olympic Movement and its ideals. Athletes routinely attend Chicago 2016 events and participate in youth programming, such as the Chicago Public Library’s Star Reading Program, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Olympic Week in America and World Sport Chicago’s athlete clinics.

 

“Bart, Nadia and April reached the pinnacle of their sports at the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016. “We have involved athletes at every level of our bid process.  I can think of no better way to further engage them than to have three outstanding ambassadors of sport represent Chicago 2016 in our efforts.”

 

Conner, a Chicago-area native, will lead the domestic effort on behalf of the bid to put more athletes to work in their own communities in celebration of the Olympic Movement.  The only American male gymnast to win gold medals at every level of national and international competition, he qualified for three Olympic teams (1976, 1980 and 1984) and led the U.S. men’s gymnastics team to the gold medal on home soil in Los Angeles while capturing an individual gold with a perfect 10 on parallel bars. Conner is now owner of a gymnastics academy in Norman, OK.

 

“Being an Olympian is an honor and a responsibility that keeps on giving beyond the Games,” said Conner. “Working with young athletes and being involved with the Olympic Movement is a life-long gift.  As ambassadors to the bid, Nadia, April and I will encourage other national and international Olympians and Paralympians to participate and help bring the Games back to the United States in 2016.”

 

To supplement Conner’s domestic efforts, Comaneci will focus on the international outreach plan.  Comaneci spawned the gymnastics or athletic careers of millions of girls after she scored seven perfect 10s at the 1976 Olympic Games.  She won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze in Montreal.  She added two golds and two silvers at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.  Comaneci received the Olympic Order – the highest award given by the International Olympic Committee – in 1984 and 2004.  She is the youngest recipient of this prestigious award and the only person to receive this honor twice.

 

Holmes, who lost part of her left leg in a train accident in 2001 and went on to win gold seven years later, will guide Paralympian recruitment. She is the current world record-holder in her classification in the 100-, 200- and 400-meters and she runs a nonprofit organization devoted to people with disabilities.  She won a gold medal in the 100 meters in Beijing and took bronze and set an American record at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens in the long jump.

 

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About Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 is a 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to seek the privilege of hosting the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Chicago. The committee’s board consists of business, civic, athletic, cultural and academic leaders representing Chicago and the surrounding Midwest region. Patrick Ryan serves as the organization’s chairman and CEO.

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Keywords · Chicago 2016 · Olympic Bid · Bart Conner · Nadia Comaneci · April Holmes · Patrick Ryan

Name: Mica Matsoff
Organization: Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid
Email:
Phone: 1.312.861.4826
URL: http://www.chicago2016.org/

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