POSTED: Thursday October 27th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

9 World-Famous Athletes Sign Up for Peace!

Nine new "Champions for Peace" to promote world reconciliation and dialogue

Monaco, 27 October 2011 - Launched in 2009 at the initiative of the international organization Peace and Sport, "Champions for Peace”, a group of famous athletes committed to serve world peace through sport is boosted by the arrival of nine new stars of the podium:

- cyclist PHILIPPE GILBERT (Belgium) who has just been awarded the prize for the best professional cyclist of the year by the International Cycling Union
- American multi-record-winning swimming legend DONNA DE VARONA (USA)
- Baseball legend EDGAR RENTERIA (Colombia)
- Latin American champion in gymnastics HUGO GIRALDO LOPEZ (Colombia)
- former European champion and three-time runner up World Champion in figure skating SURYA BONALY (France)
- former ju-jitsu World Champion , GREGORY VALLARINO (Colombia)
- Olympic medallist alpine skier FLORENCE MASNADA (France)
- multiple world champion in sambo, FEDOR EMELIANENKO (Russia)
- World Champion in sprint paracanoe PATRICK VIRIAMU (French Polynesia)

With these 9 new recruits, the "Champions for Peace" club now counts 66 elite athletes from 33 different nationalities, including world-famous names such as NOVAK DJOKOVIC, PAULA RADCLIFFE, BLANKA VLASIC, SERGEY BUBKA, and SEBASTIEN LOEB. What makes this group so unique is the diversity of countries and sports represented. From football to sambo, from kite surfing to chess, the 34 Olympic and non-Olympic sports represented within the club highlights the powerful universal message conveyed by the Champions.

Each in their own way, Champions for Peace act to ensure that the values of sport contribute to dialogue and reconciliation in communities that are divided or disadvantaged.

"I am delighted to see Champions for Peace club gain new recruits" said Joel Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport. "It demonstrates that more and more top-level athletes share the same vision of the essential role of champions in promoting peace, a vision that has always inspired me personally, and led to the creation of this movement.”

"Having had the chance myself to be an Olympian and World Champion, I've always been aware of the ability of sport to inspire young people around the world, to change attitudes and promote a real culture of peace. But this power can only be expressed within a framework that enables each champion to be at the heart of initiatives and get involved in tangible and specific projects that they themselves choose. That's why I wanted Peace and Sport to be a laboratory for innovative projects that allow athletes to become actors for change, to be operational, and become involved in a very hands-on way.”

Champions in control
Peace and Sport is proud to announce that Wilson Kipketer, triple world champion in 800m, and Kaveh Mehrabi, Olympian and professional badminton player, will now head up actions by Champions for Peace.
Both deeply involved in Peace and Sport’s projects, they will mentor and encourage the commitment of other Champions for Peace, and beyond their role as spokespeople, will define specific programs for peace through sport and actively contribute to their success.
These announcements took place during the Opening Ceremony of the 5th Peace and Sport International Forum, which kicked off today in Monaco in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II and more than 500 high-ranking decision-makers from sport, politics and the private sector from 90 countries.
The complete list of champions is available on http://www.peace-sport.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Valérie Amant - 06.83.37.66.21 - press@peace-sport.org
http://www.peace-sport.org

ABOUT PEACE AND SPORT
“Peace and Sport, L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport” is a neutral and apolitical international initiative based in the Principality of Monaco and placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Peace and Sport puts sport and its values at the heart of local development projects conducted within communities in crisis around the world. Exercising its missions in post-conflict zones, areas of extreme poverty or lacking social cohesion, Peace and Sport makes sport a vehicle for tolerance, respect, sharing and citizenship at the service of sustainable peace.
Supported by governments, world sport governing bodies, international organizations, major international private companies and international sports champions, Peace and Sport creates synergies between different stakeholders based on four different activities:
- The annual Peace and Sport International Forum (5th edition being held in Monaco from 26-28 October 2011)
- A co-operation platform for peace and sport,
- The Peace and Sport Awards, to reward individuals and initiatives contributing to peace,
- Locally-Based Projects; concrete actions in different regions of crisis in the world
Today, Peace and Sport has operations in Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel-Palestine, Timor Leste, Colombia and in Haiti.
Peace and Sport was founded by Joel Bouzou, current President of the organisation. Joel Bouzou is an Olympic medallist, world champion of Modern Pentathlon and current Secretary General for the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM). He is also Advisor to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

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Keywords · Peace and Sport · PHILIPPE GILBERT · DONNA DE VARONA · EDGAR RENTERIA · HUGO GIRALDO LOPEZ

Name: Valérie Amant
Organization: Peace and Sport
Email:
Phone: +33 6 83 37 66 21
URL: http://www.peace-sport.org/home.htm

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