130 Day Tour Presented by Coca-Cola, the Olympic Games' Longest-Standing Corporate Sponsor

Muscat, April 16 2008: The ambitious global itinerary for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay - a majestic voyage themed "Journey of Harmony"--ran through Muscat this week carried by six volunteers chosen by Presenting Sponsor Coca-Cola.

The torch has been on the move since March 25, when it left Olympia, Greece, on its 137,000 kilometer, 130 day tour to the Beijing Olympics. Along they way, the relay will involve the greatest number of torchbearers in Olympic history - nearly 22,000. Coca-Cola will identify participants for virtually all portions of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay.

Amer Ahmed, Public Affairs and Communications Manager of Coca-Cola's Middle East Business Unit, said: "We congratulate the participants in the Muscat leg of the relay. Their efforts encourage others to "Live Olympic on the Coke Side of Life," in other words to create their own path of positivity in everyday life by believing that anything is possible. We believe that everyone, every day, can make choices that make their lives more positive. For instance, the love of sport and the international togetherness that the Olympics embodies can encourage citizens in the Middle East to act toward ending the obesity problem in our societies, protecting our fragile ecosystems, and reaching out to people of other cultures. Coca-Cola has been a long-standing supporter of the Olympic effort, and with each Olympics, the relationship grows deeper."

Beijing 2008 marks the sixth time in 12 years that Coca-Cola has served as a title partner of the Olympic Torch Relay and the eighth time since 1992 that the Company has been formally involved with the Relay. The Company's first official involvement with the Olympic Torch Relay occurred with the introduction of the International Olympic Torchbearers Program, Sponsored by Coca-Cola, for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. 

Coca-Cola has been continuously associated with the Olympic Games since 1928 - longer than any other corporate supporter.  In August 2005, The Coca-Cola Company and the International Olympic Committee announced the renewal of their historic partnership for an unprecedented 12 years, from 2009 through 2020.

The deal lengthens the most enduring partnership in the history of the Olympic Games to 92 years without interruption.

-Ends-

About the Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest nonalcoholic beverage company.  Along with the Coca-Cola® trademark, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands, including Coca-Cola®, Diet Coke®, Fanta® and Sprite® beverages, and a wide range of other nonalcoholic beverages, including diet and light beverages, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, and energy and sports drinks.  Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.4 billion servings each day.  For more information about The Coca-Cola Company, please visit our website at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.

The official BOCOG web site for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay is ttp://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn.

For further information, please contact:
Jane Meikle
Account Manager
JiWin Public Relations
Direct: +971 4   361 3592
Mobile: +971 50 420 1523
Fax: +971 4   368 8001
Email: jane.meikle@jiwin.ae

© Press Release 2008