Relatively few of the athletes participating in the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney this month will take home medals, but every U.S. participant in the Games will receive a customized gold ring, courtesy of Salt Lake City's O.C. Tanner.
"I told my coach, I've got to get the ring — we've got to go to the ring table first," said Tanner spokesman Adrian Gostick of Marla Runyon's reaction to hearing of the company's complimentary gift to the U.S. athletes at the processing center in San Diego.
"When I put it on, it was the most beautiful thing. It symbolizes making the team," said Runyon, a 1500-meter runner and the first legally blind U.S. Olympic athlete. "The ring will be either on my finger or on a chain around my neck for the rest of my life."
Each ring, designed by O.C. Tanner artist Garth Bruner, will be engraved with the Sydney "boomerang" and a pictogram of the athlete's sport and also his or her last name or nickname and number. On the shank of the ring is the Sydney Opera House, while the face has olive branches and the words "2000 Olympic Team."
O.C. Tanner measured the ring finger of each athlete at the processing center — more than 1,000 of them — and is now designing and manufacturing the rings for delivery early next year. U.S. Olympic Team staff members also will receive the rings at no charge.
Natalie Williams, a member of the U.S. Women's National/Olympic Basketball Team, assured the Tanner representatives in San Diego that "Every time I look at my ring, it will remind me of all the days when I just felt like I wanted to give up but didn't. It's beautiful."
Although Tanner is not the creator of the bronze, silver and gold medals for the Sydney Games, the company has the contract to design and create the medals for the 2002 Winter Games in Utah.
"This is a nice leadup to our involvement in 2002," said Gostick, noting that Tanner also will design and create the medals for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece.
Gostick said that while O.C. Tanner is well known locally, "This is a way for us to move into the limelight on a national scale in sports as well as the business world."
Founded by the late O.C. Tanner, perhaps best known for the many exotic water fountains he donated at various sites in Utah, the company has its headquarters at 1930 S. State and specializes in creating employee recognition awards, usually jewelry and electronics.
"These are symbolic awards with the various companies' logos attached, so the Olympics are a big opportunity for us because they represent the most coveted recognition awards in the world," said Gostick.
For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.octanner.com.
E-MAIL: max@desnews.com