The Official Payment Services Partner of the Paralympic Games and a Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Gold Partner, Visa, has signed five Paralympic athletes to its Team Visa roster and is supporting the Japanese Paralympic Committee’s launch of a donation-matching program for Visa cardholders in Japan.
Visa signed Oksana Masters who is a Paralympic athlete that has excelled in various para-sports. She has excelled in cross-country skiing, biathlon, and rowing (USA).
Masters has eight Paralympic medals in three different sports and will compete to medal in a fourth sport at the Tokyo 2020Paralympic Games, cycling. She was named the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 2018 individual Sportswoman of the Year.
Apart from Masters, Visa has also signed Daniel Dias, Paralympic swimming (Brazil), Aurélie Rivard, Paralympic swimming (Canada), Monika Seryu, Paralympic canoe (Japan), and Hajimu Ashida, Paralympic athletics (Japan).
“It’s amazing to be a part of Team Visa and have a partner like Visa behind you believing in you and supporting you,” said Masters, a multi-sport medalist in Para cross-country skiing, biathlon, and rowing.
The Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Visa Lynne Biggar said that the games present a tremendous opportunity for dedicated athletes to pursue their dreams both on and off the field.
“These athletes push through boundaries every day, and they are a terrific expression of what Visa stands for as a brand. We are proud to expand our support of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic athletes,” Biggar added.
Visa has been a global partner for more than 30 years and the first and longest-standing global Paralympic partner (since 2003). The digital payments company is also continuing to support athletes with the tools, resources, and support they need through its Team Visa program, originally founded in 2000.
Visa’s support for Olympic and Paralympic athletes also extends to leadership off the field with the Olympian and Paralympian Business Development Program, which gives athletes exposure to different parts of Visa’s business that they may not have otherwise had.
“Visa’s program is testimony to how the mental skills needed for winning an elite competition can translate to a business setting,” said Crowley, a two-sport Paralympic medalist who now works at Visa on its talent acquisition team. “As we look forward to Tokyo 2020, the Paralympic Games is another important aspect of Visa’s commitment.”
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will feature 4,400 athletes competing in 537 medal events – including 1,756 slots for female athletes, the most ever, according to the International Paralympic Committee. The Rio 2016 Paralympics Games broke viewing records, with a record audience of 4.1 billion.
