Panasonic Reveals Camera at LOCOG HQ; McDonald's Financial Report

Panasonic Launches LUMIX G3 in London

TOP sponsor Panasonic unveiled its newest camera, the LUMIX G3, in London on Thursday.

The camera was revealed at the LOCOG headquarters in London. Panasonic claims it is the world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens system camera with a build-in Electronic View Finder.

The LUMIX G3 boasts a lightweight aluminum design and features a 16.3 megapixel sensor, light-speed autofocus and a high-resolution free-angle LCD touch screen.

Panasonic first added its LUMIX Digital Cameras to the Audio and Visual Equipment category at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Panasonic has served as a TOP sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1988.

McDonald’s Financial Report

Olympic TOP sponsor McDonald’s reported sales at stores open at least 13 months rose 6 percent in April.

The boost came after sales in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa jumped 6.5 percent. Sales in the U.S. jumped 4 percent, mostly because of McDonald’s smoothies and McCafe beverages.

The smoothies and McCafe beverages are "appealing to an even broader group of customers and bringing in more customers," Sofia Therios, a director of marketing at McDonald’s, told Bloomberg.

Analysts originally predicted a 4 percent increase, according to a note written by Stifel Nicolaus analysts.

The sales increase comes despite the 1 percent price increase that McDonald’s implemented in March.

London Torch Relay Route Unveiling

The Olympic Torch relay route will soon take shape when London 2012 announces its first confirmed stops on Wednesday morning, the one-year-to-go mark until the relay begins.

LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe will then join executives from Coca-Coca, Samsung and Lloyds TSB for a press conference and photo call.

All three are presenting partners of the torch relay. Coke and Samsung are also TOP sponsors of the IOC.

Also Wednesday, LOCOG will launch its public nomination program to find the 8,000 torchbearers needed to crisscross the U.K. during the run-up to next year’s Games.

Team USA Gets Own Nutrition Bars

U.S. Olympic Committee sport dietitians for the first time will help produce and sell Team USA performance nutrition bars after the USOC partnered with PR*Bar.

The bars will be available for sell in mid-2011. A percentage of the proceeds of the sales from the nutrition bars will support training for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes through June 2017.

"Our athletes work hard each and every day to be at their peak performance, and having easy access to Team USA performance nutrition bars will help them power their bodies for training and competition," Lisa Baird, USOC Chief Marketing Officer, said in a press release.

To subscribe to Around the Rings Click Here

With reporting from Isia Reaves Wilcox and Matthew Grayson

For general comments or questions, click here