PoleVaultPower.com

I know they are big supporters of USATF, but I have never heard of them sponsoring an individual athlete.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index ... _aid=69275

Olympic Marketers Turn To Obscure But Taint-Free Athletes
The Wall Street Journal
Olympic athletes in low-wattage sports like badminton, kayaking, fencing and water polo are to appear in a series of ads for Bank of America--including posters in bank branches and online spots--before the Beijing Games in August. The perceived purity of smaller sports plays a big role in BOA's choices, says bank spokesman Joseph Goode. Many major sports have been beset by scandal.

Home Depot also has had a policy of hiring lesser-known Olympic hopefuls with full pay and benefits, while requiring them to work 20-hour weeks with schedules that allow flexibility for training. And Visa has made it a point to sponsor athletes in new medal sports, including women's pole vault and women's bobsled.

Bryan Clay currently has an ad campaign with Visa

Visa sponsored most elite US multi-eventers throughout the 90s.

One early year at the PV Summit, VISA Olympic Team t-shirts were one of the freebies.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:And Visa has made it a point to sponsor athletes in new medal sports, including women's pole vault and women's bobsled.

I guess what I really want to know is what women pole vaulters they have ever sponsored.

They have been a big supporter of track and field, I just think that the above statement might be a bit of an exaggeration. But maybe I am wrong.

Stacy, a few years ago. Maybe, after Edmonton

Stacy was in a Visa commercial back in 2000, but did they just cast her for the commercial or did they actually "sponsor" her?

Was that a VISA commercial with Nick Hysong dressed up as a samurai back in '00?

lonestar wrote:Stacy was in a Visa commercial back in 2000, but did they just cast her for the commercial or did they actually "sponsor" her?

They probably helped her out in other ways. She was throwing around VISA t-shirts during and after a few of her meets that year.

They sponsored me(kellie), Mel and Stacy in 1999-2000

I watched some decathlon video's last night, and Visa sponsored all of the US decathletes in like 1991-1992, they had a huge training camp in Las Vegas I think.

hey

the us decathlon athletes and their coaches originally got visa as their sponsor, then visa was later "wooooed" away by other usatf officals and event coaches.. "to help all events"

i felt it was an "ego" / power move than ended up hurting the decathlon program overall.

dj