Greenpeace spokesman.

Cold test

Lenovo proved itself a reliable and powerful Chinese computer-maker at the Torino Games in February 2006. It supplied 6,000 personal computers, 800 laptops, 600 desktop printers and 350 servers, according to a report issued by Bloomberg News in February 2006. About 1,800 people used its six Internet lounges in the athlete village daily.

Before those games, many raised questions about the dependability of Lenovo's products, prompting it to run many additional tests. Some observers, recalling the computer and data transport problems that plagued the Olympic Games in 2002 and 2004, worried that they might repeat themselves in Torino. And for the tens of thousands of reporters who would attend the Torino Games, even a small computer problem could cost them lost information or a missed report.

But Lenovo's pre-Olympic tests demonstrated that its computers could withstand low winter temperatures without problems. The company ran its information center for 17 consecutive days without a single glitch during the Torino Games.

"It was the first time that we put the commentators' information system outdoors and it worked well. That was a real miracle!" wrote the IOC and the organizing committee for the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games in a brief to Lenovo after the opening ceremony. The Lenovo system used low-noise touch-screen computers measuring just 30 decibels, which is quieter than the noise made by a flying mosquito.

From Legend to TOP

The TOP program began for the Olympiad that concluded with the Seoul Games in 1988 and now is limited to 12 companies that can be sponsors during the four-year cycle of one Olympiad. Selection standards are strict: those chosen must be top guns in their industries, have world-class products and services, and present a squeaky-clean image.

Although the tough qualifying criteria keep many firms out of the program, Lenovo still had high hopes for getting in. On the night of July 13, 2001, when China succeeded in its bid to host the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, Lenovo's then President and Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing sent an e-mail to all his employees, rallying them with a plan for Lenovo to participate in the Games.

Yang then formed a team to examine the possibility of working hand-in-hand with the 2008 Olympic Games. The team was dubbed "007," referring to the seven years between 2001-08, according to Xie.

During these years, Lenovo chewed over plans to expand beyond Asia. In particular, the company wanted to boost its brand recognition around the world after it bought the PC unit of International Business Machines Corp. for $1.75 billion in 2005. What better way to do this than to become an Olympic sponsor?

Despite the lack of interest the IOC first showed in Lenovo, the latter's hosting of an international technology innovation conference in Beijing in December 2002 finally got it noticed. Some IOC officials who attended were quite surprised by the company's products and technology.

When it was selected as a TOP sponsor in 2004, Lenovo became the first Chinese company to join a select list of corporate heavy-hitters with internationally known brands.

"As China's largest PC producer, the company not only is good at providing trustful services and products, but also conforms to the values that are shared by the Olympics," said Gerhard Heiberg, Chairman of the IOC's marketing commission during an interview afterwards. "We think it's a best choice for both sides as the company can help us with its technology and ability, as well we can make the company more internationalized."

The IOC contacted other top sponsors at the time to get their feedback on Lenovo. "They all accepted Lenovo into the top sponsor lineup, and not a complaint was ever heard," Heiberg said.

The current list of TOP companies includes Atos Origin S.A., Coca-Cola Co., Eastman Kodak Co., General Electric Co., Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's Corp., the Omega brand of the Swatch Group Ltd., Panasonic, a unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Manulife Financial Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Visa International Service Association.

The existing sponsors have paid a total of $866 million in cash and services for contracts covering the four-year Olympiad for the Games in Torino and Beijing, according to the Bloomberg News report.