As the Worldwide Partner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Samsung Electronics officially announces at the Samsung District in Milan, alongside the CONI, the Samsung Galaxy Team, a team of 7 Italian athletes preparing to let the public fully enjoy the emotion of their sports through the campaign “Molto più che Olimpiadi. Vivi Rio 2016 a 360°”, encouraging everyone in Italy to approach the Olympic sports. The campaign “Molto più che Olimpiadi. Vivi Rio 2016 a 360°” reflects the wish of Samsung to support talent as the utmost expression of a human being’s ability to challenge him or herself and overcome all kinds of barriers – whether linguistic, social, or physical – to participate in the most important competition in a sportsperson’s life. In this respect, Samsung’s technological innovation is an enabler of success in sports and of social aggregation, in that it lets the public personally experience and share the emotions of the targets achieved through virtual reality.

Undisputed fencing champion Aldo Montano, world-famous boxer Clemente Russo, wrestling specialist Frank Chamizo Marquez, world-class diver Tania Cagnotto, young gymnast Erika Fasana, beach volley player Marta Menegatti, and Martina Caironi, athletics champion at the Paralympics, as well as the standard-bearer at the Paralympics for Italy, are the athletes engaged to bring to life the dream of all the Italians to experience in person the magic of Rio 2016 by making this year’s most eagerly awaited event accessible to all through the Samsung technology. Samsung drives innovation in Italy and around the world with devices capable to revolutionize the user experience, making it more and more immersive into the sport world, and has selected the Galaxy Team to explore new domains, thus using technology to the benefit of everyone’s passions. With the campaign “Molto più che Olimpiadi. Vivi Rio 2016 a 360°”, Samsung acts as the ambassador of a true Olympic mission: let people enjoy and access the emotion of playing and sports, thus contributing to build a world without barriers.

“We are proud to be a Partner of the Olympic Games again this year. This will give us the opportunity to plan several activities capable to engage all the supporters of the Italian team, in cooperation with the CONI,” said Carlo Barlocco, President of Samsung Electronics Italia. “Through the athletes of the Samsung GALAXY Team and thanks to our innovative technologies, including the 360 technology, we wish to bring more and more people close to sports and, specifically, to convey the Olympic spirit to each and every one”.

“The Samsung casting is amazing, a generational mix of young and less young people with Olympic experiences and several disciplines represented, a perfect Olympic mix. A successful and absolutely winning choice, but everything will depend on athletes” commented Giovanni Malagò, President of CONI. “CONI this year worked with great and continuous commitment and professionalism and we will bring to Rio De Janeiro a superior number of athletes compared to London where they were 281 and we are proud of it. It is a world in evolution just like Samsung, an ever-moving company that will be happy because in 2020 there will be new sports for young people to which Samsung has always been close such as climbing, surfing and skateboarding. We are extremely glad about this partnership that adds value to sport world and that renovate the role of technology in supporting the evolution, Samsung products are extraordinary and Casa Italia may call itself Casa Samsung because inside we are immersed in 360° innovation” ended Malagò.

In order to show how technology can act as a true innovation booster, Samsung has produced seven videos telling stories of the challenges and progress made by the individual athletes of the Galaxy Team throughout their career in sports, using the Smartphones Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, as well as the brand new wireless headpieces Gear IconX. Samsung provides the video contents both in the traditional format and in the 360° version, accessible via the official Facebook channel of Samsung Mobile Italia and the YouTube channel, to offer everyone the opportunity to participate directly in the experience of the seven champions.

Lastly, the Samsung Social Reporter activity, starting in July, will allow two consumers to fly to Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Olympic Games to act as official Samsung reporters. Candidates can submit their application – a short motivational letter, selected videos and photos, links to their social channels – to the dedicated website www.samsungsocialreporter.it, demonstrating their creativity and communication skills, as well as their ability to navigate across the different social media, to be selected by Samsung as Social Reporters during the Rio 2016 Olympics.