June 22nd, 2004

SPECIAL OLYMPICS ITALY ATHLETE IS FINALIST IN GLOBAL ONLINE CONTEST BY ADIDAS

"Nothing is impossible for me, in sport, as in life!" says Dario Mosconi — Vote to help him win!

Dario Mosconi, a Special Olympics Italy athlete, is one of 14 global finalists in an online contest by Adidas. Each of the "Impossible is Nothing" Challenge (The Challenge) entrants was judged on how he or she has personally achieved the seemingly impossible through the pursuit of sport.

The Challenge was open worldwide to athletes in participating countries between the ages of 13 and 19. Mosconi, now 16, wrote about conquering one of the highest mountains in the Italian Alps when he was just 13 years old. He has also written his own "Meet our Athletes" profile for Special Olympics.

The international finalists are stories that adidas feels "best demonstrate our belief that 'Impossible' is just a word whose meaning can be changed by those with enough heart and strength." In mid-May the winners from each country were selected and entered into the global finals, which began 7 June and can be rated up to 18 July; the winners will be announced in early August.

Two of the finalists were submitted by individuals with physical disabilities; Mosconi is the only individual with an intellectual disability. Since the contest began his profile has often held the highest rating (ratings are tabulated each day and thus vary).

"I personally think that this fact [the highest rating] is really very important," said Alessandro Mosconi, Dario's father, "because it represents one of the first times that intellectual disabilities can have a real visibility in a 'normal' contest, were both disabled and non-disabled people participated [on an equal footing]. So people start to understand that an obstacle is not measured by its height, but by the ability of the person who has to overcome it."

To judge each entry as fairly as possible, each story chosen for the global final was translated into English. The videos presented on the site are of the entrants speaking in their own language (Mosconi in his native Italian) and are subtitled in English. The finalists came from Australia (2), Canada, China (2), France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

For the Italian Challenge, the 10 stories with the highest number of votes among the 250 entered (at the end of a one-month period of Internet voting) were evaluated by a jury composed of internationally known Italian athletes, who chose Mosconi as the winner of the challenge. For winning on a country-wide level, Mosconi received a three-day trip to Athens in August to watch the 2004 Olympic Games.

Dario's ascending Castore, one of the highest Mountains in the Italian Alps, "was an exceptional performance, so it produced extraordinary results," said Alessandro Mosconi, "both in terms of positive self-image and people's opinion of him, his potential and abilities — and [Dario being voted the winner of the Italian Challenge] directly proved this fact. We thank Special Olympics, whose mission is to make possible through sport practice and competition the complete integration of our special athletes in the community, and adidas, which supports Special Olympics Italy and allows this challenging target to become a little bit 'less impossible'".

Visitors to the site who participate in the rating process (any age is eligible) of the final Challenge stories will be given the opportunity for a grand prize draw. Three winners will be randomly selected from the visitors who received a winning combination of images and who subsequently registered their contact details via the Web site. The winners will win either a signed copy of the extremely limited edition "GOAT" (Greatest of All Time) book, which retails at US$3,000, or one of two boots signed by Muhammad Ali.

The Grand Prize draw will take place in early August, when The Challenge global final winner is announced. Voters can increase their chances of winning one of these prizes by returning to any of the entrant's stories and rating again once a day until the contest ends 18 July. The athlete judged the overall winner can chose from the following unique sport experiences: a private workout with Ian Thorpe in Australia, a tennis session with world-ranked player Justine Henin-Hardenne, a free-kick practice session with David Beckham, or one week of intensive training at the Athletic Performance Institute in Arizona, USA.

"Impossible is nothing," adidas' new global brand advertising campaign, was launched in February and March. This year-long brand campaign brings to life the attitude adidas shares with athletes around the world - the desire to push yourself further, to surpass limits, to break new ground. The campaign was launched by boxing legend Muhammad Ali, his daughter Laila Ali and Erich Stamminger, of the Executive Board of adidas-Salomon AG responsible for Global Marketing and President of adidas America, in New York, New York, USA.

"'Impossible is nothing' captures in one short phrase the essence of adidas as a brand and the attitude that is known and shared by all athletes around the world," said Stamminger. "'Impossible is nothing' is the concept behind our brand positioning 'forever sport,' that clearly and emotionally communicates our passion for sport. As an athlete you always strive to go further, break new ground, surpass your limits.'

"Impossible is Nothing" is adidas' largest brand advertising campaign in six years. The campaign, which integrates television, print and outdoor advertising, point-of-sale and the Internet, shows the rich stable of adidas athletes past and present, including Ali, football icon Beckham, long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, and NBA star Tracy McGrady, who challenge the impossible by taking risks, setting new records, changing conventions. The campaign features 22 athletes in total, from various sports and regions, showcasing adidas' unrivaled broad involvement in sports and unique relationships with athletes.

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