LAKE PLACID, N.Y., July 8, 2002 — ESPN has invited 2O children from the WOW — Wonderful Outdoor World — program in Washington D.C. to the ESPN Great Outdoor Games in Lake Placid, New York from July 11-14, 2002.

These inner-city WOW "ambassadors," ages 8-13 years old, will travel to Lake Placid to experience the Great Outdoor Games. Representing WOW, these youths will demonstrate their environmental knowledge through an "Urban Leave No Trace" game, man an on-site booth at Mirror Lake, and experience Lake Placid's Olympics attraction "Gold Medal Adventure."

Several sponsors have helped make their trip possible: Amtrak will donate round-trip transportation from DC to Albany, Olympic Regional Development Authority will donate on-site transportation and the "Gold Medal Adventure," and Adirondack Loj will supply lean-tos and camping space.

"D.C. WOW and its youth campers are thrilled at the opportunity to participate in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games, as representatives of the Wonderful Outdoor World Program," Charles Bush, Executive Director, D.C. Wonderful Outdoor World. "As we look forward to this once-in-a-lifetime experience for our young people, we anticipate that the exposure will broaden the horizons of their aspirations and dreams."

"This is a great initiative that demonstrates ESPN's commitment to making a positive impact in the lives of youth via sports and community involvement," Juliet Gilliam, Director, ESPN Cause Marketing.

Wonderful Outdoor World

The WOW-Wonderful Outdoor World program, now in its eighth year, continues to introduce inner-city youths to the joys of outdoor recreation, camping, and environmental education through an overnight camping experience in a local park.

WOW began in Los Angeles in 1994 and has since expanded to Arizona, Colorado, Washington DC, Utah, and New Mexico.

National WOW sponsors include The Coleman Company, Leave No Trace, Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks, The Recreation Roundtable, USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, USDI National Park Service, The Walt Disney Company, and Wells Cargo.

Great Outdoor Games

The ESPN Great Outdoor Games is an annual multi-sport outdoor extravaganza that features world-class athletes from more than 29 states and four countries who compete for medals and prize money in four sport categories: Sporting Dogs, Fishing, Target Sports and Timber Events. The event runs from July 11 - 14 in Lake Placid, New York.

The ESPN Great Outdoor Games are produced in association with ESPN by two long-time producers of outdoors shows for ESPN - JM Associates of Little Rock, Ark. and Barrett Productions of Missoula, Mont. - along with Lingner Group Productions of Indianapolis, producer of a wide variety of live and taped events for ESPN and other networks.