Visa Europe introduces the Italian Team Visa athletes for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The focus of the Team Visa is the mentor, a charismatic athlete with a huge experience capable of radiating his knowledge and values, beyond training programs and focused diets. After Sara Simeoni and Deborah Compagnoni, today this role is taken by the 'Lord of the Rings', Juri Chechi.

The four Italian young Hopefuls will have the chance to get the professional and personal support from a real sport legend, who thanks to his athletics qualities, to his personal values and determination, got the bronze medal in Athens 2004 Olympic Games, at 34 years old, and the gold medal in Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, besides all the others victories in the world championships (5 gold and 3 bronze medals).

Visa Europe renews its twentieth duty toward the Paralympic and Olympic Movement, reconfirming the European Team Visa program, launched in the occasion of the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where the Team Visa athletes won 11 medals, and carried on with great success at Torino 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (7 medals). In addition to the Italian Team, in Beijing will participate Teams Visa from Great Britain, Germany, France and Northern Countries (Sweden, Norway and Finland).

To date the program has involved 13 European Countries, for a total of 8 Mentors and 92 young Hopefuls that had the chance to enrich their own training through the contact with people that merge the highest technical level to personal qualities and that have the makings of true champion. Actually, Visa values for the Olympic and especially for Paralympic sponsorship are access, innovation and growth. Being partner of Olympic and Paralympic Games means a constant study for new features to support the athletes during their sportive carrier and moreover helping them in the personal and professional growth.

Davide Steffanini, General Manager of Visa Europe in Italy commented: "The Team Visa program is a big chance for the athletes and for Visa, who can practically demonstrate its duty towards the Olympic Movement. The Team Visa is based on a formula that combines the popularity and the appeal of big stars of the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games together the positive and decisive influence that they can have on the future champions. We are particularly proud of the young that make the Team Visa in this edition, who are already competing at very high levels and demonstrating the willing of challenging and constantly improving themselves. We are sure that an outstanding athlete as Jury Chechi, that we are honoured to have in our program, could make the difference as Mentor, helping them to gain the maximum from themselves as athletes but also human beings".

Jury Chechi affirmed: "I'm happy that Visa thought of me for covering this role. It's a big excitement to get back to live an Olympic experience and to transfer my knowledge to athletes that have already shown to have a potential and a talent out of the ordinary. I don't think there is a more important event than the Olympic and Paralympic Games for a sportsman. This time the fascination will be bigger, given that the competitions will be so far away from home. What driven me to accept promptly the Mentor role of the Team Visa is the involvement of the athletes and of the Paralympic sports at the same level of the Olympic ones."