Move, learn and discover through Olympic Day Run

Chinthana WASALA

It is said that sports are capable of building relationships and filling in the gaps of misunderstanding. No matter a team or a player wins or loses at the end of a game, the final result will not affect their relationships. No matter of what kind of arguments, clashes took place during the game, at the end the only thing that matters is the good spirit remains.

Getting good souls together in peace, is not an easy thing to do. But with sports, it may be the simplest thing ever.

What is the best thing to use to make is possible? It is non other than the Olympics. The Olympic Games are for the best in the world. So the most effective occasion to do this with regard to the main Olympic theme, is the Olympic Day Run.

Commemorating the birth of the modern Olympics which started in Paris on June 23, 1894, the Olympic Day was introduced in 1948. As it went on, the concept was passed all over the world, resulting the Olympic Day has been associated with Olympic Day Runs all over the world for the past 20 years.

Olympic Day is nowadays developing into much more than just a sports event. Based on the three pillars "move", "learn" and "discover", National Olympic Committees are spreading the message of sports, culture and education.

Vavunia, an area once was the ground for a long lasting war, was in the spotlight when this year's Olympic Day Run took place there, with the participation of 1,000 schoolchildren from 50 schools in the District.

This year's run and the other activities were organized by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka in association with the Vavuniya Government Agent, Sri Lanka Army, Northern Provincial Council and the Ministry of Education in the Northern Province following successful completion of last year's activities which were held in Jaffna.

The Olympic Day activities, including the four kilometer Olympic Day Run, an Art competition, tree planting ceremony, PT Display culminating with a cultural show followed by the distribution of certificates to participants, awarded by the International Olympic Committee.

Sri Lanka Telecom once again came forward to sponsor the event with Nestle as the sponsor for beverages while the event saw the contribution of Governor of the Northern Province Major Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri. Government Agent of Vavuniya Mrs. P S M Charles, Additional GA Siringana Sampanther, Divisional Sports Officer Raja Ranasinghe, SL Army representative and the Zonal Director of Education Colonel Kahagalle, and Vavuniya College of Education's T M Devendran in the work undertaken in organizing this event.

The event saw a large number of participants and spectators, representing Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim community in the area, reflecting the ethnic harmony.

Since Sri Lanka's first Olympic Day Run which took place in 1990, the NOC has staged the event in various provinces as a fun run to popularize Olympics, to make people aware of the Olympics and to take the Olympics' Message of Solidarity and Unity.