infonews.co.nz
INDEX
OLYMPICS

Kiwi Olympians grandson wins own Beijing 2008 Olympic Games experience

Friday 27 June 2008, 3:00PM

By Porter Novelli New Zealand

310 views

A Wellington man will realize his dream of witnessing first hand the Olympic Games, 80 years after his grandfather represented New Zealand in javelin,courtesy of Visa and Bank of New Zealand.

Mark Fairey won the trip to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a Visa promotion run by online accounting firm Xero.

“My grandfather, Stan Lay, was an Olympic and Empire Games javelin thrower who competed at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam 80 years ago,” said Fairey, a customer of Xero.

“To have won the opportunity to experience the Games myself – albeit as a spectator – is just incredible!”

From March through to May any customer that signed up to Xero and paid with their Visa card was automatically included in the draw to win an Olympic Games package for two.

The package courtesy of Visa, an official Worldwide Olympic Partner, includes: two return tickets toBeijing, accommodation for three nights, two tickets each to Olympic Games events, tours to the Great Wall of China and Forbidden City and lunch with Kiwi Olympic gold-medallist Hamish Carter.

When Carter retired from sport he joined Xero as a Relationship Manager.

He has been a vocal champion of small businesses, which has resulted in a strong relationship between Xero, Bank of New Zealand and Visa.

“Xero has some fantastic marketing partners, such as Visa and Bank of New Zealand, which arehelping us solve the stress and pressure small business owners face. This prize from Visa is another way for us to acknowledge and reward our small business customers,” Carter said.

Carter will be in Beijing working with the New Zealand Olympic team to help athletes prepare mentally and physically to compete against the best in the world