Alaska Airlines Sponsors Apolo Ohno in His Race for Gold
September 15 2009 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Five-time medalist poised to become most-decorated U.S. winter
athlete SEATTLE, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines
announced today it is sponsoring five-time Olympic athlete Apolo
Ohno in his quest to compete and make history on the world stage in
Vancouver, British Columbia, in February 2010. The celebrated speed
skater and hit reality TV show "Dancing with the Stars" winner
qualified last weekend to compete for the United States in
Vancouver. "As one of the greatest U.S. short-track speed skaters
of our generation and a Northwest native, we feel Apolo Ohno is a
natural fit with our airline," said Steve Jarvis, Alaska Airlines'
vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience.
"Apolo's humble upbringing and gold-medal performance resembles the
'Alaska Spirit' that has helped us become the dominant U.S. West
Coast carrier and industry leader in customer service and on-time
performance." A native of the Seattle area, Ohno began his
short-track speed-skating career at age 14 in Seattle and
Vancouver. From there, he went on to become the youngest skater to
win a World Cup event title in December 1999. Ohno has since won 11
national champion, 18 world champion and five Olympic medals. "My
racing career started in Vancouver and that experience changed my
life," Ohno said. "Coming back to my roots in the Pacific Northwest
to compete for my sixth medal is especially meaningful, and it is
an honor to partner with my hometown airline in the most important
race of my life." Ohno fans can "follow Apolo" by signing up on
http://www.followapolo.com/ to receive updates later this fall as
he trains and competes. Fans may also visit the Web site to send a
question to Ohno. The speed skater will compete in four qualifying
World Cup competitions, starting Sept. 17 in Beijing and ending
Nov. 15, 2009, in Marquette, Mich. Alaska Airlines and sister
carrier Horizon Air together operate 13 flights a day to Vancouver
from several West Coast cities. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air,
subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more
than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower
48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in
Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the
J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 North America Airline
Satisfaction Studies(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com.
For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon
Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom. DATASOURCE: Alaska Airlines
CONTACT: Alaska Airlines Media Relations, +1-206-392-5101 Web Site:
http://www.alaskaair.com/ http://www.followapolo.com/
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