[bc]SAFILO FOR “SPECIAL OLYMPICS”: IN DUBLIN FOR THE WORLD SUMMER GAMES[/bc]
Padua, 25th June 2003 – At present, the city of Dublin continues to host the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Culminating on the 29th of June, the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games is an important international sports event in which Safilo is actively participating in conjunction with the company’s contribution to the program known as “Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes.”

Safilo recently signed a three-year agreement with Special Olympics to support Opening Eyes, a project focused on giving athletes with learning disabilities the opportunity to improve their vision through a series of free eye screenings provided to them during Special Olympics sports events and through the donation of frames. Safilo, which has always paid a special attention to social causes and to the world of sports in general, found it natural to get involved with Opening Eyes and will donate 11,000 frames and 20,000 sunglasses per year for three years.

Safilo will donate 2,500 sunglasses and 2,000 frames to the athletes who are taking part in the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games and whose sight problems were diagnosed during the visual screenings.

The Opening Ceremony, held on Saturday night in the colossal stadium of Croke Park, in the centre of Dublin, was impressive as it was memorable. In front of a lively audience of 80,000 who crowded the festively adorned stadium, international celebrities shared their talent in a spectacular three-hour performance. Mohammed Alì, Bono of U2, Nelson Mandela, the Corrs, Jon Bon Jovi, Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Eddy Irvine and Arnold Schwarzenegger are only few of the celebrities who took part in this important sport and social event to support those with mental retardation all around the globe.

The 7,000 athletes who came from 150 countries to take part in the Special Olympics World Summer Games – for the first time held outside of the United States – paraded into the stadium and together, experienced all moments of the ceremony. Particularly touching was the Law Enforcement Torch Run, in which 140 law enforcement officials arrived from Athens after crossing 17 European countries and covering 15,000 kilometres, in order to bring the message of the Special Olympics: sport as a way to underline the right to social acceptance for people with mental retardation.

Directed by a team of volunteer optometrists, Safilo remains a protagonist in the area dedicated to free visual screenings at the centre of the “Opening Eyes” program. The company was recently awarded with a prestigious plate of recognition for the help that it has been giving to the athletes of the Special Olympics through the contribution of frames and sunglasses.

The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games include 20 different fields of sport such as aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, bowling, cycling, equestrian events, football, golf, gymnastics, lawn bowling, powerlifting, roller-skating, sailing, table tennis, tennis, team handball and volleyball. The Irish event includes 150 international delegations from all parts of the globe and together with their trainers, families, volunteers and sponsors come to Dublin to live a unique cultural and sport experience, combining passion for sport with dignity and individual success.