Visa introduces Team Visa Roster ahead of the Olympic, Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020

Fri, Nov 15, 2019
By publisher
3 MIN READ

Business

VISA, the Worldwide Payment Technology Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, today announced its most diverse roster of athletes on Team Visa Tokyo 2020.

Representing 43 countries, the most in Team Visa history, the current roster is comprised of 70+ athletes across 30+ sports, including new additions to The Games: Surfing, Skateboarding and Sport Climbing.

The announcement was made at the Team Visa Summit, hosted at the company’s San Francisco Innovation Center. The Summit offers athletes resources on how to improve financial literacy, benefit from digital payments and elevate their personal brand.

“As one of the longest standing partners of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Visa looks forward to Tokyo 2020. Set to be the largest Games yet, Tokyo 2020 will feature 7,000 hours of broadcast programming and three billion minutes of streamed content,” said Chris Curtin, chief brand and innovation marketing officer, Visa.

“Our Team Visa Tokyo 2020 roster reflects The Games themselves: globally diverse, representative of new emerging sports and larger than ever. We are proud to reveal this year’s Team Visa roster and support these athletes as go for Gold in Tokyo.”

The Team Visa Tokyo 2020 roster includes decorated Olympians (Simone Biles, Gymnastics, USA, Katie Ledecky, Swimming, USA, Daniel Dias, Para Swimming, Brazil and Yelyzaveta Mereshko, Para Swimming, Ukraine), World Champions (Megan Rapinoe, Football, USA, PV Sindhu, Badminton, India, Mariana Pajón, BMX, Colombia and Oksana Masters, Para Cycling, USA) and 16 first-time Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls (Kanoa Igarashi, Surfing, Japan and Poppy Starr Olsen, Skateboarding, Australia and Sean McColl, Sport Climbing, Canada, among others).

“I am honored to join Team Visa and share the spirit of The Games with these incredible athletes as we prepare for Tokyo 2020," said Simone Biles, four-time Olympic gold medalist, Gymnastics, USA.

“The opportunity to compete on the world stage while representing our country is truly an honor, and the encouragement and support we receive from teammates, family, friends, fans and our partners, like Visa, really means a lot as we pursue our lifelong goals and dreams.”

“The Team Visa Summit is a great opportunity to meet and interact with my peers in advance of The Games,” said Kanoa Igarashi, Surfing, Japan. “In hoping to compete at my first Olympic Games, having a family of athletes in Team Visa will help me feel more at home knowing I have a sense of community by my side.”

Team Visa Tokyo 2020 Founded in 2000, Team Visa has championed nearly 500 athletes. Each has been selected based on athletic achievements, character and personal journey, and are representative of many of Visa’s brand values and priorities, including: Gender Equality.

– Nov. 15, 2019 @ 15:55 GMT |

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