Celebrities get Copenhagenized at the Olympic Countdown

COPENHAGEN - Oprah is going. Brazilian football legend Pele and the Spanish Royal family are going. And rumor has it, that Barack Obama is going too. They are all going to Copenhagen to take part in the Olympic Congress where the 2016 Olympic host will be announced.

The final countdown has begun. This week, Copenhagen will be the center of a large scale Olympic gathering of world famous athletes, IOC-members, top politicians and celebrities from all over the world.

One part of the Olympic celebrations will be staged around a celebrity bike tour where participants from all over the world will be Copenhagenized when they join together in a 9-kilometer long tour from the Olympic Congress at Bella Center to City Hall Square.

Copenhagen has more than 300 kilometers of bike lanes and one third of all Copenhageners commute by bike daily. Copenhagen is widely known as a bike city and Copenhagenizing has become a phenomenon in cities around the world that want to increase usage of this healthy and CO2 friendly means of transportation.

The list of names that will attend Copenhagen Bike Tour is growing day by day. So far the variety of attendants range from the Japanese minister of foreign affairs to the Namibian athlete and IOC member, Frank Fredericks - who has won silver at the Olympic Games 4 times and the world championship in 1993.

Copenhagen Bike Tour is connecting the official part of the Olympic congress with the public part that mainly takes place at City Hall Square.

Barbie girl goes Olympic

While the Olympic Congress is taking place in Bella Center the whole city will be one big Olympic party for several days. City Hall Square will be the center of celebration. The big event, Copenhagen Countdown, starts on 1 October and culminates on 2 October when the announcement of the 2016 Olympic host city is transmitted live on a big outdoor screen.

Throughout the day at City Hall Square, internationally known Danish bands such as Aqua will perform their mega hit Barbie Girl, and a variety of sports events will be taking place. One of them is BMX cycling which also showcases Copenhagen as the host of the 2011 BMX World Championship.

The full program for the 121st IOC Session, the XIII Olympic Congress and Olympic Festival in Copenhagen: www.2009olympiccongress.com/international/en-gb/menu/home/ioc.htm

For free broadcast-standard video about the Olympic Countdown in Copenhagen, please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/Denmark. Video material will be available from October 1st. If you are a first-time user, please register. In case you have any questions, please e-mail: journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com.

More about Copenhagen: www.visitcopenhagen.com

Copenhagen Countdown is a part of Copenhagen Olympic Festival - a collaboration between Sports Confederation of Denmark, the Branding Denmark Fond, City of Copenhagen, The Capital Region of Denmark, Sport Event Denmark and Wonderful Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Countdown is sponsored by Samsung.

For further information: Wonderful Copenhagen +45-33257400; Frederikke Moller Kristiansen, PR-manager, mobile +45-40-19-38-47, fmk@woco.dk; Ulrich Ammundsen, Senior project manager, mobile +45-23249920, ulm@woco.dk

Source: Wonderful Copenhagen

For further information: Wonderful Copenhagen +45-33257400; Frederikke M0ller Kristiansen, PR-manager, mobile + 45-40-19-38-47, fmk at woco.dk; Ulrich Ammundsen, Senior project manager, mobile +45-23249920, ulm at woco.dk