Australia’s Sally Pearson joins Team Visa for Rio 2016

10/09/2014

Pearson carries gold medal hopes in hurdles for the next Olympic Games

Sydney - Visa, a proud sponsor of the Olympic Games for over 28 years, announced today that Australian hurdler Sally Pearson will join other sporting greats on Team Visa in the lead up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“Sally has demonstrated incredible perseverance and commitment to achieving her goals and we’re excited to welcome her to the Visa family,” said Visa’s Caroline Dempsey, Head of Marketing for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific.

Sydney-born, Gold Coast-based Pearson, who won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and London 2012 Olympic Games in the 100 metre hurdles, is one of seven Australian sporting stars nominated for Sport Australia Hall of Fame's The Don Award in Melbourne tonight. The award is given for sporting excellence over the past 12 months to an athlete who has most inspired the nation by their achievements and example. Pearson has previously won The Don award in 2012 following her inspiring performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“It’s a great honour to join so many world class athletes on Team Visa,” said Sally Pearson. “Having the support of Visa in the lead up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will allow me to concentrate on my goal of becoming the fastest ever female hurdler.”

Pearson is the latest athlete to be announced for Team Visa ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. She will form a track and field powerhouse with Valerie Adams on Team Visa, representing New Zealand. Adams is a four-time World champion and shot put gold medalist. Between them Pearson and Adams have won three Olympic gold medals and five Commonwealth Games gold medals.
Leading up to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Visa will support more than 40 individual athletes and national teams from more than 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Korea and Russia.

Visa’s athlete selection process is based on a variety of criteria including their personal journey to the Olympic and Paralympics Games, athletic achievements, dedication to developing their sports, and active community involvement.

 

About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information visit www.visa.com.au and @VisaNewsAU.

Media contact
Teneille Rennick
02 9253 8841 or 0449 892 915
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