The Singapore National Olympic Council "struck a three-year sponsorship deal with global health club group Fitness First" that will see S$1.3M ($913,000) worth of int'l memberships being given to selected Singapore national athletes who are based either locally or overseas, according to Adelene Wong of CHANNEL NEWS ASIA. The deal, which makes Fitness First the official fitness partner of the SNOC, "will begin in January." Around 200 athletes from 28 national sports associations will receive access to the network of 16 Fitness First gyms in Singapore, as well as Fitness First clubs in 15 countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, Germany and the U.K. (CHANNEL NEWS ASIA, 11/17). MARKETING INTERACTIVE's Rezwana Manjur wrote the partnership "also aims to strengthen the support for Team Singapore athletes on their path to Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2018." Fitness First "will focus its resources significantly on developing athletes that currently have established a foothold at the National level, with hopes to achieve a placing at the regional, continental and international major games" (MARKETING INTERACTIVE, 11/16).
