G4S gives young Peruvian athlete opportunity of a lifetime
Lima, 4th August 2009:
G4S, the world's leading international security solutions group, has unveiled a promising young Peruvian athlete as the newest member of its global sports team, G4S 4teen. After an extensive search Eduardo Palas, a talented 17 year-old Greco-Roman wrestler from the San Juan de Lurigancho district in Lima, has been selected to join the unique sporting initiative and complete the line-up of young sporting hopefuls in G4S's inspirational programme.
Eduardo was selected from a shortlist of young Peruvian sportsmen and women following a year-long selection process run in conjunction with the Peruvian Institute of Sport. As a young Olympic sportsman with huge potential, Eduardo was seen to be a perfect match for the aspirational sports programme. With an impressive list of achievements already to his name, the 17-year-old has demonstrated determination, courage, and tenacity in becoming the top junior wrestler in Peru – values that are integral to the G4S 4teen programme.
Eduardo will receive the ongoing support of G4S Peru, as well as access to G4S's international network of staff and athletes around the world. In addition to receiving financial support to help him with training, equipment, and travel to major competitions, Eduardo will be provided with training in key life skills including computing and foreign language lessons, as well as help to raise his profile at home and abroad.
Eduardo will also be invited to G4S 4teen Training Camps around the world over the next three years, where he will meet up with fellow 4teen athletes and gain vital experience from some of the world's leading experts and sporting legends.
The G4S 4teen global team comprises young international athletes from 14 countries brought together into one united team. Despite their different backgrounds and sports, all the youngsters have one common goal – to compete at the London Olympics in 2012. The team has an interesting mix of Olympic sports including BMX, sailing, track and field, table tennis, swimming, cycling, shooting and archery.
Conceived to nurture and support a new generation of young stars from around the world, the initiative attracted the exclusive support of legendary two-time Olympic gold medal winning athlete, Haile Gebrselassie. The Ethiopian marathon world record holder is the Ambassador of G4S 4teen and a mentor to the young sportsmen and women. He will be working closely with Eduardo to pass on his experience of competing at the highest level and share his advice about achieving sporting dreams.
Haile said: "I was so delighted to hear that Eduardo is our new member of G4S 4teen and it is great that he brings another new sport to our team. This further highlights what a great initiative G4S 4teen is and proves that it doesn't matter where you are from or what you do, as long as you believe in something and you work hard for it, you can achieve your goals. I wish Eduardo all the best, he is a great inspiration for the whole team and I look forward to meeting him soon."
Since its launch in 2007, G4S 4teen has witnessed extraordinary sporting success with five of its young stars having competed at the Beijing Olympics last year. Among them, Kazakh weightlifter Ilya Ilin won G4S 4teen's first Olympic gold medal – helping the programme achieve success four years ahead of schedule. Ilin's phenomenal achievement saw him step aside to open the door to a new sporting star to take his place on the G4S 4teen programme. Peru was selected as an ideal country with a wealth of young sporting talent whose sporting careers could benefit from the support of G4S 4teen.
Delighted to be joining the team, Eduardo said: 'I'm very happy to join the G4S 4teen programme and be a part of such a talented group of athletes. This programme will make all the difference in the world for me because I'll have more opportunities within my sport, and I'll be joining all the incredible sportsmen and women who form this programme.'
Commenting on the recruitment of Palas to G4S 4teen, Carlos Chavez, G4S Country Manager, Peru said: 'This is a great moment for us; G4S Peru is extremely proud, not only to welcome Eduardo to the team, but we are delighted to be part of the G4S 4teen initiative here in Peru. Eduardo has joined us at a very exciting time when the programme is going from strength to strength at both local and global levels. This is the beginning of a promising journey for him and G4S Peru and we are looking forward to following him over the coming years."