The International Olympic Day is regularly celebrated in Israel and it presents an excellent opportunity for the public to delve into Olympic themes and experience the Olympic spirit. In this Olympic year, the Olympic Committee of Israel marked the International Olympic Day 2021 by two notable events.
On June 9, an Olympic Day Webinar was held within the framework of the 6th International Congress of Exercise and Sport Sciences at the Academic College at Wingate in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Israel and the European Olympic Academies (EOA).
The Webinar covered 22 different lectures in the field of Olympic History, Olympic Education, Tokyo Olympic Games, among others, which were delived by an impressive list of guests including IOC Member Richard Pound, IOA Dean Prof. Konstantinos Georgiadis, EOA President Prof. Manfred Laemmer and seven-time Olympic medalist in gymnastics Ms. Simona Amanar. The last session of the Webinar, which was opened by Ms. Yael Arad, the first Israeli medalist in Barcelona 1992 and Chair of the Sports Commission at NOC of Israel, dealt with the legacy of the legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt. In the session the film Pat: A Legacy of Love, directed by Dr. Sara Hillyer, who also took a significant part in this session, was screened. Overall, the event was attended by participants from all five continents, including sport managers, coaches, athletes, journalists, academics, students and teachers of physical education.
On June 23, exactly one month before the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo 2020, the NOC of Israel conducted an interactive Olympic Quiz on social media channels with the participation of Israeli athletes who will represent the country at the Tokyo Olympics. The Olympic Quiz was hosted by Ms. Yarden Har Lev and included short videos featuring interviews with the Olympic athletes, followed by a series of questions regarding the content of the interviews asked by the athletes themselves. Among the Quiz topics were included the new sports in the Olympic program and the mixed-gender events in Tokyo 2020. More than 70,000 people reached the Olympic Day’s content at the NOC’s social media. The Olympic Day was opened with a message by the Israeli Chef de Mission Gili Lustig and closed with a special greeting from the President of Israel, Mr. Reuven Ruvi Rivlin.
To honor this Olympic Day, the departure ceremony of the Olympic and Paralympic delegations to Tokyo 2020 was held at the President’s House in Jerusalem.
