Back

Running a Marathon: UPS Shows a Long History of Support for the Olympic Movement

The History of UPS and the Olympic Games

UPS has a long relationship with the Olympic and Paralympic Games. From sponsoring the Games in 1996 in our home city of Atlanta to handling more than 19 million individual items at the Beijing 2008 Games, UPS is committed to providing global logistics expertise in support of the Games.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Games

UPS supplied freight and logistics services for Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic teams, including ocean freight, air freight and ground transportation at the Olympic Village. The support for Team GB included handling a number of time-sensitive air freight shipments for the reigning Bobsleigh World Champions, like bobsleighs and uniforms.

Beijing 2008 Games (Domestic Sponsorship)

Helping to deliver the Games is a substantial and complex task, requiring years of planning and preparation. UPS played a key role as the Official Logistics and Express Delivery Sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. By the time the Beijing Games concluded, UPS had successfully handled more than 19 million individual items weighing over 10,000 tonnes, including over 2,000 drums and 10,000 costumes used in the incredible Opening Ceremony, 400 tonnes of television broadcast equipment, 70,000 pieces of athlete luggage, and over 250 canoes, kayaks and rowboats.

Sydney 2000 Games (TOP* sponsor)

UPS was again a Worldwide sponsor and coordinated the pickup and delivery of express shipments throughout all 28 sites for the Sydney 2000 Games. In addition, the UPS Film Transport Programme, consisting of 140 trained motorcyclists, collected film from more than 1,000 accredited photographers for delivery to the film processing centre in Sydney Olympic Park.

Nagano 1998 Winter Games (TOP sponsor)

UPS provided Worldwide Express Service to and from all competitive sites and main Olympic Family hotels for the Nagano 1998 Winter Games. UPS also set up shipping counters at several non-competitive sites in and around Nagano, such as the International Broadcast Centre and the Olympic Village.

Atlanta 1996 Summer Games (TOP sponsor)

Atlanta, Georgia, is home to UPS's worldwide headquarters and in 1996 we were honoured to take part in supporting the Games in the very city we call home. This was the first of our many Olympic Games partnerships. With the Olympic Games representing global unity, it provided us with a fitting context to showcase UPS’s extensive worldwide distribution network. The Olympic Games has proven to be a natural platform to highlight UPS's package and freight shipping and advanced technology serving customers around the world.

* The Olympic Partners (TOP) is a programme made up of the companies which have bought worldwide marketing rights from the International Olympic Committee.