(ATR) More than 160 countries are celebrating Olympic Day on June 23, with millions of people worldwide taking part in the commemoration of the birth of the Olympic Games in 1894.
The host countries of the next three Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles are doing their part for the big day.
The Japan Olympic Committee has been conducting Olympic Day Runs across the country. The local runs are held in May, June and October, depending on the weather conditions in each area. The JOC has been holding the event, which consists mainly of a fun run over a distance of five kilometers, since 1987. Since 1998, Tokyo has hosted the main event on June 23 which has been renamed the Olympic Festival. It has been expanded to include sports clinics conducted by Olympians and a road relay.
The JOC estimates that 30,000 people participate in the various day runs, including 3,000 who took part in a winter version based on cross-country skiing.
In addition, the Olympic Day Festa has been held to support the recovery of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. With the slogan "Bringing Smiles Through Sports", the event conducts sports activities that bring together many Olympians and athletes with the victims in the three prefectures most affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Besides Japanese athletes, international athletes such as the Norwegian four-time Olympic gold medalist for alpine skiing, Kjetil Andre Aamodt, also took part in the event.
Paris is going all out in its first Olympic Day since the city won the right to host the 2024 Summer Games.
The program includes sports activities open to all at the Rives de Seine Park, sports demonstrations by athletes in front of the Paris city hall and a 2024m night race that ends at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The latter is one of 24 such races being held throughout the country over 24 hours.
Parisians are expected on both banks of the River Seine as French athletes introduce the joys of various Olympic and Paralympic sports. Those so inclined can practice canoeing and sailing on the river.
The LA84 Foundation’s celebration in Los Angeles highlights the United States Olympic Committee’s plans for Olympic Day.
More than 11,000 students from 127 elementary and middle schools in the 2028 Summer Games host city are observing Olympic Day on Friday in what the LA84 Foundation calls "Move, Learn and Discover".
"We are proud to provide young Angelenos the chance to learn, take part in, and be inspired by Olympic Day and the values it supports," said Renata Simril, president and CEO of the LA84 Foundation, in a statement.
In total, the USOC is hosting more than 400 events in nearly 200 communities throughout the country, with nearly 45,000 people engaged in celebration of the Olympic and Paralympic movements.
"We are so proud of the hundreds of inspiring Team USA athletes, National Governing Bodies and Multi-Sport Organizations that help spread the power of sport and Olympic values to the next generation of Team USA athletes and fans," USOC Acting CEO Susanne Lyons said in a statement.
Written by Gerard Farek
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