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berlin 2009™ Roadshow on tour through Germany

First German record to be set before the World Championships begin | TOYOTA and Deutsche Post are “Für die Umwelt am Start” (“Starting for the Environment”)

Heinrich Clausen, General Secretary of the World Championships Organising Committee, Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor of Berlin and President of the World Championships Organising Committee, Alain Uyttenhoven, Vice-President TOYOTA Deutschland GmbH, the berlin2009&trade -mascot Berlino, and Christian Stiefelhagen, Chief Sales Officer Deutsche Post, are together "Für die Umwelt am Start" ("Starting for the Environment")
©City-Press

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Today at the Brandenburg Gate, the World Championships Berlin Organising Committee for the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics berlin 2009™ was joined by Klaus Wowereit, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, to present the berlin 2009™-Roadshow, which will begin its tour through Germany’s 60 biggest cities on May 7.

Together with the official IAAF automobile partner, TOYOTA, and the national partner, Deutsche Post, the World Championships Organising Committee is “Für die Umwelt am Start” (“Starting for the Environment”) at the largest sporting event of the year.

Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor of Berlin and president of the Organising Committee for the World Championships, invited everyone to come to the capital: “We will be promoting Berlin and the World Championships throughout all of Germany with berlin 2009™. Everyone in Germany and guests from around the world are cordially invited to the German capital this August to attend this extraordinary sports event.”

On May 7, 2009 – 100 days before the start of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics berlin 2009™ – the Roadshow through the 60 largest German cities will begin. Starting in Bonn, the former German capital, the berlin 2009™-Roadshow will lead all across Germany until it reaches Berlin on August 5th, where it will settle at its final station until the start of the Championships.

As Governing Mayor, Klaus Wowereit has personally written to his colleagues in the 60 partner cities prior to the start of this promotional tour, encouraging them to support it.

During this journey through Germany, sports and athletics fans will have a chance to help set the first German world record before the Championships begin on August 15th. Everyone is invited to send Deutsche Post a postcard with wishes, photos, and greetings for the Championships, which then will be compiled into a giant postcard.

Christian Stiefelhagen, Chief Sales Officer for Deutsche Post: “Through this promotional activity, we hope to set the first German world record before the Championships even begin. We invite everyone to send their wishes for the Championships to us to be integrated into the largest postcard in the world which will be displayed in Berlin.”

The new world record for the largest postcard is to be about 40 m2, which is 11 m2 larger than the current record set in August 1994. The postcard will then greet the visitors at the World Championships near the Olympiastadion Berlin in August 2009.

Deutsche Post is naturally also “Für die Umwelt am Start”, according to Christian Stiefelhagen: “With our climate protection programme GoGreen, we will in effect lower our CO2 emissions by 30% by the year 2020.”

Alain Uyttenhoven, Vice-President of TOYOTA Germany: “Through our efforts with the Roadshow, we hope to convey the joy of sports to the people, while also making our environmental message clear. The joint motto of TOYOTA and Deutsch Post for the World Championships is fittingly “Für die Umwelt am Start”, which we will primarily be demonstrating through our pioneering role in hybrid vehicles. The TOYOTA Prius will play an important part in the Roadshow and the World Championships.”

For the forth time in a row, TOYOTA is an official sponsor of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which will take place this year from August 15 to 23 in Berlin. As the exclusive automotive partner of the IAAF, TOYOTA will appear in a prominent position on the race bibs of all of the female athletes. In addition, during the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics berlin 2009™ more than 200 TOYOTA cars with either hybrid motors or with the eco-concept TOYOTA Optimal Drive will be utilised as shuttles.

Dr. Clemens Prokop, Executive President of the World Championships Organising Committee and President of the German Athletics Association (DLV) emphasized the importance of the Roadshow: “With this joint promotion, we are inviting everyone in Germany and their guests to participate in the Roadshow and become part of the World Championships in Berlin. Through the excellent support from the IAAF official partner TOYOTA and the national partner Deutsche Post, we will be able to bring the World Championships in Athletics to people all over Germany and increase the awareness and anticipation for this top event.”

Michael Mronz, steering board member of the World Championships Organising Committee: “The cooperation between the IAAF official partner TOYOTA, the national partner Deutsche Post, and the World Championships Organising Committee demonstrates the positive effect of the Championships even in economically difficult times. Regarding the economic development of the Championships, we believe we are on a very good path and will be announcing additional partnerships in the upcoming weeks.”

Starting on May 7 with the launch of the Roadshow, further information will be available online on an extra website: www.fuer-die-umwelt-am-start.de.

Official IAAF Partners