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Olympic sailors reunite to receive an early Christmas present from Panasonic
The triumphant gold medal-winning sailors from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games reunited on the 21st November, to receive an early Christmas present from Panasonic, worldwide Olympic Games partner and Team GB sponsor.
This was one of the first opportunities, since touching down on British soil at the end of August, to get all seven sailing gold medallists together and reward them for the hard work that kept the UK glued to their televisions for two weeks and the successes that lifted the nation’s spirits.
The Team GB sailors were the first of the 27 British Olympic gold medal-winning athletes to receive their gift from Panasonic. Ben Ainslie (Finn), Paul Goodison (Laser), Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (Star) and the three “blondes in a boat” Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson (Yngling) took time out of the RYA World Class Programme day at East Horton Golf Club, Hampshire, to each receive a 32” Panasonic VIERA television with HD freesat built in (TX-32LZD81) and a Blu-ray player (DMP-BD35) enabling them to replay their magic moments from Beijing.
Ainslie, recently crowned ISAF Sailor of the Year for the third time, said: “This is a fantastic gift from everyone at Panasonic and a great reminder of the experiences we all had out in Beijing this summer. We’ve all been pretty busy since we got back in August; training, travelling and working on other projects so to get together today and receive our first Christmas presents is great. I’m just pleased that someone from Panasonic is going to teach us how to set it up!”
Keith Evans, Managing Director of Panasonic UK said: “Panasonic is proud to present each of the gold medal winners with a latest edition high definition TV and Blu-ray player in recognition of the hard work and their fantastic achievements in Beijing. This summer, Team GB put the ‘great’ back into Great Britain and I hope that the athletes will enjoy reliving their Olympic moments on the high definition Panasonic TV for many years to come.
Panasonic has supported the Olympic Games as an Official Worldwide Olympic Partner for over 20 years and plans to continue the relationship through London 2012 and beyond. As well as being a Worldwide Olympic Partner, Panasonic UK is a Technical Partner of the Team GB rowing, cycling and sailing teams.
