Simon Whitfield and the 2000 Olympic Triathlon

In 2000, Canadian Simon Whitfield won the first ever gold medal in the Olympic men's triathlon in Sydney, Australia. The win quickly propelled him to the status of Canadian celebrity athlete and afforded him commercial opportunities such as corporate sponsorships and a series of product endorsements. Drawing on a textual analysis and keyword search of Canadian media coverage, and interviews with journalists who covered Whitfield and marketers who worked with him, this study illustrates the processes by which Whitfield became a media and marketing commodity. The results show how Whitfield's positive media image contributed to his marketability along a promotional chain and demonstrate intertextual linkages between media production and marketing as they relate to celebrity athletes in Canada.