BHP Billiton and the Beijing Olympics
At BHP Billiton, we are proud to be supporting the 2008 Beijing Olympic and
Paralympic Games.
As the Official Diversified Minerals and Medals Sponsor,
we will provide the raw materials needed to produce the bronze, silver and
gold medals for the Games.
We are equally proud to be sponsoring
the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese Olympic Team as they prepare
to stage the biggest sporting event in their nation’s history.
Our association with the Olympics is a natural fit for a number of reasons.
The Games will provide BHP Billiton with a unique opportunity
to demonstrate continued support for China’s long-term development and
its emerging role in the international community. China is an influential global
player and represents an important growth market for our company.
Furthermore, the ideals that the Olympic movement so actively promotes, such
as achievement, integrity and respect, mirror our own set of Charter Values
which determine the way that we do business. Our involvement with the 2008
Games will aim to reinforce to our stakeholders the values for which we stand.
Finally, our role as the Diversified Minerals and Medals Sponsor of the Games,
provides a rare opportunity to highlight our position as the world’s
largest diversified resources company with a world-class asset base.
It is therefore with great pride that we support Beijing 2008, the first Olympic
Games in China’s history. Through this sponsorship, we believe that we
can make a positive impact on the communities in which we operate, while contributing
to the world’s most significant sporting and cultural event.
Designing the medals for Beijing 2008
As the Games’ Official Diversified Minerals and Medals Sponsor, we are
proud not only to be providing the raw materials for the medals, but to be
helping generate excitement around this milestone event.
For the first time in history a public competition to design the medals for
an Olympic Games was initiated, which called for submissions from throughout
China. BHP Billiton sponsored this competition and took part in judging the
265 entries from across the country.
The winning entry came from a team at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing,
with the design unveiled to the public at a gala presentation in the host city
on 27 March 2007 which marked the 500 day countdown to the start of the Beijing
Games.
The design incorporates elements of traditional Chinese culture and Olympic
heritage. Inspired by ancient China’s “jade bi”, the medals
will feature an engraved dragon motif, symbolising nobility and virtue and
the traditional Chinese values of ethics and honour.
At BHP Billiton, we are also proud to support the medals design for the Paralympic
Games. A short-list of designs is currently under review with the International
Olympic Committee.
The materials to produce all of the Olympic and Paralympic medals will be sourced
from BHP Billiton’s Escondida and Spence sites in Chile and our Cannington
operation in the Australian state of Queensland.
Celebrating the Games at BHP Billiton
Throughout BHP Billiton’s sponsorship of the Games, we will run a number
of programs to celebrate our Olympic association, aimed at engaging a wide
range of company stakeholders.
We will launch a host of community activities throughout China and in regional
communities around the world where we do business, to reinforce our allegiance
to those areas.
This includes seeking Olympic-themed legacy opportunities and supporting our
commitment to sustainable development in the communities that we operate in
by providing each region with important health and education programs, sporting
equipment and infrastructure.
In addition, the sponsorship will see the creation of several opportunities
for our staff around the world to be touched by the excitement of the Olympic
spirit, through a range of reward and recognition programs.
Such programs will highlight stories of staff success and assist in the delivery
of important health, safety and behavioural messages across the company, including
our absolute commitment to Zero Harm in the workplace.
BHP Billiton’s Olympic Heritage
At BHP Billiton, our association with the Beijing 2008 Games will add another
chapter to our proud Olympic history. BHP Billiton provided the raw
materials to produce the silver medals for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic
Games.
More than one tonne of silver, sourced from BHP’s Cannington operation
in Queensland, Australia, was used to produce the medals.
Today as we celebrate our involvement in the Games, including our role in producing
the medals for the event, we are closely following the journey of some of our
own employees who are aiming to put their individual stamp on the Beijing Games.
Warren Wellbeloved, an engineer from our Manganese Business Unit in Johannesburg,
is seeking to represent South Africa in rowing, whilst Carmen Malawene, a Communications
Administrator from our Mozal operation in Mozambique is aiming to represent
her country in Taekwondo.
We are also proud of our employees who have represented their country at past
Olympic Games. Geoffrey Ferreira a human resources manager from our Houston
office was the first person to have ever represented Trinidad & Tobago
in swimming at an Olympic Games.
He competed in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events at the 1968 Olympics
in Mexico City and the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Today his competitive drive
is as active as ever, ranking among the world’s top ten masters swimmers
for the 50-54 age group.
ils Linneberg, a marketing manager based in our Singapore office, represented
Chile in the men’s downhill event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer
and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.