First winner of The Best of Us Challenge
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the first winner of its global digital initiative “The Best of Us Challenge”.
The winner, Grant Gibbons of Sterling VA, USA, will receive a trip for two to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games taking place in February 2010. Mr Gibbons, who was declared the winner after a random selection process, submitted a video to the Challenge site showing him beating Estonian Olympian Gerd Kanter at a discus pick-up challenge.
Grant Gibbons said, “The Best of Us Challenge is great: not only do we have a chance to show off what we can do, but we get to see a side to our favourite Olympic athletes that we normally don’t get to see.”
“The Best of Us Challenge” will continue through 2010, and participants who submit videos to the official site (http://thebestofuschallenge.olympic.org) are still eligible to win a wide range of remaining prizes, including:
- A trip for two to the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore (August 2010)
- “The Best of Us” memorabilia signed by Olympians
- Official “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games” video games
- “The Best of Us” posters
Since its launch in October, “The Best of Us Challenge” has received a total of more than 2.5 million views in over 200 countries globally.
Timo Lumme, Director of IOC Television and Marketing, said, “The Best of Us Challenge is proving to be a very successful way for the IOC to engage young people in the digital space, using the popular online video platform YouTube. It’s a fun initiative that offers the unique opportunity to compete against world famous athletes – and beat them! We will have additional challenges from Olympic athletes coming online through 2010, and we look forward to new participants getting involved in the Challenge in 2010, and hopefully winning a trip to the first-ever Youth Olympic Games ”
The Best of Us Challenge
“The Best of Us Challenge”, powered by YouTube™, invites people around the world to challenge Olympic athletes via an online competition.
Many well-known Olympians are participating in the Challenge, including:
• Michael Phelps (USA/Swimming)
• Rafael Nadal (Spain/tennis)
• Lindsey Vonn (USA/skiing
• Natalie Cook (Australia/beach volleyball)
• Shawn Johnson (USA/gymnastics)
• Asafa Powell (Jamaica/athletics)
• Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia/pole vault).
No matter what the skill – from balancing a stick for as long as possible to doing the most clapping push-ups in 30 seconds – The Best of Us Challenge encourages young people to find the best in themselves, share it with the world and then challenge each other to become better at it. Young people also have the option to create and submit their own challenges independent of the Olympians, truly giving them the opportunity to show what they do best.
The Best of Us Challenge was created in partnership with Cole & Weber/United http://www.coleweber.com/ and YouTube™.
Mark Teahen named 2009 Hutch Award winner
Major League Baseball’s Mark Teahen, longtime third baseman for the Kansas City Royals and recently acquired by the Chicago White Sox, will receive the 2009 Hutch Award®. The award is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication of baseball great Fred Hutchinson, both on and off the field.
The 28-year-old Redlands, Calif., native made his MLB debut with the Royals in April 2005, playing third and first bases and the outfield. He had been a unanimous first-team, All-West Coast Conference selection in 2002. Teahen, whose father is from Ontario, has dual Canadian-American citizenship and last March played on the Canadian men’s national team in the World Baseball Classic. On Nov. 5 he was traded to the White Sox.
“I am extremely excited to accept the Hutch Award, and I am humbled to be added to the prestigious list of former recipients,” Teahen said. “I am honored and am thankful for all of my friends and family who help me accomplish the many successes I’ve been fortunate to achieve.”
Teahen said the Hutch Award and its connection with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center mean even more to him because this year he witnessed his mother’s successful battle with breast cancer.
Off the field, Teahen has been active in the local community. For nearly the entirety of his tenure with the Royals, Teahen served as a key spokesman and fundraiser for the YMCA Challenger Baseball program, a division of Little League Baseball that gives children with physical or mental challenges the opportunity to play on specially designed baseball fields. In addition, he has donated time to the Royals AbilityCAMP, an interactive baseball camp for kids with disabilities, and he has supported other causes and foundations focusing on the well-being of children.
Teahen will visit children at the Hutchinson Center’s Hutch School and receive his award at the annual Hutch Award Luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 at Safeco Field in Seattle. Legendary pitcher and 1989 Hutch Award winner Dave Dravecky will be the featured speaker at the luncheon, which raises funds for cancer research.
The Hutchinson Center was founded by Fred’s brother Bill, a prominent Seattle surgeon, after Fred died of cancer at age 45. The Hutch Award was established in 1965 and was first given to Mickey Mantle. Other Hutch Award winners have included 2008 recipient Jon Lester, Mike Sweeney, Mark Loretta, Craig Biggio, Jamie Moyer, Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell, Omar Vizquel, Sandy Koufax and Carl Yastrzemski. In all, 11 Hall-of-Famers have received the Hutch Award. For more information about the Hutch Award, including a full list of past recipients, visit www.fhcrc.org/hutchaward.
Source: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center