Following a successful première last year, Henkel was the title sponsor of the “2007 Henkel Beach Volleyball Grand Slam” for the second time in the French capital. Aside from prize money totaling 45,000 dollars, the winning teams also gained important qualifying points for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the men’s final, winners of the Athens Olympic event in 2004, Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego of Brazil, beat their compatriots Franco Neto and Pedro Cunha 19:21, 21:17, 15:12. In the women’s final, US Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh overcame Tian Jia and Wang Fei from China 21:15 and 21:12. “It is amazing to see the kind of speed and strength that the players are able to generate – despite the depth of the sand,” said Kai von Bargen, Head of Corporate Sponsoring of Henkel. “Now, for the Grand Slam due to be held in Klagenfurt, Austria, on Lake Wörthersee at the beginning of August this year, I would like to wish all the athletes taking part every success and more points for their Olympic qualification.”

Again this year, Klagenfurt is expecting to play host to more than 100,000 spectators attending this “Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball”. The event is to support the Henkel Smile campaign. Since 2006, Henkel Central Eastern Europe has been supporting the Contrast association which cares for over 200 blind and seriously sight-impaired children living in Vienna, Lower Austria and the northern Burgenland. A collection on behalf of this charitable project is to be held during the tournament, and Henkel will also be donating 10 euros to Contrast for every match ball played.

Henkel sponsors top sporting events and sports teams throughout the world. These include the World Ice Hockey Championship in Russia, the finals of which took place in April this year, and also the World Handball Championship in Germany at the beginning of 2007. And in the elite class of motor sport, Formula One, Henkel is an official sponsor of and supplier to Team McLaren Mercedes