POSTED: Wednesday February 4th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEGENDARY SURFER LAYNE BEACHLEY NAMED NEW LAUREUS GLOBAL AMBASSADOR

……JOINS CATHY FREEMAN, ROBBY NAISH, DALEY THOMPSON AND STEVE WAUGH TO ‘CATCH THE WAVE’ AT LAUREUS INDIGENOUS SURFING PROJECT IN JAN JUC, AUSTRALIA

Pictures available for media use at www.laureusarchive.com

JAN JUC, VICTORIA, February 4, 2009 – Layne Beachley, the greatest female surfer of all time, has become the newest member of the Laureus Friends & Ambassadors programme.

The announcement was made by Laureus World Sports Academy members Cathy Freeman, Robby Naish, Daley Thompson and Steve Waugh, who were attending the Indigenous Sports Program surfing-based project at Jan Juc, near Geelong, in Victoria, Australia.

Australian surfing legend Beachley won the World Surfing Championship a record seven times and set the pace for women in a previously male dominated sport. She received the Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year Award in 2004.

Layne Beachley said: “I would like to thank the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy for inviting me to become a Laureus Ambassador, and I am delighted that I can get down to work straight away at this inspiring project. To be able to share my knowledge and passion for surfing with those less fortunate is very exciting. Having Robby Naish here to participate in the programme makes it even more special. I plan to work with Laureus to establish more projects and use sport as the means to help disadvantaged young Australians.”

The Australian Sports Commission’s Indigenous Sports Program, supported by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, helps to increase the number of Aborigines participating in sport. In the Jan Juc area, the focus is surfing, one of Australia’s most popular sports. The project, run by Surfing Australia, promotes healthy lifestyles and provides the local community with the opportunity to experience surfing in a fun, safe and supervised environment and gives individuals the opportunity to become coaches and officials.

The Laureus Academy members joined children from the Wathaurong community in activities on the beach, which included traditional indigenous games, surfing technique lessons, safety, ocean awareness surf lessons and a mini surfing competition to end the event. Former world champions Beachley and Naish, who won over 30 world titles between them, also gave a surfing demonstration for the young people.

Joining Layne Beachley and Robby Naish on the beach at Jan Juc were Cathy Freeman, Australia’s heroine from the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where she won the 400 metres gold medal, Steve Waugh, arguably Australia’s greatest cricket captain, and Britain’s double Olympic decathlon gold medal winner Daley Thompson.

Cathy Freeman said: “We welcome Layne warmly into the Laureus family and I am personally delighted to see her at Jan Juc today. The Indigenous Sports Program is something very close to my heart and I am delighted that so many other Laureus Academy members are here to support our work to help the Indigenous community. This really can make a difference to these young people.”

Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Academy, incorporating the Friends & Ambassadors programme, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change.

The mission of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is to utilise the power of sport to address social challenges through a global programme of sports related community development initiatives, using sport as a tool for social change. The Foundation supports more than 60 projects worldwide and since its inception Laureus has raised Aus$29 million (€15 million) for projects which have helped to improve the lives of over 750,000 young people.

The work of the Foundation is supported by the Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique association of 46 of the greatest living sporting legends, and by a growing number of Laureus Friends & Ambassadors. The Friends and Ambassadors programme is an initiative aimed at encouraging the involvement of sport stars and friends at a countrywide level. The personalities have volunteered their time to act as global ambassadors by using their influence to highlight the plight of disadvantaged children.

For further information please contact:
Mal Thompson
Laureus Global Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 2749
Fax: +44 (0)20 7514 2782
Email: publicrelations@laureus.com
Photo Archive: www.laureusarchive.com
Website: www.laureus.com
For photos of Laureus events please visit www.laureusarchive.com
NB: Information correct at time of going to press

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Patron of Laureus is Nelson Mandela. At the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, President Mandela said: “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.” This has become the philosophy of Laureus; the driving force behind its work.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergey Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Cathy Freeman, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mika Häkkinen, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Michael Johnson, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (Chairman), Nawal El Moutawakel, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Alexei Nemov, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh and Katarina Witt.

The Laureus Academy members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was set up to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change. The Foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. Since its inception Laureus has raised Aus$29 million (€15 million) for projects which have helped improve the lives of over 750,000 young people. The Foundation addresses issues in particular involving, but not limited to, young people impacted by social exclusion, gun and gang violence, discrimination, community integration, peace and reconciliation, and education.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The Awards are presented at an annual Awards Ceremony, attended by global figures from sport and entertainment, which is broadcast to 180 countries.

Laureus was founded by its Patrons Daimler and Richemont and is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone.

Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz, the world’s oldest automaker, can look back on a unique tradition. The premium brand stands for modern, innovative automobiles, for quality, safety, comfort and design. Mercedes-Benz enjoys an excellent reputation, particularly in the area of safety technology. Many pioneering technical innovations that are standard automotive features today were first seen in a Mercedes-Benz car. The car with the star also has an excellent reputation with regard to quality, value for money and customer satisfaction. Mercedes-Benz is a Global Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Since the beginning of the Foundations’ operations in 2000, Mercedes-Benz has shared and supported the goals and values of this worldwide charity programme where sports play the core role in the fight against social issues - Laureus has become a vital element of the corporate social responsibility programme of Mercedes-Benz.

IWC Schaffhausen
For more than a century, IWC Schaffhausen has been producing precision products of complex functionality and outstanding user-friendliness for watch connoisseurs who expect more from their watch than just having an accurate timekeeper. Since its foundation in 1868, the International Watch Company has built up a reputation as a long-established Swiss watchmaking firm with a passion for inventions, innovative solutions and technical refinements. Today the brand is more successful than at any time in its history. IWC uses this strength in a programme of corporate social responsibility initiatives at home and abroad. In 2005, IWC entered into a long-term commitment to become a Global Partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Vodafone
Vodafone, the world\‘s leading international mobile communications group, with over 280 million proportionate customers and equity interests in 27 countries across five continents and a further 40 partner networks worldwide, is supporting Laureus as a Global Partner, with a five year agreement which began in 2008 and concludes in 2012. Vodafone is a long-standing supporter of sport sponsorship and is pleased to be part of an organisation that celebrates sporting excellence both at a grass roots level through the humanitarian work worldwide of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and at elite level through the annual Laureus World Sports Awards, which honours the achievements of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen.

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Keywords · Layne Beachley · Laureus Foundation · Cathy Freeman · Robby Naish · Daley Thompson · Steve Waugh

Name: Mal Thompson
Organization: Laureus Foundation
Email:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7514 2749
URL: http://www.laureus.com/

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