Tyson Foods CEO Richard L. Bond provided details of the company’s Olympic involvement at a news conference Friday, which featured Mary Lou Retton, 1984 Olympic gymnastics champion who is serving as a spokesperson for Tyson’s U.S. Olympic Team sponsorships.
Tyson Foods is a sponsor of the 2008 and 2010 U.S. Olympic Teams: USA Gymnastics, U.S. Track & Field, and a U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) program called Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere (FLAME).
In addition, Tyson has been providing food to U.S. Olympic athletes through travel nutrition kits, as well as through the USOC’s three training centers. The company has provided 25,000 pounds of protein to help feed the U.S. Olympic Team at the USOC’s high performance training center in Beijing.
Since teaming up with Tyson Foods in January 2008, Mary Lou Retton has worked to build awareness of the company’s support for Team USA and USA Gymnastics, traveling to the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, the Tyson American Cup in New York City, and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Gymnastics in Philadelphia.
“I also appreciate the opportunity to be part of Tyson Foods’ sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Team,” Retton says. “As a mom, I’m especially pleased to work with a company known for providing the nutritious protein people need to remain healthy and active, whether they’re children playing at a neighborhood park or trained athletes competing at the Olympic Games.”
Retton, a dedicated mother of four daughters, served as one of the judges for Tyson’s Gold Medal Mom contest, which invited Americans to honor the gold-medal deserving moms in their lives.
Thousands of moms were nominated and Marcia Mitchell of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was selected as the winner. With an idea and proceeds from a garage sale, Mitchell started an educational center for children like her daughter, Missy, who was born legally blind. Today, 35 years later, her organization has evolved into a nationally-recognized Christian developmental center serving children with special needs. As the winner, Mitchell has been awarded a trip for two to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to cheer on Team USA.
