Canon Named Official Partner of IAAF Events from 2013-2016

November 14, 2012

Canon announced today that the company will be an Official Partner of the IAAF World Athletics Series from 2013 to 2016, including two editions of the IAAF World Championships.

Canon will sponsor a total of 15 IAAF World Athletics Series events, including the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, which will take place in August 2013, and the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, scheduled for August 2015.

Boasting a rich history, the IAAF held its inaugural World Championships in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland, making next year’s event in Moscow the 14th to date. The Canon Group, which has long focused on promoting sports, decided to sponsor the championships based on shared goals with the IAAF, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, of “contributing to the promotion and development of athletics worldwide and its values of universality and excellence.”

At numerous sporting competitions both in Japan and overseas, Canon has provided behind-the-scenes support to members of the press covering these events, including camera and lens maintenance services and product loans. To further improve on-site media support at each Canon-sponsored IAAF competition, the company will establish a camera service center at each event to assist the numerous journalists and sports photographers from various countries and regions across the world.

As an Official IAAF Partner, various Canon input and output products will be designated as official products of the IAAF World Championships, including cameras, lenses, video cameras, copiers, multifunction devices, printers, scanners, facsimile machines and projectors.

“We are delighted to welcome this blue chip corporation back as an Official IAAF Partner,” said IAAF President Lamine Diack, “and through their products, we are convinced that Canon can help us connect further people with the emotions of the IAAF’s top events and with Athletics in general. The IAAF World Championships is the third largest single sporting event in the world. Each edition gathers more than 2000 athletes from 200 IAAF Member Federations and an accumulated worldwide TV audience of up to 8 Billion viewers.”

“We are proud that the IAAF and the sport of Athletics remain extremely attractive to major corporations. Less than a year ahead of the next IAAF World Championships, Moscow 2013, and before heading to Beijing in 2017, the most important event of our competition programme, now has seven world class Official IAAF Partners – adidas, Canon, Seiko, Sinopec, TDK, Toyota, and VTB.”