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IMG client Kate Upton

Congratulations to IMG client Kate Upton on being selected as the cover model for the Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit issue for 2012.

Upton is the subject of a lengthy story appearing on the front page of today’s New York Times entitled “Model Struts Path to Stardom Not on Runway, But on YouTube.”  She arrived on the global modeling stage as a largely self-created Internet phenomenon.  Less than a year after she posted a video of herself on YouTube dancing to a popular hip hop tune, she finds herself today in one of the most coveted positions in the modeling business. 

In addition to Upton, five other IMG Models clients are featured in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue — Jessica Gomes, Ariel Meredith, Genevieve Morton, Chrissy Teigen and Michelle Vawer.  Professional golfer Natalie Gulbis is also included in a feature titled ‘Off the Course’.

IMG's Peyton Manning

IMG has a total of 11 clients on the list, including two clients in the top 10 rankings and two clients in the top 20 rankings. 

The following IMG clients made the list: No. 5: Rafael Nadal, No. 6: Roger Federer, No. 11: Luke Donald, No. 15: Eli Manning, No. 33: Maria Sharapova, No. 43: Matthew Stafford, No. 51: Peyton Manning, No. 73: Steve Nash, No. 82: Lindsey Vonn, No. 93: Venus Williams, No. 100: Steve Stricker.

This year, Bloomberg BusinessWeek added new personalities to its ‘Power List’ creating the “Power 100: Five Athletes to Watch in 2012.”  Tennis player Li Na, an IMG client, was included.  In 2011, she became the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam title at the 2011 French Open.  With that historic victory, her endorsement portfolio grew exponentially with Na signing more than $40 million worth of sponsorship agreements with Haagen-Dazs, Mercedes-Benz, and Rolex. 

Congratulations to all IMG clients who have made the list.   

Lindsey Vonn

Vonn won in 1 minute, 44.86 seconds. Nadja Kamer of Switzerland was 0.41 seconds behind and Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein finished third, 0.79 back.

Vonn celebrated a triumphant return at the southern German resort, where she had a tough time last year at the world championships. Coming off a concussion, she won only a silver medal in the downhill.

Vonn told reporters in German she was particularly happy to reach the 50th win — “records mean everything to me” — in Garmisch, where she spends Christmas holidays.

“I am just so happy, every win is special, but 50 is a huge mark,” Vonn said. “I feel like today will be a day when I look back at my career and see what I have achieved. I have a lot more to do. I have a lot more years of skiing in me, but Alberto Tomba has 50 ski wins and he is one of the best skiers of all time. I don’t see myself in that way, but to know that I have accomplished so much to this point is amazing.”

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New IMG client, Victor Cruz

“The greatest feeling in professional sports is to win the Super Bowl.”

- NY Giants Head Coach, Tom Coughlin

2X Super Bowl MVP, Eli Manning

In an exciting Super Bowl re-match, New York Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin led the team to a 21-17 win  over the New England Patriots.

Quarterback Eli Manning was voted the winner of the Pete Rozelle Trophy, awarded to the Super Bowl XLVI Most Valuable Player.  Manning collected 18.5 votes of the possible 20 cast in the MVP voting process.  This is the second MVP honor for Manning, who was also awarded the title following the Giants’ Super Bowl win in 2008.

IMG Speakers is also pleased to welcome Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz as a new client.   Cruz, who was undrafted and later signed by the New York Giants, finished his first preseason leading the NFL with 297 receiving yards, and tied for the preseason lead with 4 touchdown catches and ranked second overall with 15 catches. A fan favorite, Cruz is well-known for his salsa celebrations following a touchdown.

Contact IMG Speakers at speakers@imgworld.com or 212 774 6735 for more information on Coach Tom Coughlin, Victor Cruz, or Eli Manning.

Redgrave, a five-time gold medalist (1984 to 2000), was recognized for his huge contribution to rowing.

 Since retiring from professional sports, Redgrave launched The Steve Redgrave Fund in 2001, raising over £5m for charity.

 He also played a key role in helping England win the bid to host the Olympics in 2012 and is now committed to ensuring the event provides a lasting legacy for sport, as well as promoting the best of present day Britain around the world in the run-up to London 2012.

A favorite on the European lecture circuit, Redgrave was given a Knighthood in the 2001 New Year’s Honors List.

Please contact IMG Speakers for information on booking Sir Steve Redgrave for your next event.

Jack and Suzy Welch

New York, January 23, 2012 – Reuters today announced that business experts Jack and Suzy Welch will join the editorial team as weekly columnists. The couple’s column will focus on management lessons derived from the week’s news events and deliver insight into business challenges across corporate and this election year’s political landscapes.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jack and Suzy to our high-profile team of columnists, and bring the perspective of these great business minds to our growing audience,” said Stephen J. Adler, Reuters editor-in-chief.

The Welch column will be featured across Reuters digital platforms, including Reuters.com and its mobile companion NewsPro, and distributed to Reuters media clients globally, including videos with the Welches to accompany selected columns. The column will also run, with Reuters branding, in Fortune magazine and on Fortune.com.

Since Adler’s appointment to editor-in-chief in February 2011 the news organization has brought on board esteemed columnists, including Jack Shafer, David Rohde, David Cay Johnston, Mohamed El-Erian, Lawrence Summers, Geraldine Fabrikant and Bethany McLean.

Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric for 21 years. During his tenure, GE’s market capitalization increased by $400 billion, making it the world’s most valuable corporation. In 1999, Fortune named him the “manager of the century.” After retiring from GE in 2001, Mr. Welch published two international best-sellers, the autobiography ‘Jack: Straight from the Gut,’ and, with Suzy Welch, the widely acclaimed business manual, ‘Winning.’ He is a popular television commentator and speaker around the world, and has served, since 2002, as a senior advisor to the private equity firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Today, Mr. Welch devotes much of his time to the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University, an accredited online MBA and certificate program designed for working professionals who seek to transform their lives and careers.

Suzy Welch, former editor of the Harvard Business Review, is a bestselling author, commentator and business journalist. She is the author of the bestseller ‘10-10-10: 10 Minutes, 10 Months, 10 Years, A Life Transforming Idea’ and coauthor, with her husband Jack Welch, of the New York Times bestseller ‘Winning’ and of ‘WINNING: The Answers.’

For more information on booking Jack and Suzy Welch for your next event, please contact IMG Speakers at 212 774 6735 or speakers@imgworld.com.

IMG Speakers would also like to extend our congratulations to client Cam Newton, who will be playing in this year’s NFL Pro Bowl!

Please contact us at 212 774 6735 or speakers@imgworld.com for more information.

Tom Coughlin

Q: Do you have an update on Ahmad Bradshaw?

A: We expect him to practice tomorrow like usual. He has struggled a little bit with the back but hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Q: What did you think about today’s practice?

A: It was good energy, real good energy. Still some stuff to clean up but good energy. Guys were flying around and did a nice job all the way through.

Q: What about Webster’s hamstring and Grant’s quad?

A:  Just so we don’t get any issues. We did the same thing last week with Webster. Grant, you saw him in the game, so we thought we’d be careful of that and not have any problems going forward. Just limited.

Eli Manning

Q: Is it good to have the ‘us against the world’ mentality?

A: I have not sensed that for three or four weeks, but certainly we could take a straw poll here and it is ‘us against the world,’ no doubt about that. We haven’t really pushed any buttons in regards to that but the truth and the reality are what they are.

Q: What is your message about belief?

A: You have to believe. All things are possible for those who believe. We have been working that one real hard for a while. That is a major theme of ours and ‘keep the dream alive’ is another one.

Q: What is a ‘road warrior’ mentality?

A: Mental toughness is what I think it is. It is a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in, that is persistent and will battle through the good and the bad, the physical side of the game but also the mental side of the game, the resiliency and just the ability to see things through until the end and believing that you are going to win.

Q: Was Ware able to do something?

A: Yes, he did.

Q: Do you feel like he is on the path to play?

A: He is on the path.

Q: If one of your defenders were to get beat and gives the guy a tap on the butt, how would you feel about that?

A: I don’t see any of that happening. I know if I got beat, that would be the least likely thing that I would do. I am not sure if you have a specific reference or not. If you are talking about the game and the highly competitiveness of the game and the seriousness of the game and where the game is, guys are going to play hard. We have great respect for the Packers. They are going to play hard and guys are going to play hard on both sides of the ball. They are going to do the very, very best they can but during the course of the game, I think it is going to be competitive. 

Q: Do you remember Woodson doing that fist bump to Hakeem and what did you think about that?

A: I remember that. I thought it was an acknowledgement of respect, that’s all. From a very, very good football player and a veteran player that leads the league in interceptions.

Q: Is that balance that you have on offense something you strive for?

A: It is what we strive for from day one and on but it has been very good that last few weeks. It has been very good because of the nature of the way our defense has played and improved and on special teams. We didn’t start out very good with the run but we stuck with it.

Q: What do you say about them missing some key players the first time around?

A: They were and they were missing a couple linebackers, too. It is a part of game and we were missing a couple, too. As I read, everyone is back now and they are healthy.

Q: Can your aggressiveness change during the game depending on the calls?

A: No, what we talk about is when the ball is snapped, play through the whistle and play great whistle effort. The physicality of the game, meaning turn the run back, run the ball and be aggressive but not anywhere near outside of the game. That is not what we talk about.

Q: Can you talk about the job Weatherford has done?

A: He was outstanding last week. When you have a weapon such as Weems or whoever, we have faced a number of good returners in the last weeks both punt return and kickoff return. The fact that there was no punt return yardage although we would like to have the touchback go out of bounds at the three, the three balls that he did kick out of bounds were well placed. They were good directional punts and helped us tremendously because of the nature of the returner.

Q: Does your physicality change from week to week?

A: No, you just try to win the physical battle.

Please contact IMG Speakers for information on booking Tom Coughlin or Eli Manning for your next event.

Michael Moore

Michael Moore is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected chefs. From humble beginnings in the UK, Michael Moore started out in some of London’s best restaurants. Now 26 years into a career spanning two continents, Michael has owned and managed numerous top restaurants in both London and Sydney including The Ritz Hotel London, Kables, Craigend, The Sydney Opera House, The Bluebird London by Sir Terrence Conran, Prunieres, Bonne Femme and Wildfire.

Moore is the chef / owner of Sydney’s most iconic restaurant, the Summit and has recently brought a taste of New York to Sydney with the opening of Reuben & Moore (sandwich bar & grill) in the new Westfield Sydney.

Blood Sugar, by Michael Moore

Moore is honored to be a celebrity ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia and supports numerous charities in and around Sydney.

Michael can discuss a variety of topics including leadership, management, hospitality and customer service.   He is also a stroke survivor and can talk about diabetes management through diet, which is the topic of Blood Sugar, one of his popular cookbooks that breaks the mould in diabetic cooking.

Michael Moore, celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter & author, is available exclusively through IMG Speakers bureau for speaking engagements. Michael Moore is also available for celebrity appearances, corporate hospitality events, cooking demonstrations, and much more.

Please contact IMG Speakers at 212-774-6735 or speakers@imgworld.com for more information on booking Michael Moore.