Lenovo will create and operate seven Internet “i.lounges” equipped with ThinkPad notebooks and Lenovo desktops at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games for athletes, coaches and trainers to stay in touch with their families and supporters.

The custom-designed Lenovo i.lounges will be located in Olympic Villages in Torino, Sestriere and Bardonecchia, providing the highest ratio of personal computers to athletes in Olympic history. Telecom Italia will provide broadband Internet connection for more than 165 ThinkPad and ThinkCentre workstations included in the i.lounges. The journalists can use an additional Lenovo i.lounge located in the Main Press Centre, in central Torino.

“Internet lounges are important to athletes for two reasons,” said Emily Cook, freestyle aerialist from the United States. “First, they provide an essential link for sharing my experience at the Olympic Winter Games with my family and friends at home in Utah and Boston, as well with colleagues throughout the world. Second, Internet lounges provide a great way for athletes to meet and to come together socially. All athletes want and need to share their experiences with friends and supporters, and Lenovo i.lounges will make it easy for them to do that.”

In addition to i.lounges in the Olympic Villages, Lenovo designed an i.lounge for the Bank of America Hometown Hopefuls™ program, which provides families and friends of qualified U.S. Olympic athletes the opportunity to attend and experience the Games together. This lounge, located in the program’s Family Center, includes a network of ThinkPad X41 ultraportable notebooks for families and friends to stay connected while in Torino.

The Lenovo i.lounges will open on January, 31 and continue until the Olympic Winter Games conclude on February, 26. The presence of Lenovo in Torino will be stressed by Lenovo and VISA partnership. Visa will use Lenovo’s computer equipment and services to support its operations in Torino.