Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup back home to compete

After speaking at the 2nd North American Outgames human rights conference (and taking a medal in the 5K road race) new Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup is heading home to New Zealand to compete in two events in Dunedin: the national speed skating championships on 25-26 August, and straight after that the New Zealand Winter Games, where he'll be skating on 27-28 August.

---

About the NZWG:

The 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games is unique in the world of winter sports. The concept was an initiative of Sir Eion Edgar.

First held in 2009, the Winter Games NZ is an elite, international winter sports competition, owned and run by the Winter Games New Zealand Trust with the support of the New Zealand Government, the New Zealand Olympic Committee and SPARC.

The Games were established to provide elite winter sports athletes with the opportunity to push the boundaries without the pressure to produce the perfect performance as in the Winter Olympics or the Winter X Games. It provides the ultimate testing ground where the athletes can experiment and explore their limits against world class competition.

Another unique factor for the 2009 Games was that all of Otago was involved - Queenstown, Wanaka, Naseby and Dunedin.

The Games Board set four clear objectives for these first Winter Games in 2009:
1. To attract 800 competitors and 400 supporters/team management to the Games
2. To successfully host a Winter Games NZ at an international level as per the requirements of the relevant international sports bodies.
3. To obtain an international television audience reach of 300 million primarily in New Zealand's target tourism markets.
4. To financially at least break even.

Not only were all four objectives met but the quality of the competitors competing exceeded all expectations and, significantly, the international media profile was excellent.