File photo: Agencies

Brussels (People’s Daily) - Athletes from around the world held live workouts at 11 am local time across 20 time zones on @olympics Instagram live on Tuesday, celebrating the annual Olympic Day 2020. This is the biggest online Olympic workout, lasting 24 hours and attracting Olympians, athletes and fans all over the world.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown and the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, close to 5,000 Olympians have engaged with 243 million people online from more than 50 countries in the IOC’s #StayStrong, #StayActive, #StayHealthy campaign by sharing their daily workouts and tips on how to stay healthy. Olympic Day 2020 will take this campaign to the next level.

“Celebrating Olympic Day may feel very different from all previous years, but at the same time, on this Olympic Day, our message of the power of sports to bring hope and optimism to everyone resonates even stronger,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Let us join together to use this power of sports to prepare the postponed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a moment of solidarity and resilience of humankind,”he added.

The entire Olympic Movement has been mobilized to join the online activities on 23 June. The IOC and its partners, including Olympic Games Organizing Committees for Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028 and Milano-Cortina 2026, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations (IFs), Worldwide Olympic Partners and rights-holding broadcasters, will be among those encouraging fans to join the virtual workouts.

Olympic Day 2020 was always set to stand out in the event’s 72-year history. Commemorating the birth of the modern Olympic Games on  June 23, 1894, Olympic Day was established in 1948 and is celebrated to promote participation in sports regardless of age, gender or athletic ability, as well as being an opportunity to celebrate the Olympic values around the world.

“We are all in the same situation right now,” added the IOC President. “With the global coronavirus crisis, all of us are living with much uncertainty about the future. In these difficult times, we need the values of sports, our shared Olympic values of excellence, friendship, respect and solidarity, more than ever. The Olympic flame can be the light at the end of the dark tunnel that we all find ourselves in now. On Olympic Day, we are sending this Olympic message to everybody. Please stay strong, stay active, stay healthy. In this Olympic spirit, I wish you all a wonderful Olympic Day 2020,” the President said.