Basketball in limelight as Yao appears in IOC announcement

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CHN – Basketball in limelight as Yao appears in IOC announcement
BEIJING (Olympics) - Basketball in China and around the world has been honoured with the appearance of Yao Ming in `Heroes’ – the International Olympic Committee’s latest public service announcement.

The IOC chose Yao and other leading athletes to star in a dramatic video extolling the Olympic ideals of determination and perseverance.

Yao, a 7ft 6in giant who has been China’s most recognisable sportsman due in large part to his successful NBA career with the Houston Rockets, appears at the start of the message and again near the end.

Another of the Olympians is Russia’s world-record pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva who, as a wise man says while she jumps over a ravine, is “the woman who jumps the highest” who can prove that “no obstacle is too great to overcome”.

Yao, China’s national team center, is battling his way back from foot surgery to play at the Beijing Games.

Some of the other current sporting greats shown as superheroes looking to achieve the seemingly impossible in the public service announcement are Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, France’s excellent swimmer Laure Manaudou and Italian gymnast Vanessa Ferrari.

“Heroes” is part of the multi-dimensional “The Best of Us” global promotional campaign.

View the video here.

http://www.olympic.org/uk/bestofus/index_uk.asp