Asafa Powell has played an important role in raising brand awareness for NUTRILITE, while serving as a world-class testimonial of our products and their benefits. He has been an advocate for our company and shares our common goal to help all customers achieve optimal health. Asafa was the cornerstone for Team Nutrilite and his presence and support much appreciated.
However, while Asafa has been a positive and engaging supporter of the NUTRILITE brand, his endorsement does not currently fit our sponsorship strategic direction going forward.
To that end, Amway Global / NUTRILITE has not renewed its endorsement with Asafa Powell. Our focus for now will be to invest in our existing Track & Field sponsorships, our relationships with Silver Medal winner Jenn Stuczynski and Gold and Bronze Medal winning Sanya Richards and continued focus on our endorsement with soccer star Ronaldinho and sponsorship of A.C. Milan.
We wish Asafa all the best in his quest to regain his title as "World's Fastest Man."
After being down for a few weeks, I wasn't quite sure where to start with this blog entry…
As I sat back and reflected on our time apart, it occurred to me that the whole ethos of the movement we watched unfold over the last few weeks is based on faith in progress and excellence. This seems like an appropriate place to start, because I truly believe that Nutrilite is the finest example in the vitamin, mineral and supplement market of progress and excellence – constantly striving to the best of nature, best of science.
Because of this, we are incredibly particular about the athletes we sponsor… All of our athletes compete on the world's biggest stages, and due to the nature of these high-profile events, every day they are held to higher standards then athletes in many other professional sports. I guess you could say that's why they are such a great fit with the Nutrilite brand, which also holds itself to higher standards then its competitors in the vitamin, mineral & supplement market.
Right now our excitement and pride for our sponsored athletes is so great, that it's something we feel should be shared with the entire country… and that's exactly what we're going to do!
Today’s issue of USA TODAY will feature a full-page, four-color ad that highlights four of our Team Nutrilite athletes and congratulates them on their recent successes. The ad points out that what "these 2008 medal-winning athletes have in common" is NUTRILITE® vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements.
The four featured athletes are:
Sprinter Asafa Powell, 2008 gold medal winner
Sprinter Sanya Richards, 2008 gold and bronze medal winner
Soccer great Ronaldinho, 2008 bronze medal winner
Pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski, 2008 silver medal winner
Be sure to get to newsstands on Tuesday, September 2 to pick up several copies of USA Today!
For more on our medal-winning athletes, be sure to check out these websites:
'Tis the season for all of our Team Nutrilite athletes to make and create headlines. From Asafa Powell's pending battle with fellow countryman Usain Bolt in Stockholm to Jenn Stuczynski's much anticipated clash with Yelena Isinbayeva and Liu Xiang's quest to retake the top spot to Ronaldinho's heralded move to AC Milan it is a time of anticipation and high visibility for our athletes.
Keep up on all of their latest achievements both here and all over the Internet. A quick, simple search on each athlete's name via Google will bring you the latest news and views from around the world…
NEW Team Nutrilite Track & Field Poster!! Be the first to get it at the Adidas Track Classic in L.A. on May 18!
All attendees at the Nutrilite-sponsored Adidas Track Classic will be able to pick up a FREE Team Nutrilite Track & Field poster, featuring Nutrilite-sponsored athletes Asafa Powell, Liu Xiang, Sanya Richards and Jenn Stuczynski.
In addition, Sanya Richards (American Record Holder 400-meter sprint) and Jenn Stuczysnki (American Record Holder Women's Pole Vault) will be signing autographs in the Nutrilite tent following their events.
It's gonna be a great event!! Hope to see you there!
More information about the Adidas Track Classic is available at www.adidastrackclassic.com.
Tickets can be ordered by calling Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at 213-480-3232
or visiting www.ticketmaster.com. For
group ticket information, call 877-234-8425 or visit www.aegtickets.com
Check out this new Nike commercial featuring Nutrilite-sponsored athlete Asafa Powell. The commercial is for Nike+, a device that tracks your runs through distance, time and
calories burned. Nike+ is made to fit into the sole of Nike shoes and transmit
information to an iPod Nano. (My sister just got this for her birthday and loves it!!)
Agency Wieden + Kennedy tapped Identity to produce the spot, which
features Nike athletes from around the world: Kaoru Uno (Japanese
K-1 fighter), Ronaldo, Maria Sharapova, Martin Lel, Robert Cheriyot (Kenyan
marathoners), Asafa Powell (world's fastest man), and Dai Tamesue (hurdler).
Asafa didn’t know until 20 minutes before the race
that he would run, but when he did, he delivered a stunning performance to win
the 100-meter sprint at Olympic Park in Melbourne
yesterday!
Here’s the story…
Prior to leaving for Australia, Asafa Powell – Nutrilite-sponsored
athlete & World-Record holder for the 100-meter sprint – injured his knee
after tripping on the stairs in his Jamaican home. Although the injury was
regarded as a minor one, the gash still required stitches. (Ironically… Asafa
was racing around his house to make it to track practice on time!) The four stitches closing the cut were
removed last Saturday night and Powell’s first practice back on the track
didn’t go well… leaving him stiff and sore.
It was questionable whether not he’d be able to compete in
yesterday’s Melbourne Grand Prix. Even on Tuesday, there was still inflammation
inside his knee, and with this year being an Olympic year, athletes are being
particularly careful when it comes to injuries to not take any unnecessary
risks.
All that being said, Asafa ended up competing yesterday
and he ran a blistering 10.04 seconds over 100 meters at Olympic Park in Melbourne last night!
This was despite being immobilized due to his knee for most of his stay in Australia.
Asafa won a host of admirers for the lengths to which he went to race last night.
Asafa Powell, World Record Holder for the 100-meter sprint, was the official starter this weekend for the Avia OC Marathon Presented by Nutrilite. While he was in Irvine, California for the event, he was interviewed by Larry Eder of American Track and Field.
Update on the IAAF World Athlete of the Year Awards:
Sprinter Tyson Gay and middle-distance runner Meseret Defar won the World Athlete of the Year titles at the IAAF awards ceremony that took place in Monte Carlo.
Gay won the 100 and 200-meter sprints at the world championships in Osaka, Japan, and was part of the victorious 400-meter relay team. That made him the fourth man to win three golds at a single worlds.
Defar set the two-mile world record at the Van Damme Memorial meet on Sept. 14, smashing her own mark by almost 12 seconds. She finished in 8 minutes, 58.58 seconds.
Although he didn’t reclaim his World Athlete of the Year Award, Nutrilite-sponsored sprinter Asafa Powell didn’t walk away empty handed. He won men's performance of the year for his world-record time of 9.74 seconds in the 100-meter sprint, set in Rieti, Italy, in September.
A new article on Nutrilite-sponsored athlete Asafa Powell was just posted on the IAAF website today: Powell Will Focus On Own Race Not Opponents To Take Home Beijing Gold.
A couple of cool quotes from Asafa in the article:
– "It's a real big year (2008) for me. I will just try my best not to miss any practice sessions. I will just have to pray to God and ask him to keep me healthy."
– "The main aim is to stay healthy, and once I stay healthy, I don't think anyone can beat me (next season)."
– "I can say that you will see 9.74 erased. I told a lot of people before that than I am going to run 9.77 and I did, and know I am going to do better than 9.74. I want to go 9.6 – that's the aim."
– "But in the future, I would like to focus as less as possible on other athletes; I should focus on my own race. Only in that way should I be able to get my Olympic gold next year."
