25 Jun 2019

Botswana was amongst countries that celebrated Olympic Day on Sunday.

The celebration, which was held in Gaborone, started with a 10-kilometre walk and exhibition of different sporting codes under the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Peter Mongwaketse said the celebration was taking place in Botswana and 207 other countries across the globe.

He said the Olympic Day celebration was founded on June 23, 1894, a date that marked the revival and modernisation of the Olympic Games as they were currently known.

Mongwaketse further said to commemorate the founding of the IOC, the concept of Olympic Day was introduced to develop a programme of sporting and educational action.

He said the programmes was also introduced with the objective of getting as many people as possible around the globe to experience the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.

“Today Olympic Day is taking a step forward to be more than just the run it was in the past under the theme: Move, learn and discover,” he said.

Furthermore, he encouraged the nation to take care of itself through exercise given that the onset of conditions such as non-communicable diseases could be delayed or stopped.

He said through exercise people could become more productive in what they did and live happy lives.

Acting BNOC chief executive officer, Wedu Motswetla said she was happy that the Olympic Day celebration was a success and had attained its objective.

She said the Olympic Day was established by Pierre de Coubertin, and that his mission was to promote competitive sport as well as reviving the Olympic Games which were stopped by World War 2.

She said the day was intended to celebrate the Olympic movement and the modern Olympic Games.

Furthermore, Motswetla said the theme: Move, learn and discover, simply meant it was important for people to move their bodies by exercising, continue learning new games such as Morabaraba, Mhele and Koi, and also discover new codes such as hockey and appreciate that women were equally good in male dominated sports. ENDS