KATHMANDU, June 24:Nepal Olympic Committee marked the Olympic Day in the capital on Thursday with the message that 'sport is for everyone, regardless of age or athletic ability'.

As the week-long celebrations that saw conspicuous presence of scouts and students came to an end, ministers, chiefs of various sports bodies, Olympians and dignitaries descended from the VIP box and joined the dance party along with school children at the Army Physical Fitness and Sports Center, Lagankhel in a display of unity.

Different programs were held throughout the country for a week by the Sports for All Commission under the aegis of Nepal Olympic Committee to celebrate the values of Olympic Movement, which champions the idea of 'Excellence, Friendship and Respect.'

Chairman of the organizing committee Bishnu Gopal Shrestha informed that the Olympic Day was being celebrated in 207 nations across the world to mark the establishment of Modern Olympics on June 23, 1894.

 “Olympics started in ancient Greece in 776 BC to end the quarrels between warring nations of that time. It was revived again in 1894 with the establishment of the International Olympic Committee on June 23 that year. The Modern Olympics began two years later from 1896,” said Shrestha, chairman of the Commission.

 During the closing ceremony, Shrestha read out the message of IOC President Thomas Bach, which read: “Thank you for joining this celebration of Olympic Day. You are a part of a growing global event. Olympic Day is for everyone, regardless of age or athletic ability. The important thing is to get the couch potato off the couch.”

According to NOC President Jeevan Ram Shrestha, the Olympic Day was successful in disseminating the core values of Olympic Movement and to establish peace and friendship through sports.

Nepal, which got the membership of International Olympic Committee in 1963, has been organizing various programs every year to mark the Olympic Day, Shrestha informed.

“Altogether 56 programs were held in the week-long celebrations. National sports associations, various schools along with the army and police were actively involved in this program. This is the first time we celebrated this event on such a grand scale and we look forward to make it even bigger in the next edition,” he said.

Programs under the Olympic Day included national and open championships as well as friendship matches and demonstrations. About 500 students, representatives from different schools, Olympians, United Nations officials, film artists, national players, army, police, APF, sports journalists, NOC officials and locals were present during the inauguration of the rally at Basantapur a week ago as well as during the closing ceremony at Lagankhel.

 
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