Laureus Olympic legends give school children in Shanghai a P.E. lesson they will never forget!

SHANGHAI, June 9, 2014 – For the young people of Gezhi High School in Shanghai it was a P.E. lesson they will never forget, as three of the world’s greatest Olympians came to the school to put them through their paces.

Laureus World Sports Academy Members Edwin Moses and Alexey Nemov and Laureus Award winner Liu Xiang were making the visit to the school in Huangpu, while they were in Shanghai for the announcement that the Laureus World Sports Awards would be held in the city in 2015.

Edwin Moses, who won two Olympic 400 metres hurdles gold medals in 1976 and 1984 and is Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: "Many people think Laureus is mainly about the Awards Ceremony which we hold each year, but for Academy Members, like myself and Alexey, the most important work we do is with young people through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and our visit to the school was really emotional. I enjoyed teaming up with Liu Xiang, who of course is a great 110 metres hurdler, to talk to the students and give them some coaching."

Liu Xiang, who won the Olympic gold medal in 2004, the first in a men's track and field event for China, and also the Laureus World Newcomer of the Year Award the following year, said: "This is so exciting and so rewarding for me to join the legendary hurler Edwin Moses at the Gezhi School and to talk to the students there. I hope we were able to inspire them and encourage them to have their dreams. I tried to tell them if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything, I am so pleased to see Laureus is committed to expanding its activities to help young people in my own country. I was so happy to be there and give the children and the staff at the school my support."

While Edwin Moses and Liu Xiang were running their coaching session, Russian sporting legend Alexey Nemov, the winner of 12 Olympic medals in a brilliant career, was giving a gymnastics master class to other students at the school.

He said: "I really enjoyed the visit and meeting the young sportsmen and women. As Laureus becomes more involved in China, we are looking ahead to building more relationships and creating sustainable community projects here that will be able to carry our message that sport has the power to change the world. I am very much looking forward to being part of this new opportunity which will enable us to help many more young people through the use of sport."

Gezhi High School was established in 1874 and is one of the first ‘experimental model high schools’ of Shanghai, where modern Western scientific knowledge was first taught, developing scientific and technological talents in its students. The school provides basketball, badminton, billiards, table tennis, yoga, fencing and shooting courses, which the students can select. There is special instruction and supervision by the teachers. All Gezhi students are taught to swim, the boys learn to fence and the girls practise yoga.

The 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards, which will be held in Shanghai next year, is the premier honours event in the international sporting calendar. The globally televised Awards Ceremony, attended by many of the living legends of sport, which celebrates the achievements of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of the year, will be supported by famous Chinese textile and wool company HengYuanXiang Group (HYX) which is the official Host Partner for the Awards. With the strong support of the Shanghai Municipal Government, HYX, a time-honoured enterprise in China will co-operate with Laureus to stage a magnificent Awards Ceremony.

Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit and underpin the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which supports more than 150 community sports projects in 34 countries, including China. Since its inception, Laureus has raised over €60 million for projects which have improved the lives of millions of young people through the use of sport.

For many years, HYX has actively focused on sport and been a partner in sports events like football, basketball, gymnastics and marathon. In December 2005, HYX became the first non-sports textile and costume sponsor in the history of the Olympics and three years later became the first partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee, customizing the Olympic kit for Chinese athletes.

HYX believes strongly in corporate social responsibility. The ‘Eternal Love’ programme, co-founded by HYX and the China Children and Teenagers’ Foundation, has won the China Charity Award twice, being honoured as the No.1 activity for caring for orphaned and disabled children in China. Also, the ‘HYX Literature Star High School Students’ Writing Contest’ has become the most influential event of its kind, attracting the largest number of contestants. In 1997 and 2007 HYX supported the ‘10,000 Teenagers’ Recreational and Sports Activities’ event in Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, China, in the hope of promoting the health of teenagers.

The exact date and venue for the 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony will be announced in due course. The winners of Laureus World Sports Awards are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the greatest athletes of today.

Members of the Laureus World Sports Academy volunteer their time to act as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, whose mission is to use sport as the means to combat some of the world’s toughest social challenges facing young people today such as juvenile crime, gangs, HIV/AIDS, discrimination, social exclusion, landmines awareness and health problems such as obesity. Laureus currently supports a project operated by Special Olympics in Shanghai.

Laureus was founded by its Patrons Daimler and Richemont and is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz and IWC Schaffhausen.

Laureus now features a brand new website, which will be the online home of the 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards Shanghai and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, featuring a new design, fully optimized for mobile and tablet, with a dual language capability that lets you switch between English and Chinese at the click of a button. The new-look website is packed with exclusive content, including all the breaking Laureus news, a look back at 15 years of Awards history, videos and interviews from Laureus Foundation project visits and much more.

For further information please contact:

Virginie Bernon

International Senior Media & PR Manager

Tel: +44 (0) 207 514 2841

E mail: publicrelations@laureus.com

Photo Archive: www.laureusarchive.com

Website: www.laureus.cn or in English at www.laureus.com

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