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McDonald's launches Champion Kids contest for 2010 Olympic Winter Games
September 29, 2009
McDonald's USA is sponsoring a contest with a chance for young people from across the country to attend the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in February as a McDonald's Champion Kid (MCK) and hometown correspondent.
Olympic Gold Medal gymnast and MCK Ambassador Shawn Johnson joins McDonald's in inviting 11-14 year-olds to enter an online contest at the company's Web site for a chance to become a McDonald's Champion Kid. As part of a larger global MCK program, the selected U.S. kids will attend Olympic Winter Games sporting events, meet athletes and kids from around the world, tour the cultural sights of Vancouver and Whistler and share their stories and perspectives about the Games with their local communities back home.
The online contest will be open for entries Sept. 30 through Oct. 30. Kids ages 11-14 (with parent or guardian consent) are eligible to submit an online essay and video or photo to demonstrate what the Olympic Values of friendship, excellence and respect mean to them, and explain why they should be chosen to represent their hometown as a McDonald's Champion Kid.
Entries will be judged by a panel of Olympic athletes, including Johnson, along with Alpine snowboarder Graham Watanabe, freestyle mogul skier Patrick Deneen, speed skaters Jennifer Rodriguez and J.R. Chelski, and basketball greats Alonzo Mourning and Dwight Howard. In addition, McDonald's is working with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), an organization encouraging kids to strive for excellence and teamwork while being physically active, to assist with the contest judging.
The MCK program debuted at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as part of the company's ongoing commitment to children's well-being. The program was created to inspire children to become more physically active and to enable kids from across the globe to travel and experience the Games first-hand.
During the 2008 Summer Games, more than 200 kids from 40 countries traveled to Beijing for an opportunity to experience the Games, meet athletes, visit the Olympic Village and view the wonders of China. In addition, many of the kids served as hometown correspondents reporting their stories and experiences back to their local media outlets.
McDonald's Olympic Games history
McDonald's became an Official Sponsor of the Olympic Games in 1976 and has a long-standing commitment to the Olympic Movement, which first began more than 40 years ago. At the 1968 Olympic Winter Games, McDonald's airlifted hamburgers to U.S. athletes competing in Grenoble, France, after they reported being homesick for McDonald's food. Since then, the company has served its menu of choice and variety to millions of athletes, coaches, their families and fans.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games mark McDonald's seventh Olympic Games as a Worldwide Partner and eighth as the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games. McDonald's current sponsorship will continue through the 2012 Games in London.
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