The Olympic Committee of Israel celebrated the International Olympic Day by organizing an Olympic Festival at Meir Medical Center with the participation of Olympians and Paralympians along with dozens of children and teenagers.
In the spirit of the initiative established by the International Olympic Committee to mark Olympic Day in 2023 – “Let’s Move”, the Olympic Committee of Israel chose to dedicate this special day to children and youth suffering from overweight and obesity at the Meir Medical Center, where the Olympic athletes volunteer throughout the year. The event was a unique activity in which about 100 children were exposed to several Olympic and Paralympic sports like: judo, gymnastics, archery, taekwondo, sport climbing, basketball, bocce, and goal ball.
As typical for any Olympic event, the festival started with an opening ceremony that included a torch relay and the carrying of the Olympic flag by the children accompanied by the Olympic athletes. Everyone unanimously agreed that this event was all in the spirit of the Olympic values ā excellence, friendship and respect.
NOC President Yael Arad, AC Chair Yakov Toumarkin as well as Olympic medalists Linoy Ashram and Peter Paltchik, and other Olympic and Paralympic athletes participated in the event.
Gili Lustig, NOC CEO and Yarden Har Lev, NOC Head of Education & Olympic Solidarity, said: “Celebrating Olympic Day in a joint activity with the Meir Medical Center, when at the heart of the action are Olympic athletes together with children and teenagers is Olympism at its best. Led by the athletes, the most significant ambassadors of the NOC of Israel in spreading Olympic values 365 days a year, dozens of children participated in a multi-disciplinary sports festival that inspired everyone who took part to always do their best, enjoy the effort and dream big. Thank you to Meir Medical Center and the athletes for valuable and meaningful cooperation throughout the year and especially on this important dayā.
Prof. Dan Nemet, Director of the Sports Center for Children and Youth at Meir Medical Center and NOC Medical Director, said: “This event summarizes a year’s activity in which Israeli Olympic athletes accompanied the children of the Sports Center and instilled in them the Olympic values through joint training. Meir Medical Center has accompanied the athletes of the Olympic squad for over twenty years and now to Paris 2024, but in this special project this time the athletes and the NOC of Ö¹Israel were the ones who accompanied our children at the sports center and for that we thank you. This is an example of an inspiring collaboration in which both parties benefitā.
