IOC Press Release

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced the appointment of Mr Timo Lumme to the position of IOC Marketing Director.

Lumme, 43 from Finland, joins from ESPN, a global leader in sports television, where he has worked as Vice President Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) since 2001. As a member of the ESPN International executive management team, he has been responsible for creating and driving ESPN's EMEA brand strategy, and also oversaw the launch in 2002 of the first ESPN-branded channel in Europe, ESPN Classic Sport.

Lumme combines a strong background in the worlds of marketing and broadcast with Olympic Games experience. He started his career with the International Management Group (IMG) where he held several marketing and management positions in London, Paris, Milan, Albertville and Lillehammer. Specific Olympic Games work centred on the Albertville 1992 Olympic Winter Games, where he was a key member of the team tasked with creating and implementing the local and international marketing programmes for the Games organisers, and Lillehammer, where he was responsible for IMG's sponsorship and licensing consultancy relationship with the 1994 Olympic Winter Games Organising Committee. Whilst at IMG he also launched the first integrated commercial programme (television, sponsorship and licensing) for the Russian Football League.

Other achievements in his career include three years at Nike as European Sports Marketing Director, negotiating and overseeing commercial sponsorship arrangements with over 1,000 athletes, teams, events and federations. He also worked in new media for Quokka Sports, most latterly as general manager for nbcolympics.com, complementing NBC's coverage of the Sydney 2000 and Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games.

A qualified lawyer from the London firm of Slaughter and May, Lumme speaks five languages (Finnish, English, French, Italian and German). Commenting on his appointment, he said, "The Olympic Games have been a big part of my professional career and I am delighted to be joining the IOC and having the opportunity to work within the heart of the Olympic family."