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Press Release

Going for the Gold

Fusion Contact Centres back Olympic Athletes

Immediate release: 18 April 2008

Fusion Contact Centre Services throughout the UK are backing the best of British in their bid to compete for the Olympics in Beijing this year.

Fusion is highly committed to supporting its local community and offering opportunities to young people. The company - which has four sites at Peterborough, Coventry, Sunderland and Peterlee - jumped at the chance to offer support for local contenders in their quest to represent Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics.

  • Collegues at Bretton, PeterboroughColleagues at Bretton, Peterborough, are backing British-born Goldie Sayers (25) who broke the British junior record for throwing the javelin in 2001 and has gone on to become one of Britain's leading field event athletes. She was the youngest female athlete to compete in an individual event at the Athens Olympics and was rewarded for her dedication with the British team captaincy in 2007.
  • Chris TomlinsonColleagues at Peterlee are backing Chris Tomlinson (26) who began competing for Middlesbrough Athletics Club at the age of 10 and then went onto Nunthorpe Secondary School where, to this day, he still holds many of its records for triple and long jump. His major breakthrough came in 2002 when, just three months after breaking both wrists in a weight-training accident, he jumped 8.27m to break the British record that had been held by Lynn Davies for 34 years. He broke his own record by a further 2cm in Germany last year, and in February 2008, became the world's best of the year so far with a jump of 8.18m, winning the silver medal at the 2008 World Indoor Championships.
  • Marlon DevonishColleagues at Coventry are backing Marlon Devonish (32) who is the British Number one in the 100m, 200m, and is a specialist 4 x 100m bend runner. He is one of the most successful British athletes of all time having won medals at the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
    • Chris CookColleagues at Sunderland are already celebrating after their local athlete Chris Cook, Commonwealth Gold Medallist Breastroke Swimmer secured his place in the Olympics by winning the 100m breastroke race in April, setting a new British and Commonwealth record in the process. British-born Chris (28) won Gold medals in the 50m and 100m breastroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and is one of Britain's greatest prospects for a medal in the pool at the Beijing Olympics.

    The athletes took time out of their busy training schedules to pay a visit to their local Fusion Contact Centre to say "thank you" for the support they are receiving from Fusion. While they were there they signed autographs for staff and took part in some sporting challenges on the Nintendo Wii's on-site. In addition they also helped launch Fusion's new Gold Medal-themed 2008 awards scheme.

    Supporting the local athletes ties in well with the awards scheme which has been designed to reward and recognise not only the top advisors and team leaders in the business, but also those who consistently reach their personal best. This way Fusion colleagues get to take their own 'local interest' in the 2008 Olympics by supporting their own respective local athlete. The athletes will come back to the centre at the end of the awards programme and present the prizes to the deserving winners.

    Head of Site at Bretton, Peterborough, Nicholas Macarte said: "Goldie was a great hit at Fusion. What better way to kick-start our new awards scheme than to back our very own local athlete in her quest for the Olympics, and to get her on-site to motivate our colleagues as they embark on achieving their own personal best. We are inspired by the commitment and dedication of Goldie to her sport and it's great to be able to offer her our support."

    Goldie said: "Training for major championships such as the Olympics involves long hours, early starts and much determination but the prize is worth it. I see Fusion as an extension of my training team - we offer each other mutual support as we strive to achieve our individual goals. I'm thrilled at Fusion's backing in the run up to the Olympics and am determined to do Peterborough proud. If I can provide some inspiration to Fusion as colleagues work towards their own personal best under the Going for Gold scheme, that's fantastic."