Lausanne (Switzerland), June 23 : World Olympic Day, observed on June 23, provides a moment for everyone to promote participation in sports across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.
This year, as the world continues seeking togetherness, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Movement are highlighting sport’s power to build a better world, by bringing people together in peace with a theme ‘Together, For a Peaceful World’.
Olympic Day is also an opportunity to celebrate the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect through four pillars that guide the organisation of Olympic Day activities – move; learn; discover; and together, for a better world.
The idea of celebrating an Olympic Day was adopted at the 42nd IOC Session in St Moritz, in January 1948. The chosen date celebrates the founding of the IOC at the Sorbonne, Paris, on June 23 in 1894, where Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games.
The first Olympic Day was celebrated that on June 23, 1948 and 30 years later, in the 1978 edition of the Olympic Charter, the IOC recommended that all NOCs organise an Olympic Day to promote the Olympic Movement.
Over the last 20 years, Olympic Day has often been associated with Olympic Day runs all over the world. First launched in 1987, the runs were about encouraging all NOCs to celebrate Olympic Day and promote the practice of mass sport.
