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  • ASICS ATHLETES AMY ACUFF, SHARON DAY AND KARA PATTERSON ARE HEADING TO LONDON

ASICS ATHLETES AMY ACUFF, SHARON DAY AND KARA PATTERSON ARE HEADING TO LONDON

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-High jump veteran Acuff joins an elite group of track & field female athletes with five appearances at the Games-

After two impressive days of competition for ASICS athletes, Amy Acuff in the high jump, Sharon Day in the heptathlon, and Kara Patterson in the javelin, all three women have earned repeat appearances at London this summer. Acuff secured her spot in the high jump finals clearing 1.95 meters while Day set a personal record with 6,343 total points in the competition, and Patterson coasted onto her second team after her third javelin throw of 56.79 meters.

Not able to deny her passion for the sport and with a desire to make a fifth Olympic team, Acuff, 36 years of age, came back from a two-year retirement to prove she still has what it takes to be competitive on the world stage. A mother, acupuncturist, and part-time model, Acuff now hopes to add a gold medal to her resume after placing fourth in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. Acuff is a six-time U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Champion  ('95, '97, '01, '03, '05, '07) and five-time U.S. Indoor  Track and Field Champion ('01, '04, '07, '08, '09). She joins an elite group of United States female athletes, including track & field star Francie Larrieu Smith and swimmer Dara Torres, to make five Olympic teams.

“I feel so honored to make my fifth Olympic team and am amazed that I can be in the best shape of my life,” says Acuff. “I’m proud to be a part of the strongest U.S. team ever in the women’s high jump, and I feel reborn and excited about the challenge of winning a gold medal in London.”

Acuff’s Beijing high jump teammate Sharon Day will make her second appearance at the Games, but this will be her first time competing as a heptathlete. Day, the defending U.S. Champion, has had an impressive year, coming into the U.S. Track & Field Trials with the top two U.S. heptathlon scores this season. Multi-tasking has proved to come easy to Day, a former four-year soccer and track & field collegiate athlete at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She now sets her sight on a podium finish in London.

“I’m so happy to have made my second Olympic team,” says Day. “I am so ready to represent the United States in London. STOP AT NEVER.”

Javelin thrower and American record holder Kara Patterson is also seeking a place on the podium in London. The four-time All American champion trains in San Diego, Calif. and has been focused on speed, strength and power, which has yielded positive results thus far in 2012 with a meet-record at the Drake Relays and throwing her second best distance of the year in New York at the Grand Prix earlier this month.

“I’m happy to be done with the Olympic Trials and am now locked on London,” says Patterson. “I’m excited to represent ASICS at the Summer Games.”

Acuff, Day and Patterson join ASICS athletes Lolo Jones (hurdles), Julie Culley (5000m), and Ryan Hall (marathon) all heading to London as part of Team U.S.A.

“ASICS is so proud of all our athletes who competed in Eugene this past week and a half,” says Anne Adams, ASICS Marketing Manager, Running Athletes. “They have all worked so hard to be here, and we are honored to be a part of their journey. It will be extremely exciting to see what they accomplish in London this summer.”

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Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, meaning “A Sound Mind in a Sound Body,” is an old Latin phrase from which ASICS is derived and the fundamental platform on which the brand still stands. The company was founded more than 60 years ago by Kihachiro Onitsuka and is now a leading designer and manufacturer of running shoes, as well as, other athletic footwear, apparel and accessories. For more information, visit www.asics.com.

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