Oakley athletes awarded 16 medals in first three days of winter x games

    /24-7PressRelease.com/ - February 27, 2005 - Oakley, Inc. (NYSE: OO) today reported that its athletes have earned sixteen medals in just the first three days of the 2005 Winter X Games, tallying six gold, five silver and five bronze. Professional athletes who rely on the company's technical apparel, eyewear and goggle technologies are scoring in the highest ranks of the ongoing competition.
"Oakley has become one of the most sought after lifestyle brands on the planet, but our foundation has always been the passion of alternative sports that define their own lifestyle," said Oakley President Colin Baden. "We are proud of the achievements of our athletes in the X Games. Each year, they redefine the limits of possibility. There is no better definition of our brand."
In snowboard slopestyle competition, athletes Shaun White and Jana Meyen earned gold. Both took advantage of Oakley's A Frame goggle, a vented dual-lens design with the clarity of XYZ Optics and the comfort of triple-layer polar fleece face foam. (Jana actually bought the goggle from a shop in Tahoe when she needed a new pair and wanted the best.) Awarded the bronze, Travis Rice launched off the huge kickers while wearing Oakley's Axel jacket and Troop pant. Silvia Mittermueller took silver in the women's competi¬tion with the Oakley Boss jacket and Minute pant, as well as the A Frame goggle in neon orange.
Poise and control brought gold to Grete Eliassen and Simon Dumont on the halfpipe. Both came to the mountain with OAKLEY THUMP , the world's first digital audio eyewear, to let pre-selected music calm nerves and stoke minds prior to competition. Simon wore Oakley's Medic ski apparel and A Frame snow goggle. Grete competed in Oakley's Boss jacket and Acquit pant, and chose the Oakley Wisdom goggle for its F-3 Series anti-fog, vented dual-lens design and optimized downward vision. It is the same goggle worn by women's bronze medalist Kristi Leskinen and men's silver medalist Tanner Hall, both of whom utilized Oakley tech apparel in competition.
Tanner's silver victory was repeated in men's slopestyle skiing, adding more heavy metal to his previous three gold finishes in the event. He competed in Oakley's Cohort 3.5 Cord jacket and Cartel 2.3 Cord pant, a combination that matches mobility with comfort. Bronze medalist Jon Olsson chose different eye protection than the 2nd-place finisher -- Jon swears by the wide-angle visibility of Oakley's Crowbar goggle, along with its optimized fit and the all-day comfort of its moisture wicking triple-layer face foam.
Offering up a crippler 540 on the first hit of each run, Oakley's Gretchen Bleiler earned her second SuperPipe gold. Gretchen took advantage of Oakley's A Frame goggle, Havoc jacket and Acquit pant. In the Oakley Wisdom goggle and Fast Operator one-piece, Dorian Vidal was awarded silver. In other women's competition, the silver went to Oakley's Erin Simmons in Boarder Cross. Erin wears the A Frame goggle in matte white.
Earning his seventh consecutive medal in SnoCross, Blair Morgan took gold with the Oakley SnoCross O Frame . The goggle's Lexan lens offers an optically pure shield, sealed with the comfort of triple-layer face foam and cleared by venting and F-2 anti-fog treatment. Blair is the second athlete to win four gold medals in the same X Games event.
Moto X Big Air gave the bronze medal to Oakley's Dustin Miller, who went straight from an air box grab to a no-handed lander. Just like 4th-place finisher Drake McElroy and 6th-place Ronnie Renner, Dustin uses Oakley's MX O Frame goggle for its durable yet flexible construction and the comfortably sealed fit of its triple-layer face foam.
Wearing Oakley's Cohort 3.5 Cord jacket, Cartel 2.3 Cord pant and Crowbar goggle, Pep Fujas took 1st at the AWOL in Aspen. The event features a 30-foot wall for skiers and snow¬boarders, plus a live band. Second place was earned by Oakley's Mickael Deschenaux in the company's Medic snow apparel and Wisdom snow goggle.
Originating in 1995 as the "Extreme Games," the X Games offer mainstream exposure to alternative sports. Each year, the competition showcases Oakley's latest and most innovative tech¬nologies in performance products. Oakley teams range from Snowboard and Ski to Moto X and Snowcross. By utilizing the company's products in competition, Oakley athletes validate the science behind the company's 600 worldwide patents and three decades of performance technology.
About Oakley, Inc.
Oakley: a world brand, driven to ignite the imagination through the fusion of art and science. Building on its legacy of innovative, market-leading, premium sunglasses, the company also offers an expanding line of premium performance footwear, apparel, accessories, watches and prescription eyewear to consumers in more than 100 countries. Trailing-12-month revenues through September 30, 2004 totaled $548.9 million and generated net income of $34.8 million. Oakley, Inc. press releases, SEC filings and the company's Annual Report are available at no charge through the company's Web site at http://www.oakley.com.
Safe Harbor Disclaimer
This press release contains certain statements of a forward-looking nature. Such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to growth and strategies, future operating and finan¬cial results, financial expectations and current business indicators are based upon current information and expectations and are subject to change based on factors beyond the control of the company. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by the use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "might," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. The accuracy of such statements may be impacted by a number of business risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or antici¬pated, including: acceptance and performance of the company's 2005 women's range of apparel; risks related to the successful launch and sale of Oakley Thump; risks related to the successful launch and sale of RazrWire; the company's ability to manage rapid growth; risks related to the limited visibility of future sunglass orders associated with the company's "at once" production and fulfillment business model; the ability to identify qualified manufactur¬ing partners; the ability to coordinate product development and production processes with those partners; the ability of those manufacturing partners and the company's internal production operations to increase production volumes on raw materials and finished goods in a timely fashion in response to increasing demand and enable the company to achieve timely delivery of finished goods to its retail customers; the ability to provide adequate fixturing to existing and future retail customers to meet anticipated needs and schedules; the dependence on eyewear sales to Sunglass Hut, which is owned by a major competitor and, accordingly, could materially alter or termi¬nate its relationship with the company; the company's ability to expand distribution channels and its own retail operations in a timely manner; unanticipated changes in general market conditions or other factors, which may result in cancellations of advance orders or a reduction in the rate of reorders placed by retailers; continued weak¬ness of economic conditions could continue to reduce or further reduce demand for products sold by the company and could adversely affect profitability, especially of the company's retail operations; further terrorist acts, or the threat thereof, could continue to adversely affect consumer confidence and spending, could interrupt production and distribu¬tion of product and raw materials and could, as a result, adversely affect the company's operations and financial performance; the ability of the company to integrate acquisi¬tions and licensing arrangements without adversely affecting operations; the ability to continue to develop and produce innovative new products and introduce them in a timely manner; the acceptance in the mar¬ket¬place of the com¬pany's new products and changes in consumer preferences; reductions in sales of products, either as the result of economic or other con¬ditions or reduced consumer acceptance of a product, could result in a buildup of inventory; the ability to source raw materials and finished products at favorable prices to the company; the potential impact of periodic power crises on the company's opera¬tions including temporary blackouts at the company's facilities; foreign currency exchange rate fluctua¬tions; earthquakes or other natural disasters concentrated in Southern California where substantially all of the companies operations are based; the company's ability to identify and execute successfully cost control initiatives; and other risks outlined in the company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and other filings made periodically by the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obli¬gation to update this forward-looking information. Nonethe¬less, the Company reserves the right to make such updates from time to time by press release, periodic report or other method of public disclo¬sure without the need for specific reference to this press release. No such update shall be deemed to indicate that other statements not addressed by such update remain correct or create an obligation to provide any other updates.

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