Hamilton Hero Heading to Beijing Olympics

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MEDIA RELEASE
12 March 2008

HAMILTON HERO HEADING TO BEIJING OLYMPICS

Hamilton javelin thrower Stuart Farquhar has now qualified for the Beijing Olympics after throwing a personal best to win the men’s javelin at the Canberra Track Classic in January.

Stuart has worked as a porter at Novotel Tainui Hamilton for the past four years and over this time the hotel has sponsored helped him pursue his dream with sponsorship funds, the purchase of a javelin, accommodation when he is away competing and time away from the work place as and when he needs it.

Novotel Tainui Hamilton is part of the Accor group of hotels and resorts. Accor is a key sponsor of the New Zealand Olympic Committee for the fourth time in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics in August.

With his new personal best of 83.23m at the event in Canberra he comfortably topped the official A qualification standard to qualify for his second Olympics.

Stuart is thrilled with his achievement and is looking forward to representing his country in the biggest sporting competition in the world.

“I have been a javelin thrower for 13 years, so making it to the Olympics is of course the ultimate dream. It will be a fantastic honour to represent New Zealand in the sport that I love. I’m lucky that with my work at Novotel Tainui Hamilton, I have been able to take the time to train and compete when necessary and everyone here has been incredibly supportive.”

Stuart was also the winner of the NZASNI Outstanding Achievement Award at the WINTEC sports awards last year. As well as becoming a married man in January, he completed six papers towards his Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science, as well as winning his seventh straight New Zealand Javelin title and competing at the World Championships in Osaka.

Accor, the European leader and a major global group in hotels, the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses:
- Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, all seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing more than 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre.
- Services, with 30 million people in 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in human resources, marketing services and expense management.

ENDS

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