McDonald's® Crowns World's Best 'Big Mac® Sandwich Builders' in Athens

Speed, accuracy, teamwork, excellence -- just some of the important Olympic attributes demonstrated today at McDonald's Big Mac Building competition, featuring crew champions from its restaurants around the world. Teams of McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew competed for top honors in four categories: speed, accuracy, teamwork and "i'm lovin' it™" spirit. Awards were given as follows:

   -- Speed: Team 1 - Maria Mprizi, Greece; Cameron Evans, Australia; Rabson
      Mwale, UK; Marianne Schoales, Canada; Robert Old, New Zealand

   -- Accuracy: Team 2 - Lars Erik Mod, Sweden; Katja Kuchenmeister,
      Germany; Polly Conway, USA; Alexey Kokalevsky, Russia; Stelios
      Protopapas, Cyprus

   -- "i'm lovin' it" Spirit: Team 3 - Patricia Hogan, Ireland; Kenny Sun
      Jain Keung, Hong Kong; Stian Seglem Haaland, Norway; Manfred
      Rothdeutch, Austria; Sonia Duarte, Portugal

   -- Teamwork: Team 4 - Rasmus Brix, Denmark; Alexander Schouten,
      Netherlands; Anna Acri, Italy; Olexandra Viderska, Ukraine; Ding Zhen,
      China; Kostas Alexiou, Greece

Olympic gold medallists Venus Williams and Janet Evans helped cheer the teams to victory. The crew champions wore special Olympic Champion Crew Spirit Hats, designed by Venus to recognize the accomplishments of these top McDonald's employees.

"It was both fun and inspiring to share this great Olympic moment with McDonald's crew, who are outstanding role models for people everywhere," said Venus Williams. "It made me feel especially proud to see them at work wearing the hat I designed to recognize their excellence and accomplishments."

"This Olympic Champion Crew competition has become a signature program for us at the Olympic Games as we honor our crew, who exemplify the Olympic ideals in our restaurants around the world every day," said Jim Skinner, Vice Chairman, McDonald's Corporation.

"Much like the Olympic athletes themselves, these outstanding performers are the best at what they do, and are here proudly representing their countries on behalf of McDonald's. We congratulate them for their passion, dedication and commitment that embody the spirit of the McDonald's Brand worldwide."

The 400 Olympic Champion Crew from 35 countries were chosen from McDonald's 1.5 million employees in more than 100 countries to travel to Athens and serve the world's best athletes, coaches and fans. They will practice their award-winning "i'm lovin' it" service skills before a worldwide audience at McDonald's Olympic restaurants in the Olympic Village, Main Press Center and Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA).

"I am honored to represent my country in Athens as a member of the McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew team," said Manny Mendoza of the United States. "Working alongside my peers from around the world and being part of this Olympic experience is a memory that will last a lifetime."

In addition to staffing McDonald's Olympic restaurants, the crew will attend Olympic events and participate in special recreational activities during their stay in Athens. A list of the McDonald's Olympic Champion Crew can be found on the McDonald's media web site at http://www.media.mcdonalds.com/ .

McDonald's became an official sponsor of the Olympic Games in 1976 and has a long-standing commitment to the Olympic Movement. At the 1968 Olympic Winter Games, McDonald's airlifted hamburgers to U.S. athletes competing in Grenoble, France who reported they were homesick for McDonald's food. Since then, McDonald's has served its menu of choice and variety to millions of athletes, their families and fans.

The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games mark McDonald's fourth Olympic Games as a TOP Sponsor and fifth as the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games. In 2004, McDonald's announced the continuation of its Sponsorship for the next eight consecutive Games through 2012.

McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants, serving nearly 47 million people each day in over 100 countries. More than 70 percent of McDonald's restaurants around the world are owned and operated by independent, local businessmen and women.

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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

SOURCE: McDonald's

CONTACT: Adam Scholder of Burson-Marsteller, Local mobile,
+30-697-636-4946, Mobile, +1-847-204-0949, adam_scholder@chi.bm.com , or Lisa
Howard of McDonald's, Office, +1-630-623-5044, or Mobile, +1-630-408-1873,
lisa.howard@mcd.com

Web site: http://www.mcdonalds.com/
http://www.media.mcdonalds.com/