We’re tying together 350 elite athletes from around the world. Simply put, we’re playing the numbers. We’re lining up 350 elite futball players, skiers, hockey stars, cyclists, swimmers, and so on to use their visibility, their notoriety and their influence to push 350. These folks have considerable sway in their respective international athletic circles and from there it is a short note, or email or mobile text to get the word out about 350.
The culture of athletics is influence and imitation. Move from that single elite athlete to the local pickup game of ten in the alley or the park, and it is a short time before you get a hold on the regional tennis club and basketball booster. From there it can grow globally.
We want to reach the 20 thousand runners that line up for the Boston marathon and the 40,000 skiers that partake annually in Sweden’s Vasoloppet ski marathon. We want to catch the 500,000 viewers that downloaded the video of Rugby’s most famous team, New Zealand’s All Blacks, as they performed their pre-match traditional Haka, as well as the 97 Million people watched last year’s Super Bowl. We want to cycle through the 200 million people worldwide that watched this year’s Tour De France. We want the estimated 1.2 Billion people that tuned into the last World Cup soccer tournament to be attuned to 350.
We don’t have the whole collection of athletic heroes put together. That will take a few more months. But we’ve started and the word is already spreading. American Mountain Biker Adam Craig is on his way to the Olympics in Beijing after winning his national championships wearing the signature (compact) fluorescent green 350 band. Canadian Hockey player, Andrew Ference has helped push carbon consciousness through the NHL signing up his teammates and competitors for offsets to cover their professional travel. Gold Medalist Sara Renner didn’t travel to New Zealand this summer for summer snow. The Canadian skier pointed to carbon guilt as a factor in her decision.
Our official 350athlete launch will follow closely after the start of the Olympic games in Beijing. Until then gather a team of your own athletes and get involved in 350 sports near you.