Both young and old took part in events under the slogan "Move, Learn and Discover", including sports, and cultural and educational workshops and activities, in more than 150 countries across the globe.

Last year, more than four million people took part in the annual Olympic Day celebrations, which were inaugurated in Paris in 1948 – back then, only nine National Olympic Committees NOCs celebrated the event.

In Tokyo, one of the cities bidding to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games along with Madrid and Istanbul, thousands of young people attended an Olympic concert at the Tokyo International Forum - the planned venue for weightlifting if the Japanese capital's campaign is successful.

There was also a four-day long candle night held in the city's Midtown Garden, where 3,000 candles were lit to represent the Tokyoites support for the hosting of the 2020 Games.


Fellow bidder, Madrid staged a sports night, which saw 50,000 people take part in a range of activities across some of the Spanish city's best known locations, such as the Parque del Retiro, where more than 30,000 athletes lined up for the start of a fun run.

"With this event, we want to make the whole planet aware that the city of Madrid wants the Olympic Games with the support of all its citizens," said Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and Madrid 2020 President Alejandro Blanco.

Meanwhile, Buenos Aires staged a city centre festival in which participants had the opportunity to take part in over 40 different sports, while learning about the benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle.

The festival was held in the Palermo Woods area of the Argentinean capital, which is bidding to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, along with Medellín and Glasgow, and is also the location of the 125th IOC Session, due to be held in September this year.

"For many years, our Olympic Day festivities have attracted thousands of local Olympic enthusiasts and helped to engage new generations of sports fans," Buenos Aires Under-Secretary of Sport and chief executive of Buenos Aires 2018 Francisco Irarrazaval said.

"Olympic Day in Buenos Aires shows just how passionate we are about the Olympic spirit - it burns bright among the citizens of our city and country."


In Britain, a family fun day was run by the University of Bath to coincide with its Olympic Day celebrations – the longest running in Britain.

Participants took part in a variety of sports including mobile climbing wall, zip wire and bobsleigh.

The University also hosted its annual Olympic Day Run, first staged in 1987, which saw competitors take part in a five kilometre run with a 3km version for under 16s.

In the United States, more than 150,000 people are expected to take part in 715 events, across 558 cities that run until June 30.

On Friday (June 21), 12,000 participants turned out for the Alabama Sports Festival in Montgomery, which featured an appearance from Montréal 1976 Olympic diving champion Jennifer Chandler.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2013: Nenad Lalovic - Why Olympic Day matters even more than ever this year to wrestling