Sunday marks the beginning of Olympic Week in Brazil, promoted by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) as part of the festivities for Olympic Day celebrated around the world on June 23, the day in 1894 when Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Paris.
Events in Brazil will comprise sports, cultural activities, educational and environmental events taking place in several cities, including Rio de Janeiro, Candidate City to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
To promote Rio’s bid for the 2016 Games an Olympic Day Run will take place Sunday. The three kilometre event will bring together about 500 teenagers ages 13 to 15 from the City Government Olympic Villages, a project that uses sport as a social inclusion tool, said a press release.
The run takes place at the Maria Lenk Water Park, built for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games and also part of Rio’s 2016 bid.
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President of Brazil’s Olympic Committee and Rio’s 2016 bid said, “the Olympic Day Run is one of the major symbols of the Olympic Day celebrations all over the world. It is an excellent opportunity to promote the values of Olympism and emphasize the benefits sports brings to society, like physical and mental well-being for those who do it, the exercise of citizenship and the possibility of social inclusion of thousands of young people in our country”.
In a press release Rio de Janeiro says it will have other activities targeting different audiences and age groups. On Sunday, parallel to the run, the Maria Lenk Water Park will stage a swimming competition for athletes from the Swimming Federation, and synchronized swimming and diving shows. There will also be basketball, volleyball, table tennis, field hockey, and judo clinics.
According to the press release the event will give “special attention to Physical Education and related areas university teachers and students” who will be offered a series of talks, the major themes being the Olympic Movement and Sports Administration.
