"Nothing is impossible
for me, in sport, as in life!" says Dario
Mosconi — Vote to help him
win!
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 To rate Mosconi's story online, visit the
adidas Web site and click
when you see the words "Impossible is
Nothing," then "The Challenge," then "Check
out the finalists."
Visitors to the site (can be any age) who
participate in the rating process of the final
Challenge stories will be given the chance to be
put forward to a grand prize draw, and can
increase their chances of winning one of these
prizes by returning to any of the entrants'
stories and rating again, once daily, until the
contest ends 18
July. |
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.
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Dario Mosconi at age 13 on the summit of
Castore. One of the most famous mountains in the
world, the Matterhorn, is visible next to
Mosconi. [Photo courtesy of Alessandro
Mosconi]
Mosconi's entry from the adidas
Web site:"When I was 10 years old my father
and I tried to climb a 4,000 meters (13,000
feet) high mountain, I got sick and I gave up,
but after three years I came back. After having
slept in a mountain refuge, we got up at 4 a.m.,
and under the stars we climbed on the rope
between crevices and thin crests. After some
efforts (at this height one makes more effort
than at the sea level) we reached the top of
Castore, one of the Monte Rosa tops, 4,226
meters high! What a landscape from here! 4 hours
and half was the time we spent to reach this
place. On the top, tired but happy, we gave our
hands, we ate something and the other alpine
climbers congratulated with me. One of them told
me:" you are a special boy, you must have
something more than the other boys of your
age!". "It's true..." my father replied for me
"he has a chromosome more!!!" — as all the boy
with Down Syndrome. Since then, nothing is
impossible for me, in sport, as in
life!" |
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 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 10stories 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.
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Dario Mosconi receiving his first gold medal
in Alpine skiing, one of his favorite sports.
See "Meet
our Athletes" for more on Mosconi's
participation in Special Olympics. [Photo
courtesy of Alessandro Mosconi]
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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.
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Dario Mosconi, climbing 4,223 meters above
sea level, approaches the summit of Castore.
[Photo courtesy of Alessandro
Mosconi] |
"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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