Jamaican sprint superstar renews contract with sportswear giant
Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt has reportedly renewed his contract with sportswear giant Puma for the next three years. The specific terms of the agreement remained undisclosed, however, it has been expected that the deal would be very lucrative.
Being the reigning world record holder of 100 and 200 meter events, plus the fact that he has won multiple Olympic gold medals for the events, Bolt is expected to receive a record fee from this lucrative sponsorship deal.
Puma in a statement said that the fee is so far the biggest ever to be given to a track and field athlete. The sportswear retailer said that Bolt’s achievement is definitely impressive and astonishing and the deal made is very satisfactory.
The Germany-based company has signed Bolt seven years ago when the athlete was still sixteen years old.
Recently, Bolt announced that he ends this year a bit earlier in order to recover from a back problem.
US-based hedge fund company invests in fledging UK sportswear retailer
Harris Associates, a Chicago-based hedge fund company, has confirmed that it is now the largest shareholder in the fledging British-based sportswear retailer, JJB Sports.
According to a regulatory filing, Harris Associates now has 18.5 percent stake in the company. Another hedge fund firm, Crystal Amber also has a significant stake in the company. The Guernsey-based company is the second largest shareholder with 15.4 percent.
Last year, JJB Sports was on the brink of bankruptcy but with the investment of more than $150 million from various investors kept it afloat. It has reduced its fiscal year 2010 loss to about 58 percent or $100 million.
This development served as great news for the sportswear retailer as it aims to regain its footing in the competitive market. The influx of funding would make it possible for them to come up with a new line of sportswear for the target customers, with a focus on branding towards markets that the company had previously not catered for, such as plus sizes and sports underwear, which other businesses developed.
Three men go canoeing to raise oil spill awareness
Three friends have decided to make a statement about the devastating BP oil spill on Gulf Coast by going canoeing by the length of the Mississippi river.
Dave Kolck, Matt Bergmann and Justin Dworak are working together to raise funds and awareness about the aforementioned incident by navigating the Mississippi River from its headwaters until they reach New Orleans. These three individuals are working with Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, a Louisiana-based, non-profit organization.
Kolck said that they have been advised that this stunt can be dangerous. However, he and his two friends believe that they should do something on their end to help spread the awareness of this disaster and at the same time raise much needed funds for the cleanup efforts.
They started their canoeing journey last July 14 and is expected to reach New Orleans by August 25. Kolck said that they are traveling at about 20 to 30 miles per day using their small canoe.
Canadian Rowing Coach Sets Sights on Victory in London Olympics
Rowing Canada coach Mike Spracklen is confident that his team will certainly make a splash in the sport in this coming 2012 Olympic Games which will be held in London.
Interestingly, Spracklen is a British national but has now regarded himself as a Canadian and would just love to see the team from his second home to outperform those from his original home country.
The 73-year old coach has been vocal about his disappointment in Britain’s prestigious rowing program, having been ousted from British Rowing at the 2000 Sydney Games after his team only went home with a silver medal.
Spracklen revealed that there had been times when he thinks whether he should coach a team to battle against his own countrymen in the sport but he had set aside these feelings now that he and his wife are all set to apply for Canadian citizenship.
Actress Renee Zellweger seen with running bra in Paris
Academy Award-winning actress Renee Zellweger was seen jogging around in Paris in her sports bra and gear on Monday.
The “Bridget Jones’ Diary” star looked in great form as she was sporting on a black ensemble – black jacket, black running bra and black running shorts.
The actress is currently in the city to accompany her boyfriend, actor Bradley Cooper, who is doing his promotional appearance for this new movie “The A-Team,” now in theaters and is doing well in the box office.
The night before she was seen jogging, the couple was seen dining with actress Kate Hudson and musician Matt Bellamy of the band Muse at a French restaurant.
Zellweger sparked rumors last week when she was seen entering a wedding shop in California. However, she was seen leaving the store with a purse but it is bound to not stop the media from pursuing the truth.
More men prefer women in gym clothes than glamorous ones
A new study revealed that more than two thirds of men prefer women with gym clothes rather than the glamorous ones. About 25 percent of the respondents also said that they’d prefer their partners to let go of makeup for the natural look.
A leading celebrity fashion website in United Kingdom revealed that based on their study, more than 65 percent of men are more attracted to the opposite sex who are wearing gym clothes. More than sixty percent of the respondents said that they don’t like girls wearing too much makeup with more than thirty percent saying that they want their partners going for the natural look.
My Celebrity Fashion website editors commissioned the research after noticing that more men are accessing the website to order for their partners.
Site Marketing Director Andy Barr said that this trend is somewhat no longer surprising as more men are going for women with natural looks.
Changing temperatures may affect revenues in Californian rafting destination
The Truckee River is experiencing a later water runoff due to the changes in temperature and this development may affect the revenues for adventure-seekers who regularly go to this tourist destination especially during the July 4 weekend.
Truckee River Operating Agreement Chief Deputing Water Master Chad Planchard said that this may be the largest water runoff peak in the past four decades.
Planchard said that the water flow has not fallen below five hundred cubic feet per second. He said that this is not save for commercial river rafting.
Tahoe City-based Mountain Air Sports Truckee River Rafting co-owner Richard Courcier said that this is going to hit his business hard and his employees, who are working for the summer, will be affected with this. He added that other rafting companies will share the same sentiment.
Sponsors take interest for London 2012
The mania for the 2012 London Olympics has ramped up, thanks to the growing interest by the public and the sponsors for this prestigious sporting event.
According to reports, the official mascots for the 2012 Olympics have been unveiled earlier this week and their names are Wenlock and Mandeville.
The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) revealed that its expecting to raise more than 70 million pounds in royalties alone and these proceeds will help in the staging of the Games.
As for the licensees, about 34 have been known to have signed up and they can produce more than 10,000 of merchandise.
Newest signees include sports bras and underwear retailer Aykrodys and TDP, BL Sports, Cohen & Wilks, Pyramid, If Cardboard Creations, Roy Lowe & Sons, Spearmark, Samlerhuset and Grant Barnett.
LOCOG Director of Commercial Negotiations Charlie Wijeratna said that they are carefully selecting an impressive team of licensees for the Olympic Games.
Sportswear giant launches new ad in time for the World Cup
There is definitely a lot of excitement going on for the upcoming World Cup and several sportswear giants have come up with their own marketing campaign to entice football fans to purchase their World Cup-themed items before the major event takes place in South Africa.
Sportswear giant Adidas is taking its part in this excitement by coming up with a new ad to generate more interest in their products.
The company enlisted popular sporting figures Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane and David Villa as they were shown driving a car at fast speeds. The three sports stars are helping with the endorsement of the new Adidas football boot, designed by 180 Amsterdam and Riot.
In a statement, Adidas officials said that they expect their sales to increase in time for the World Cup. Company CEO Herbert Hainer is optimistic that this projection will happen in a few weeks time.
IBA Buzios Bodyboarding 2010 winners revealed
The IBA Buzios Bodyboarding 2010 competition concluded in Brazil after five days of intense competitions. The warm and sunny weather during the entire competition made the event very memorable and that the participants did not encounter any untoward incidents.
The minor events were concluded and made way to the final competitions of the men’s and women’s events.
In the women’s final, Isabela Sousa performed a miraculous comeback when she pulled off an impressive stunt in the last wave to overtake perennial leader Maylla Venturin in the final standings.
In the men’s competition, Pierre Louis Costes held on to his lead throughout the competition. However, he did face tough competition from Guilherme Tamega as the latter climbed slowly but surely in the standings but failed at the last moment to pull off another upset.
The IBA bodyboarding event heads in Chile for the second wave of competitions.