Visa International, a worldwide partner and the official payment system of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games, has announced the sixth Visa Olympics of the Imagination, international youth art competition. One South African child will join 30 children from other participating countries in attending the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games as guests of Visa.

To enter the competition children must create a drawing or painting that represents How the Olympic Games can help create a better future. National competitions will be run in South Africa and Mauritius, as well as in Hungary, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.

The South African panel of judges will comprise highly acclaimed artists from a variety of disciplines. They will nominate an overall winner who will attend the summer Olympics with a legal guardian from August 12 to 17. The competition will run from March 1 to April 30 and the winners will be announced in May this year.

Whilst at the XXVIII Olympiad, children will attend a number of Olympic events and activities. The winners will also participate in local activities and have the opportunity to go sightseeing and exploring in Athens. Some 175 young artists from 35 countries have already attended the Olympic Games as guests of Visa.

“This unique programme provides children of diverse backgrounds with the exclusive opportunity to attend the Games while they learn about Olympic values, view different cultures and participate in onsite Olympic activities," said Chris Winter, General Manager, sub-Saharan Africa, Visa International. "The Visa Olympics of the Imagination program gives children, who might not otherwise have a chance to be involved with the Olympics, a way to participate through art and learning, and experience the thrills of the Games.

Visa once again sponsors this unique programme which was launched at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Over the past five Olympic Games, Visa Olympics of the Imagination (VOI) has seen nearly a million school children, ages 9 through 13, submit an original piece of art based on selected themes.

Artwork of past winners can be found at www.visa.com/visakids Young VOI winners will have their winning art displayed at a special exhibition in Athens during the Games and featured on screen savers, postcards and other materials. Individual countries will also hold displays of the artwork locally.

Originally, the Olympic Games were as much a matter of art as athleticism, with poets, musicians, painters and sculptors competing for medals alongside athletes. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, was keen to revive the link and in 1906 awarded gold, silver and bronze medals for five artistic competitions. Because of the two world wars, these contests were held only sporadically until 1949, when they were dropped altogether and replaced by the Olympic cultural programs.

The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games will be held from August 13 to 29. Up to 10,500 athletes and 5,500 officials from 200 countries are expected to take part in 37 Olympic sports and sports disciplines. They will be joined by 10,000 media, who will provide coverage for an estimated worldwide audience of 3.5 billion people.