International Olympic Day 2022: Theme, history, significance – All about the annual day celebrating Olympic Movement

International Olympic Day or World Olympic Day is observed every year on June 23 and it’s a celebration of sport, health, and being together.

The day provides a moment for everyone to gather and get active with purpose. For the past two decades, the Olympic Day has often been associated with Olympic Day runs all over the world. The runs are organized across the globe to promote the practice of mass sport.

To celebrate the occasion, NOCs put on a wide range of sports, cultural and educational activities aimed at everybody, regardless of age, gender, social background or sporting ability. A few countries have even incorporated the event into the school curriculum.

History behind International Olympic Day 2022

The idea of celebrating an Olympic Day was adopted at the 42nd IOC Session in St Moritz. It was in 1948 that doctor Gruss, a Czech IOC member, presented the idea of a world Olympic day at the 41st Session of the International Olympic Committee in Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose was to celebrate the idea of the Olympic Movement.

The chosen date celebrates the founding of the IOC at the Sorbonne, Paris, on 23 June 1894, where Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games. The National Olympic Committees were put in charge of organising this event and June 23 marks a special moment in the history of the Olympic Movement.

Theme of International Olympic Day 2022

The theme this year is ‘Together, For a Peaceful World’, which will be accompanied by the social media hashtags #MoveForPeace and #OlympicDay. The World Olympic Day 2022 emphasises the power that sport has to build a better world and brings people together in peace.

Apart from Olympic Day runs on the day, the IOC also invites NOCs to create their own Olympic Day activities. NOCs on all continents continue to find new and exciting ways for athletes and Olympians to interact and try out new sports.

While the first edition in 1987 had just 45 participating NOCs, the number has grown to more than a hundred. If you take part in any activity that shows how to help spread peace through sport, tag @olympics on social media with the hashtags #MoveForPeace and #OlympicDay.