Gaziantep, Turkey-The Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC) and German
Olympic Sport Confederation (DOSB) have held an Olympic Day event for children and Syrian
refugees in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border.
The event, which took place in Erikçe Park on Thursday 3 May, saw 500 children, including
250 Syrian refugees, take part in a wide range of sporting activities including sport climbing,
basketball, archery, cycling, darts and bocce.
The activities were coordinated with the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality and conducted
under the supervision of TOC and DOSB staff, which included 10 instructors, two interpreters
and 30 volunteers. Some instructors, who are from Turkey and Syria, were trained in a joint
project with the DOSB
Amongst the instructors were Turkish national athletes who took part in activities and signed
autographs for children.
These athletes included the captain of Turkey’s women’s basketball
team at London 2012 and Rio 2016 Nevriye Yılmaz, Turkey’s first ever modern pentathlon
athlete to compete at an Olympic Games İlke Özyüksel, U23 world champion and bronze
medallist in seniors’ world championships Fatih Cengiz, national karateka Eren Akkurt and
national taekwondo athlete Sibel Güngör.
TOC Vice President and Board Member Nihat Usta, TOC Board Member Bilal Porsun and
TOC Secretary General Neşe Gündoğan were also in attendance.
At the end of the programme participating children were awarded Olympic Day t-shirts and
certificates signed by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and TOC
President Professor Dr. Uğur Erdener.
Speaking from the event in Erikçe Park Seyit Bilal Porsun said:
"We are proud to host this wonderful event in such a beautiful city like Gaziantep, which has a
young population who are eager to practice sports.
"The TOC is constantly implementing projects throughout Turkey aimed at promoting sports
and the Olympic values amongst young people. We want sports to play a central role in the
development of our country’s youth and Olympic Day is an excellent tool for achieving our
objective."
Olympic Day is a global celebration of the Olympic Movement which seeks to promote
fitness, well-being, culture and education through the three Olympic Day pillars – move, learn
and discover
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