Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games History

THE BEGINNINGS
The Coca-Cola Company and the modern Olympic Games have enjoyed a mutual growth and common historical bonds. In 1886, Atlanta pharmacist John S. Pemberton invented the secret formula for Coca-Cola. Six years later, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, of France, conceived the idea for a new Olympic Games. In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, with 311 athletes from 13 nations. At the same time, Coca-Cola was becoming available outside the United States.

AMSTERDAM 1928
The 1928 Olympic Games, which included 46 nations, marked the beginning of The Coca-Cola Company's Olympic involvement - a presence that would continue to grow to this day, through sponsorships, donations and innovative support programs. That summer, a freighter delivered the U.S. Olympic Team and 1,000 cases of Coca-Cola to the Amsterdam event. This was also the first time Olympic Games competitions were held for women, in track and field events. Meanwhile, the tradition of lighting an Olympic Flame at the Games was revived from ancient times.

LOS ANGELES 1932
The Coca-Cola Company continued its support of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932 with the introduction of an Olympic Games scoreboard record indicator, compliments of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles. While more than 200 teenagers, dressed in white jackets and gloves, served Coca-Cola to crowds of 105,000 in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the indicator broadened the stadium experience by displaying the 18 world records broken. Coca-Cola also distributed three million miniature cutouts listing Olympic Games records to young people around the United States.

In 1934, Johnny Weismuller, swimming gold medalist in 1924 and 1928, became the first Olympic athlete to endorse a Coca-Cola product when he was featured with actress Maureen O'Sullivan on Coca-Cola serving trays and posters.

BERLIN 1936
The 1936 Berlin Olympic Games marked the debut of the modern Olympic Torch Relay, with the Olympic Flame being delivered from Olympia, Greece, to Germany. A young Harvard University graduate, J. Paul Austin, competed in the Games for the U.S. Rowing Team. Austin went on to become president, CEO and chairman of The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola sponsored the 1936 Games, which were followed by a 12-year hiatus surrounding World War II.

LONDON 1948
The Olympic Games resumed in 1948 in London. Overcoming lingering effects of the war that made local bottling and transportation difficult, Coca-Cola shipped equipment from Glasgow, Scotland, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, to meet the thirsty demands of athletes and spectators in England.

OSLO 1952
In conjunction with the 1952 Olympic Winter Games, Coca-Cola bottlers provided Oslo residents with their first look at a helicopter. The aircraft initially was used in a fund-raising effort for Norwegian athletes and then to direct traffic during the latter part of the Games.

HELSINKI 1952
Despite the fact that Finland did not have a local bottler, Coca-Cola still was served to athletes and spectators at the Helsinki Olympic Games. More than 30,000 cases of Coca-Cola were brought to the event from the Netherlands aboard the M.S. Marvic, a rebuilt World War II landing craft, in what became known as "Operation Muscle." Ice coolers and trucks from the corners of northern Europe also were brought in, turning the ship into a floating stockroom. Coca-Cola donated much of the product for sale by the Disabled Ex-Servicemen Association.

MELBOURNE 1956
Coca-Cola bottlers in Melbourne provided more than 100,000 sun visors to fans entering the Olympic Stadium, while 420 venders sold ice-cold Coca-Cola throughout the Olympic Games venues.

SQUAW VALLEY 1960
While the underdog U.S. ice hockey team surprised the world with a gold medal performance, spectators at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games were served Coca-Cola in 12-ounce cans for the first time.

ROME 1960
During the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italian bottlers of Coca-Cola showed their support by presenting thousands of athletes, officials, media and spectators with an original, 45-rpm recording of the favorite song of the day, "Arrivederci Roma."

INNSBRUCK 1964
The Coca-Cola Company published a history of the Olympic Winter Games for athletes, officials and visitors at the Innsbruck 1964 Olympic Winter Games.

TOKYO 1964
The Company continued its tradition of enhancing the Olympic Games experience for the fans and media at the 1964 Tokyo Games with the production of guide maps, street signs, sight-seeing information and a Japanese-English phrase book. The translation guide was so popular that it was used as a template for the 1968 Games in Mexico City, the 1972 Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

GRENOBLE 1968
The Coca-Cola Company joined other U.S. corporations as a sponsor of national television broadcasts from France of the 1968 Olympic Winter Games on ABC-TV.

MEXICO CITY 1968
In a show of pride for the space program, The Coca-Cola Company outfitted its servers at 1968 Olympic Games venues in red-and-white astronaut suits equipped with backpack dispensers. Olympic-themed television commercials for Coca-Cola products brought the Games experience into the homes of millions of viewers that year, when 1960 swimming gold medalist Lynn Burke appeared in a Coca-Cola TV spot.

MUNICH 1972
Coca-Cola managed the entire food-and-beverage service for 15,000 athletes and officials at the Munich Games. In the United States, the Company created a "Great Olympic Moments" series of 17 commemorative medallions, with sales proceeds donated to the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) to support American athletes.

INNSBRUCK 1976
"Olympic Harmony," an Olympic Winter Games feature film, was produced by The Coca-Cola Company in conjunction with the Innsbruck 1976 Olympic Winter Games.

MONTREAL 1976
As a gift to the people of Canada, Coca-Cola Ltd. purchased the horse "Regardez" and donated it to the Canadian Equestrian Team, for use by its captain.

LAKE PLACID 1980
The Coca-Cola Company conducted a national fund-raising tour for the USOC featuring "Kobot," the world's first figure-skating robot. The Company also initiated a version of the Coca-Cola Olympic Radio Network, which broadcast Olympic Games results to millions of fans.

MOSCOW 1980
Coca-Cola was the Official Soft Drink of the 1980 Olympic Games.

SARAJEVO 1984
More than 1.1 million Coca-Cola cans were produced in the Netherlands and Germany, filled in Austria, and shipped to Yugoslavia for the 1984 Olympic Winter Games.

LOS ANGELES 1984
During the year, Coca-Cola implemented a series of youth programs, including a national Olympic Youth Soccer Competition, an Olympic educational program for schools, and Olympic Youth Jamborees, which provided underprivileged children a chance to experience the Olympic spirit.

Coca-Cola was the first corporate sponsor of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The event's mascot, Sam the Eagle, was depicted on a series of 23 commemorative Coca-Cola cans. The mascot also was shown with a bottle of Coca-Cola on a limited-edition, prototype Olympic lapel pin - today a very rare artifact. Trading cards featuring "America's Greatest Olympians" were included in 12-packs of Coca-Cola products.

CALGARY 1988
The Coca-Cola Company broke new ground in 1988 when it orchestrated the creation of the "Coca-Cola World Chorus," which performed at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary. Comprising 43 young people selected from 23 countries through competitions sponsored by local Coca-Cola bottlers, the chorus performed the specially commissioned signature song of the Games, "Can't You Feel It?" for the local throngs and millions of television viewers. Calgary 1988 also saw the debut of the first Coca-Cola Official Olympic Pin Trading Center, which drew more than 17,000 visitors each day and quickly became another Olympic Games tradition - the Games' No. 1 "spectator sport."

SEOUL 1988
For the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, The Coca-Cola Company sponsored two Olympic Pin Trading Centers and a nationwide contest among South Korea's 11.7 million students to design the first-ever commemorative pin for an Opening Ceremony.

ALBERTVILLE 1992
The new Coca-Cola Radio was introduced at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville. State-of-the-art broadcast facilities, located within the Coca-Cola Olympic Pin Trading Center in nearby Courchevel, allowed disc jockeys from nearly 30 major U.S. cities to deliver live reports about the athletic events, special activities and the spectacle of the Olympic Games to a daily listening audience of approximately five million.

Pin trading, meanwhile, reached new heights. The Pin Trading Center and traveling PinMobiles served more than 350,000 collectors, who traded some 1.2 million pins.

BARCELONA 1992
In Spain, Coca-Cola brought together 155 citizens from more than 50 nations to participate in the Olympic Torch Relay for the 1992 Barcelona Games. The International Olympic Torchbearers Program, sponsored by Coca-Cola, marked the first time people from other countries participated in the host country's Torch Relay. The torchbearers were selected through local and national promotions staged by the worldwide Coca-Cola system.

LILLEHAMMER 1996
In 1994, the Coca-Cola Polar Bear featured in Company advertising became one of the world's most-popular winter sports "competitors." And the International Olympic Torchbearers Program, sponsored by Coca-Cola, repeated its Spain success, bringing 30 torchbearers from 13 countries to Norway to help carry the Olympic Flame through Oslo as it made its journey to Lillehammer.

ATLANTA 1996
For the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, Coca-Cola was the exclusive presenter of the Olympic Torch Relay - the longest Relay in Olympic Games history, at 15,000 miles - and played a lead role in the selection of 2,500 of the 10,000 torchbearers. The Company also expanded its International Olympic Torchbearers Program by selecting as many as 500 participants from approximately 70 countries.

When the Games unfolded in Atlanta, Coca-Cola put out the welcome mat in its hometown to enhance the fan experience. Specially created interactive venues, including Coca-Cola Olympic City, The Coca-Cola Folk Art Exhibit, and Olympic Pin Trading Centers, became central gathering places visited by hundreds of thousands of people.

The 12-acre Coca-Cola Olympic City attraction in Atlanta provided fans an opportunity to test their Olympic Games abilities in virtual reality challenges, a place to receive tips from coaching legends, and a chance to meet and greet Olympians. The Coca-Cola Folk Art Exhibit celebrated artistic traditions interpreted on a common canvas - the trademark Coca-Cola contour bottle. The Pin Trading Centers experienced unprecedented traffic levels, with more than three million pins changing hands. Pin popularity was further bolstered by Coca-Cola support of the 1996 Olympic Games Pin Society.

NAGANO 1998
The 1998 Olympic Torch Relay, presented by Coca-Cola and the Company's GEORGIA Coffee brand in Japan, brought the Olympic Flame to local citizens along three simultaneous routes. Through nationwide and international promotions, Coca-Cola selected 550 torchbearers and 2,700 support runners to participate in the Relay.

Along with the ubiquitous Coca-Cola Olympic Pin Trading Center, the Company also created Fan Plaza and Fan Stations to provide refreshment and interactive entertainment for fans at the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games. Also for the first time at any Games, Coca-Cola warmed up fans with the sale of hot beverages alongside cold drinks, providing a full assortment of winter refreshment.

Coca-Cola Radio brought more than 50 disc jockeys from around the globe to broadcast Olympic Games excitement from Nagano, while a Coca-Cola Olympic Games Web site gave Internet users an online Games experience. Coca-Cola also sponsored the Kirie Art Program, which provided 3,500 prints of Japanese Kirie art to Olympic athletes and officials as keepsakes of the Games. The artworks reflected six different themes inspired by the region's natural scenery and were used to decorate rooms within the Olympic Village.

SYDNEY 2000
For Sydney 2000, Coca-Cola shared the spirit of the Olympic Games with fans internationally through Olympic Pin Trading, Coca-Cola Radio (which grew to nearly 60 participating stations) and the new "Coca-Cola Olympic Club: Sydney" and "Powerade-Aquarius Training Camp" - two similar, once-in-a-lifetime experiences for teens from around the world. Both international activities offered young participants a unique, behind-the-scenes Olympic Games experience, including use of state-of-the-art, Olympic Games-style facilities, tickets to Olympic Games events, meetings with Olympic athletes, and tours of Sydney's attractions and Olympic Games venues. In demonstrating to teens what it is like to be an Olympic athlete, Powerade-Aquarius Training Camp also featured sports clinics with athletes and coaches.

For host country citizens and visitors alike, Australia's enthusiasm for the Games was captured through Coca-Cola RedFest celebrations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with live entertainment and big-screen presentations of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

SALT LAKE CITY 2002
Coca-Cola marked the 10th anniversary of its first association with the Olympic Torch Relay by serving as co-presenter and selecting more than 3,500 of the total 11,500 torchbearers for the 13,500-mile spectacle that blazed through 46 American states. The Company again brought consumers from other nations (nine countries for 2002) to be torchbearers in the host country of the Games. More than 2,100 support runners also were provided through Coca-Cola, and unveilings of "Coca-Cola Community Canvas" teen artworks highlighted local celebrations in each city welcoming the Olympic Flame. In addition, Coca-Cola commissioned world-renowned artist Peter Max to create a commemorative painting, as a tribute to the inspirational Community Canvas artworks and the Olympic Games. The Peter Max creation was donated to Salt Lake City.

During the 2002 Games in Utah, more than 700,000 people connected with Coca-Cola's Olympic interactive experiences in Salt Lake City and Park City. As at past events, crowds typically swelled at the ever-popular Coca-Cola Olympic Pin Trading Centers, while a new attraction, Coca-Cola On The Ice, became the fan focal point outside competition venues. On The Ice featured high-tech winter sports simulations and plenty of crowd action, so guests could experience first-hand the thrill of the luge, bobsled, hockey and curling, as well as the emotion of receiving a medal on the victory stand. "Coca-Cola Live" interviews with Olympic legends enhanced entertainment for Pin Trading Center visitors, while multicultural "Coca-Cola Ambassadors" - hailing from five continents and speaking some 20 languages - provided an extra-warm reception and helped unite people from around the globe.

At the wintry Coca-Cola Radio broadcast hub in Park City, on-air personalities from more than 45 U.S. stations beamed first-hand accounts of the 2002 Games atmosphere to their loyal listeners. Fans in cyberspace also kept track of the Olympic Torch Relay and Salt Lake Games through www.coke.com/Olympics, which recorded more than one million visitors. Meanwhile, residents in the surrounding Rocky Mountain region were randomly receiving free Olympic tickets, courtesy of roving Coca-Cola Fan Vans. The Coca-Cola Company also was helping safeguard the local environment during the high-traffic period by testing its first 100-percent biodegradable cold drink cup, as well as ensuring a complete "recycling loop" for plastic soft drink bottles collected at the event.

ATHENS 2004
The Coca-Cola Company's rich history with the Olympic Movement is unrivaled, and for each Olympic Games, Coca-Cola approaches its involvement with renewed creativity, enthusiasm and commitment to bring something innovative and meaningful to the experience. For the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games, the Company is continuing its tradition of helping to create magical moments for athletes and fans in Greece and around the world.

Coca-Cola helped take global participation to new heights through its major role in the "ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay Presented by Coca-Cola." For the first truly worldwide Olympic Torch Relay - a symbol of unity and inspiration - the Olympic Flame traveled internationally to more than 30 cities on the five land masses represented by the Olympic Rings. The flame then returned to the Games' host country for a one-month-long Relay around Greece that culminated with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron on Aug. 13 at Athens' Olympic Stadium. Coca-Cola selected many of the more-than 11,000 torchbearers and approximately 2,000 escort runners who shepherded the Olympic Flame on its historic, round-the-world journey. The theme for the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay was, "Pass the Flame, Unite the World."

Coca-Cola also proudly serves as Official Soft Drink Sponsor of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games, quenching the thirst of athletes, officials, media and fans who will attend the Games. The Company's worldwide operations are creating numerous local programs to refresh fans everywhere and connect them with the Olympic spirit.

AND MORE...
Coca-Cola also has demonstrated its commitment to the Olympic Movement by establishing and supporting permanent Olympic institutions. In 1979, the Company helped the USOC create the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, to honor America's greatest Olympic athletes and preserve American Olympic Games artifacts.

The Coca-Cola Olympic Women's Sports Program was established in 1982, as The Coca-Cola Company increased its overall involvement in women's sports programs, in tandem with the dramatic rise in female participation in Olympic sports and athletics in general.

In 1987, Coca-Cola became the first sponsor of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, with a pledge of US$1 million to the International Olympic Committee. The museum, which opened in 1993, showcases the legendary history of the Olympic Games