History of Coca-Cola & the Olympics

Timeline History of Coca-Cola & the Olympic Games

Year	Host City	Coca-Cola Support
1928	Amsterdam	The Coca-Cola Company’s Olympic support begins when a freighter carrying the U.S. Team also delivers 1,000 cases of Coca-Cola.

1932	Los Angeles	Three million miniature cutouts listing Olympic records are distributed by Coca-Cola to youth in the U.S.
		More than 200 teenagers, dressed in white jackets and gloves, serve Coca-Cola to spectators in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

1936	Berlin	A young Harvard graduate, J. Paul Austin, competes for the U.S. Rowing Team. Austin goes on to become president, CEO and chairman of The Coca-Cola Company.

1948	London	Lingering effects of World War II make bottling and transportation of Coca-Cola difficult. The Company orchestrates a way, diverting equipment from Glasgow and Belfast to serve athletes and spectators at the Games.

1952	Helsinki	More than 300,000 cases of Coca-Cola are brought to Helsinki from the Netherlands aboard the M.S. Marvic, a rebuilt World War II landing craft, in what became known as "Operation Muscle." Much of the product is donated by Coca-Cola for sale by the Disabled Ex-Servicemen Association.

1956	Melbourne	Coca-Cola Bottlers in Melbourne provide over 100,000 sun visors to the fans entering Olympic Stadium. Ice-cold Coca-Cola is sold by 420 vendors at 27 points throughout the Games.

1960	Rome	Italian Bottlers of Coca-Cola show their support for the Games by presenting thousands of athletes, officials and spectators with copies of a 45 rpm record of "Arriverderci Roma," a favorite song of the day.

1964	Tokyo	To assist athletes, spectators and media covering the Games, Coca-Cola distributes guide maps, sight-seeing information and a Japanese-English phrase book.

1968	Mexico City	In a show of pride in the U.S. space program, The Coca-Cola Company outfits its servers in red and white astronaut suits equipped with back pack dispensers.

1972	Munich	Coca-Cola manages the entire food and beverage catering service for 15,000 athletes and officials in the Olympic Village.
		In the U.S., the Company creates a special series of 17 commemorative medallions – "Great Olympic Moments."


1976	Montreal	As a gift to the people of Canada, Coca-Cola Ltd. Buys the horse "Regardez" and donates it to the Canadian Equestrian Team.

1980	Lake Placid	The Company initiates the Coca-Cola Olympic Radio Network, which reports Olympic results back to millions of fans.

1984	Los Angeles	During the year, Coca-Cola implements a series of programs, including a national Olympic Youth Soccer Competition, an Olympic educational program for schools and Olympic Youth Jamborees, which provided underprivileged children a chance to experience the Olympic Spirit.
		Olympic mascot Sam the Eagle is depicted on a series of 23 commemorative Coca-Cola cans, and trading cards featuring "America’s Greatest Olympians" are included in 12-packs of Coca-Cola products.

1988	Calgary	The "Coca-Cola World Chorus," composed of 43 young people from 23 countries, performs the signature song of the Games – "Can’t You Feel It?" – during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The young people were selected though competitions sponsored by local Coca-Cola Bottlers.
		The Coca-Cola Official Olympic Pin Trading Center makes its debut, establishing pin trading as the Games’ "number- one spectator sport".

1992	Albertville	For the first time, radio disc jockeys from major U.S. markets use the Coca-Cola Radio Network’s state-of-the-art technology to deliver live reports from the Pin Trading Center.

1992	Barcelona	The International Olympic Torchbearers Program, presented by Coca-Cola, brings together 150 runners from 50 nations to participate in the Olympic Torch Relay in Spain. The torchbearers are selected through unique local and national promotions staged by the Coca-Cola System. It is the first time people from other countries participate in the host country’s Torch Relay.

1994	Lillehammer	Through the Coca-Cola International Olympic Torchbearers Program, 30 torchbearers from 13 countries carry the Olympic Flame through Oslo, on its way to Lillehammer.

1996	Atlanta	As the exclusive presenter of the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, the longest Relay in Olympic History, Coca-Cola provides 2,500 people the chance to select someone special in their lives to be torchbearers. As many as 500 of the torchbearers are from countries outside the U.S.
		Coca-Cola Olympic City, an interactive fan attraction located in downtown Atlanta, is a central gathering place for Olympic fans.
		Coca-Cola supports the 1996 Olympic Games Pin Society, which keeps Olympic fans and collectors up to date on the wide variety of Olympic lapel pins being issued for the Games. As it has since 1988, Coca-Cola sponsors pin-trading centers at the centennial Olympic Games.
		The Coca-Cola Company estimates that 20 million servings of Coca-Cola products will be consumed at the official venues of the Olympic Games, more than 830 times the number of servings at the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam.

2000	Sydney	The year 2000 marks the 72nd anniversary of the association between Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games. The Coca-Cola Company's continuous association with the Olympic Games is the longest of any corporate sponsor. Today, through international and national programs, the company supports Olympic teams and aspiring Olympic athletes as well as promoting the Olympic movement in nearly 200 countries.
		As well as providing refreshment, Coca-Cola also brings Coca-Cola Pin Trading to spectators. The Centre will provide a haven for both pin enthusiasts and spectators alike with several hundred thousand people traditionally taking part in trading. Located in the heart of Sydney, The Coca-Cola Company's Sydney 2000 Pin Trading Centre will open two to three weeks before the Opening Ceremony. Each day during the Games, it will feature the Coca-Cola 'pin of the day', offering a different highly collectible, limited edition pin for each day of the Games. At past games, this pin has been highly sought after.
		'Coca-Cola Radio' is another successful program which has enabled more than 200 radio stations from around the world to broadcast live from the Olympic Games. Since 1992, The Coca-Cola Company has invited top-ranked radio stations to attend the Games and broadcast behind the scenes updates sharing the atmosphere of the Games with their listeners back home. The Coca-Cola Company builds state of the art broadcast booths typically located in a popular, high traffic area at the Games, and provides participating radio stations with the equipment, technical assistance and infrastructure necessary to transmit back to their home countries. Approximately 30 US and 25 international radio stations are expected to participate in the Games.
		The total consumption of Coca-Cola products at Games time is expected to be greater than 10 million drinks - enough to fill the 50 meter Olympic Pool at Homebush one and a half times.
		There are 9.3 kilometers of tubing installed in Stadium Australia that connects all the Coca-Cola equipment.
		Coca-Cola has the capacity to serve over 20,000 drinks per hour in the main dining room in the athlete's village - more than five drinks per second.
		Total consumption at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics alone will exceed 1 million individual servings.
		There will be 2,000 additional pieces of refrigeration equipment installed at Olympic venues to ensure fans and athletes can always enjoy ice cold 'Coca-Cola'.

Last Updated : December 04, 2000