Rio Tinto Limited : Olympic champions become Rio Tinto Olympic ambassadors
01/26/2012 | 01:38am
26 January 2012
With just six months to go until the London 2012 Games, Rio
Tinto is celebrating Australia Day with the appointment of
three Olympic ambassadors to share their sporting dreams
across regional and remote mining communities in Australia.
Three-time Olympic gold medallist and rower Drew Ginn,
pole-vaulting sensation Steve Hooker and swimming golden girl
Libby Trickett have all signed up to be part of Rio
Tinto's team.
As much as their hectic training schedules will allow, the
Olympic gold medallists will share their success stories
through training blogs and personal visits to some Rio Tinto
mining communities.
The trio said they were proud to be associated with a company
that has contributed so much to Australia's development
for the past 100 years.
Drew Ginn, who has won rowing gold in three Olympics and has
his sights set on a fourth medal in London, said "I am
looking forward to sharing my ideas about the power of teams
and learning more about how the team at Rio Tinto gets
results."
Steve Hooker, who was the first Australian field athlete to
win gold in 60 years at the Beijing Olympics, said he was
looking forward to talking to Rio Tinto mining employees
about his number one priority - safety.
Steve, who returns to high level competition this weekend,
said "I'm excited about working with a company that
also recognises that protecting the health and wellbeing of
its people is a vital part of getting the job done."
Libby Trickett, who has won six Olympic medals in the pool,
said she respected Rio Tinto's approach to being
accountable for your own decisions. "I have many people
to thank for helping me reach my goals - but when I get in
the pool, I know I am solely responsible for my own
performance."
Rio Tinto's Managing Director Australia David Peever said
"We're thrilled to have Libby, Drew and Steve as Rio
Tinto ambassadors who can share their dreams with our people
working in cities and regional and remote areas. They embody
our values of teamwork, respect, integrity and accountability
and will inspire our 20,000 Australian employees to keep
doing their best.
"Australia Day is the perfect day to start getting
behind our Olympic champions as we wish them all the best for
the London 2012 Games," Mr Peever said.
Rio Tinto is a partner of the Australian Olympic Team, and is
the official provider of the metal being used to produce the
4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals to be awarded during the
London 2012 Games.
Rio Tinto has been backing Australians for more than 100
years. Rio Tinto employs more than 20,000 Australians and is
the largest private sector employer of Indigenous people in
Australia with more than 1,800 Aboriginal employees.
About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group
headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London
and New York Stock Exchange listed company, and Rio Tinto
Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities
Exchange.
Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing
mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper,
diamonds, thermal and metallurgical coal, uranium, gold,
industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide and salt) and
iron ore. Activities span the world and are strongly
represented in Australia and North America with significant
businesses in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.
For further information, please contact:
Media Relations, Australia / Asia
David Luff
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3620
Mobile: +61 (0) 419 850 205
Karen Halbert
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3627
Mobile: +61 (0) 412 119 389
Bruce Tobin
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3612
Mobile: +61 (0) 419 103 454
Investor Relations, Australia
Dave Skinner
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3628
Mobile: +61 (0) 408 335 309
Christopher Maitland
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3063
Mobile: +61 (0) 459 800 131
Media Relations, EMEA / Americas
Illtud Harri
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1152
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 503 600
Tony Shaffer
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1138
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 041 003
Christina Mills
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1154
Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 275 605
Investor Relations, London
Mark Shannon
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1178
Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 576597
David Ovington
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 2051
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978
Media Relations, Canada
Bryan Tucker
Office: +1 (0) 514 848 8151
Mobile: +1 (0) 514 825 8319
Email: media.enquiries@riotinto.comenquiries.mediaaustralia@riotinto.com
