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ING Real Estate Development Czech Republic, 22 January 2004

ING Czech Republic sponsors national ice skating talent

The 20-year old Mirek Vtipil is currently the biggest of the Czech Republic’s speed skating talents. He has been skating since he was 10 years old and from 1999 he has participated in international matches, such as the World Cup series and the European Championship. Vtipil is now focusing on participating in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.
Vtipil also participated in the recent European speed skating championship in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, thanks to the sponsorship of ING Czech Republic. For the entire weekend, the event was broadcast live on television in the countries including the Netherlands and Germany, where long-distance skating is a very popular sport.

During the European Championship, Vtipil, wearing a skating suit in the Czech national colors with the ING logo plainly visible, beat his personal 500-meter record and succeeded in becoming one of the 25 best European skaters.

This was the first time that ING presented itself in the Netherlands as the personal sponsor of an ice skater. For years, another insurance company has had a dominant presence in the Netherlands as sponsor of skaters and skating events. The fact that a young, talented Czech skater wearing an ING outfit skated his rounds “on the competition’s turf” for three days, had everything to do with ING Czech Republic’s speed, creativity and a sense of synergy (and humor!).

In the next few weeks, Mirik Vtipil will participate in the Word Cup in Italy (14-15 February), Germany (20-22 February) and the Netherlands (27-29 February), wearing his ING outfit. These events will be broadcast on Dutch and German television.