Ingi Thor Jonsson Joins 1^st World Outgames Athletes' Circle

Montréal, 24 August 2005 – Mark Tewksbury, is proud to announce that Ingi Thor Jonsson, a former Olympic swimming champion from Iceland, has joined the Athletes’ Circle of the 1st World Outgames Montréal 2006. In addition to joining the Circle, Mr. Jonsson will act as an ambassador for the Outgames at many major gay sports events around the globe. Mr. Jonsson is currently in negotiation with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to explore the possibility of having a film crew to follow his travels to the various tournaments leading up to the 1st World Outgames in 2006.

“We are extremely proud to have the support of Mr. Jonsson. His experience and expertise as an elite athlete will be a true asset to the 1st World Outgames. As well, having a media organization as respected and prestigious as the BBC involved would be an incredible bonus in helping us spread the word about the Outgames throughout the world,” said Mark Tewksbury, Co-President of the 1st World Outgames, and himself an Olympic swimming champion.

Ingi Thor Jonsson is currently an activist in the LGBT sports movement. Among his other accomplishments, he represented Iceland at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He is passionately committed to the battle against homophobia in sport and enjoyed medal-winning performances at the EuroGames in Munich in 2004 and at Utrecht in 2005, as well as at the Manchester PrideGames in 2005.

– 30 –

Source: