ASICS has signed a Tokyo 2020 Gold Partner contract, making it Japan's highest-ranking sponsor in the sports goods category for the Olympic and Paralympic Games through 2020. The Gold Partner status is the highest domestic sponsorship, following other worldwide Olympic partners such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Panasonic, and Toyota. While several companies have previously sponsored the Japanese national team with official sportswear, shoes, and bags, this latest agreement gives ASICS exclusive access to these products. The contract runs until December 31, 2020. For approximately six years, from next year's Rio de Janeiro Olympics through the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, ASICS will provide sportswear and equipment to the Japanese Olympic, Paralympic, and Youth Olympic teams. In addition to providing uniforms for the Japanese national team, ASICS will also provide uniforms for the nearly 80,000 volunteers at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Attending the press conference and signing ceremony in Tokyo, ASICS President and CEO Motoi Oyama stated, "We have served as the official shoe sponsor of the Barcelona Olympics and the Turin Olympics, and we hope to use this agreement to develop innovative sportswear and reform our production. Furthermore, the fact that ASICS is not one of the Big Two sportswear brands, Adidas or Nike, will help us appeal to the world. While ASICS is highly regarded in Europe as a highly fashionable sports lifestyle brand, we hope to use this opportunity to change its image in Japan as well." Also attending the press conference were Tokyo Organizing Committee Chairman Yoshiro Mori, table tennis player Kasumi Ishikawa, track and field athlete Yoshihide Kiryu, and Paralympic wheelchair athlete Haruka Kitaura. Ishikawa commented, "I want the Tokyo Olympics to be the culmination of my career, but first I want to win a gold medal in Rio," while Kiryu commented, "I want to do my best to compete in the finals."