Shop Direct boss Mark Newton-Jones carried the Olympic torch in Liverpool – with the same story as seven other adidas torchbearers
Retail boss Mark Newton-Jones is the latest executive to emerge as one of adidas’s Olympic torchbearers – with the same nomination story as seven other torchbearers.
If adidas’s own representatives are any indication, the way to get your hands on the Olympic torch in 2012 is to be “engaged in the business of sport for a number of years”.
An analysis of nomination stories on the London2012 site has found that 7 8 [UPDATE – see below] torchbearers were nominated with the same ‘nomination story’: Christos Angelides, Clare Ennis, Lucy Speakman, Simon Chapman, Chris Caddick, Jay Boey and Tom Foley – and now Mark Newton-Jones:
“Carrying the Olympic Flame is a once in a lifetime experience and I am grateful to be selected. To carry it on behalf of adidas, a company with a history of encouraging participation in sport, is an added bonus. I have been engaged in the business of sport for a number of years and I hope I have also contributed to the development of sport in our country.”
So who are they?
Most interesting is Christos Angelides – could this be the same Christos Angelides who is Group Product Director for Next, ranked 15th in Drapers Powerlist 2011 with a pay packet of £900k? Next are the official clothing and homeware supplier to the London Olympics, but a phonecall is needed… UPDATE: Confirmed.
And is that the Tom Foley that is general manager of Intersport? UPDATE: Confirmed.
Adidas torchbearers Tom Foley, Christos Angelides, and 5 others share the same nomination story
Are Chris Caddick, and Jay Boey Adidas’s Warehouse Systems Manager and Category Manager for adidas respectively? UPDATE: Confirmed.