Towards a better Sri Lanka through Sports and Olympism, says NOC chief

The President of the National Olympic Committee Suresh Subramaniam said that they were gathered at this venue to celebrate the symbolic anniversary of the birth of Modern-day Olympics. This was revealed at the Olympic Day run celebrations the NOC premises last Thursday.

The NOC chief further said “Today the word together, is the latest addition to the Olympic motto. By adding the word together defines ‘Reach higher, faster, together’. The philosophy of Olympics gives good lessons to all. ‘Move, Learn and Discover together for peaceful world this is the message on Olympic Day run. Especially this time new logo of the Olympic day run launched by the NOC President and there were several activities organised to mark this year’s Olympic day run which was the 74th edition.

We are striving to achieve togetherness and move towards a better Sri Lanka through Sports and Olympism. IOC President Thomas Bach explained on his message , his commitment by changing the original motto ‘solidarity fuels our mission to make this world a better place, through sport. We can only go faster, aim higher, and become stronger by standing together said NOC President.

The France Ambassador of Sri Lanka Eric Lavertu was the chief guest at the Olympic day run while Sports Ministry Secretary Anuradha Wijekoon and Director General of Sports Amal Edirisooriya were special guests. Sri Lankan Olympic Silver medalist Susanthika Jayasinghe and three times Badminton Olympian Niluka Karunaratne were among the athletes who took part at this event which was well organized by the NOC.

The chief guest French Ambassador of Sri Lanka Eric Lavertu said in our ever-changing world, we are all adjusting to the new normal and here at the IOC it is dubbed as “Together, for a better world”. The new normal has deep meaning and significance mainly owing to the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and dicey political situation that has engulfed the whole globe.The Ambassador quite philosophically spelt the significance of June 23 and the Olympic Day Run and added “We are gathered today in the NOC of Sri Lanka, more than 10,000 kilometers from France and 85 years after the death of Pierre de Coubertin – father of modern Olympics. Coubertin would have never imagined that one day his will and heritage would be celebrated in Sri Lanka?

His ideas have indeed crossed the planet. The sport values he wanted to promote are universal and timeless: sharing, friendship, joy in effort, always doing your best… Of course, it would be easy to refer to Duncan White and his silver medal in 400 metres hurdles at the Olympics Games of London in 1948, or Susanthika Jayasinghe and the silver medal in 200 metres at the Olympic Games of Sydney in 2000. They are, of course, great athletes.But for me, an athlete represents those values perfectly:

Ranatunge Karunananda and his race in the 10,000 metres event and his determination to complete the race gave him the nickname: “The most spirited loser in Olympics history”.

I am aware that the Commonwealth Games are coming soon and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Sri Lankan athletes good luck and good competition. But I would like to conclude this speech by introducing the Olympic Games of Paris 2024.

The 2024 Olympic Games are supposed to be fantastic and unique. For the first time of Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony will take place outside the stadium. It will be a parade, on the Seine with 10,500 athletes, 120 heads of State or governments, 160 boats… It will become the largest Olympic ceremony in the world.

I deeply hope that these games will be a moment of sharing, joy and peace.and the situation in Sri Lanka will improve and Sri Lankans will be able to fully follow the Olympic values and encourage their athletes with passion; even if cricket is still not an Olympic sport.”

Another significant feature of the programme was the ODR quiz programme under one of the Olympic Day pillars of Move, learn and Discover.

There were 275 participants altogether for quiz. The display of Roller Skating, Laser shooting session, Sumba session were added to give more value of this Olympic day run celebrations while token of plants distributions also gave additional value to this event.