Coca-Cola presents Los Angeles with Olympic Torch Relay flag; local preparations launched for arrival of Olympic Flame on way to 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 1994--(361 days to Opening Ceremony)--Local officials Monday celebrated the news that the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay will begin in Los Angeles by raising the official Olympic Torch Relay flag, presented by Coca-Cola in a ceremony at the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.

Los Angeles was officially named as the starting point for the U.S. Olympic Torch Relay route on Sunday. The city now begins planning about nine months in advance of the arrival of the Olympic Flame, the most recognized symbol of the Olympic Movement. Expected start for the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay is April 27, 1996.

Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro, who also serves as president of the Coliseum Commission and was one of the key leaders to bring the Olympic Games to Los Angeles in 1984, received the specially made banner Monday from Tim McCabe, vice president, sales & marketing, Los Angeles Division Coca-Cola Enterprises; Joseph Haggerty, president of The United Way of Greater Los Angeles; and Southern Californian Janet Evans, an Olympic gold medalist in swimming.

The flag was emblazoned with a newly designed logo for the Olympic Torch Relay.

Other cities in Los Angeles County that will be along the route are Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Seal Beach, where it will continue into Orange County. Similar Olympic Torch Relay ceremonies are being conducted this week by Coca-Cola and The United Way in other U.S. communities on the route.

The 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, the largest in the history of the Olympic games, starts on April 27 in Los Angeles and ends in Atlanta 84 days later, on July 19, the day of the Opening Ceremony for the Games of the XXVIth Olympiad.

The Olympic Torch Relay will cover more than 15,000 miles, traveling through 42 states and the District of Columbia. Its coast-to-coast path brings the Olympic Flame within a two-hour drive of 90 percent of the U.S. population.

Monday's flag-raising ceremony marks the start of local preparations for receiving the Olympic flame. In Los Angeles and hundreds of other towns and cities along the Olympic Torch Relay route, celebrations of the arrival of the Olympic Flame and the cultural heritage of those communities are anticipated each day.

``The 1996 Olympic Torch Relay will celebrate both the Olympic experience and the rich diversity of backgrounds and traditions that are found in the United States,'' said Council President Ferraro.

``Los Angeles is excited to kick off the signature event leading up to the Centennial Olympic Games. Welcoming the Olympic Flame is an opportunity to showcase our heritage, and the talents of our residents, to the rest of the country and the world.''

Coca-Cola, involved with the Olympic Games longer than any other corporate sponsor, and The United Way swiftly helped the city organize Monday's flag presentation when Los Angeles was named the starting point on the Olympic Torch Relay map.

``Just as we have always felt the importance of contributing to Los Angeles, so too does Coca-Cola enjoy being able to help bring part of the uplifting magnificence of the Olympic Games here, as Presenter of the Olympic Torch Relay,'' said Coca-Cola's Tim McCabe.

``We've helped bring a lot of exciting events to the community over the years, and this is sure to be among the most memorable of city-wide celebrations.''

The United Way has a significant role in the Olympic Torch Relay, primarily in the process of helping select many of the Torchbearers for each community, as well as recruiting thousands of volunteers to support the 84-day event.

``The United Way takes its responsibility as a touchstone organization for the Olympic Torch Relay very seriously, and we are both proud and humbled to be involved in the planning of the most dramatic event leading up to the Olympic Games,'' said Haggerty.

``The Olympic Torch Relay will recognize our community heroes and, in that sense, will demonstrate the grassroots spirit of volunteerism and social conscience that is brimming in Los Angeles.''

CONTACT: Coca-Cola

Deborah Smith, 310/226-3024

Dawn Cotterell, 310/226-3040

or

The United Way

Cynthia Harding, 213/736-1348

or

Councilman John Ferraro's office

Gayle Johnson, 213/485-3337