#India gears up for total Olympic education to empower Sports in the country
Ashis Sinha I Ranchi: India, through its concerned elite national nodal organizations (Indian Olympic Association) has taken a serious initiative to strengthen the Olympic Education in India on the auspicious occasion of International Olympic Day.
The apex global body of International Olympic Committee (IOC) through the president of IOC’s International Pierre de Coubertin Committee (CIPC) as well as the member of IOC’s Olympic Education Commission Dr Stephan Wassong has also shown his keen interest to inculcate Olympic Education through its various means and methods, like the establishment of IOC’s Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) in India.
Addressing to an international webinar organised on the International Olympic Day the Secretary-General of CIPC Elvira Ramini said, “Olympic education” endeavours to provide a universal education or development of the whole human individual, in contrast to the increasingly specialized education encountered in many specialized disciplines. “Consequently, it can only be based on the fundamental values of the human personality,” she added.
The session which was excellently monitored by IPCA Board member Dr Umakant Singh along with a young team of experts was attended by Professor (Dr) Stephen Wassong, President International Pierre De Coubertin Committee (CIPC) with Elvira Ramini Secretary-General CIPC, Olympic Medalist in fencing Olya Abasolo Ovtchinnikova of Canada, Olympian Archer from India Reena Kumari & the Executive Board of IPCA comprising of President Dilip Turkey, Secretary-General Sarojini Lakra, Jaideep Sarkar, Shivendra Dubey, Gyan Singh, Chanchal Bhattacharya, Dr Umakant Singh and others.
Many prominent athletes, sports experts, eminent personalities from every walks of life, enthusiasts have participated in this international webinar organised on the day. Besides others, members of Indian Coubertin team Sukrit Katriar, Akriti Smriti Khalkho and Hillad from Israel Olympic Education were also present in the webinar.
Amidst Coronavirus pandemic, International Olympic Day celebrated with great enthusiasm across the Coal belt of Jharkhand. People from all the fields of life participate in the virtual workout with Olympians.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Olympic athletes to share their daily workouts online with the campaign “Stay Healthy”, “Stay Strong” and “Stay Active” might prove itself to be a milestone for Indian sports.
The celebration to commemorate the foundation day of the International Olympic Committee held entirely online. Sarojini Lakra while addressing the audience said, “we all conducted live athlete-led home workouts on this eve. The International Olympic Day has become much bigger than just a run or work-out or even a single sporting event, she said”.
Olympic Day is nowadays developing into much more than a run or just a sports event. Based on the three pillars “move”, “learn” and “discover”, National Olympic Committees are deploying sports, cultural and educational activities which address everybody – regardless of age, gender, social background or sporting ability.
Explaining the importance of sports in life the IPCA Board member Jaideep said, moderate to intense workouts support the immune system by stimulating the movement and exchange of numerous immune cell subtypes between tissues during enhanced circulation.
The present and post challenging phase of COVID-19 impact needs to be visioned as a divine blessing in disguise to boost the border aspects of sports and physical activities reflecting its aura in all the areas of human race favouring health, wellness, human values, as well as producing champions in all field, he said.
“Recently the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also appraised the same philosophy. Acute exercise (moderate to vigorous for less than 60 minutes) supports the immune system, improving defense activity and metabolic health, reveals a review recently (2019) published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science. The research data evidently supports the relationship between the exercise and lower risk of illness,” added Jaideep.
Dilip Tirkey President Indian Pierre De Coubertin Association (IPCA), India said, some countries have incorporated the event into the school curriculum and, in recent years, many NOCs have added concerts and exhibitions to the celebration. “Recent NOC activities have included meetings for children and young people with top athletes and the development of new web sites directing people to programmes in their neighbourhood. This makes it easier for everybody to become part of Olympic Day,” he added.
“In recent years, the development in Social Media has helped the IOC to boost participation beyond NOC activities,” added Tirkey.
International Olympic Day is celebrated across the world on June 23 every year to mark the importance of games and sports in our lives and to promote participation in games and sports across the world, irrespective of age, gender, caste or religion.
