The next 11th May promises to become
historic for Orienteering. The President of the International Olympic
Committee, Thomas Bach, underlines the importance of the initiative
and doesn't hesitate to say: “Your ambitious program will put
orienteering on the map.”
In three weeks, we'll celebrate the
first World Orienteering Day and the number of adherents to the
initiative increases every hour. There are more than 800
preregistered locations yet and the number of countries where the day
will be signed is close to sixty. The aim is simple: Overcoming the
current record from WOC 2003 in Switzerland - when 207.979 young
people at 1381 locations ran an orienteering course - and set the
target to 250.000 young people.
In a message of congratulations and
support to the initiative, Thomas Bach, President of the
International Olympic Committee, is keen to see in the World
Orienteering Day an opportunity to inculcate in young people around
the world, the values of sport and healthy lifestyles. Bach goes
further: “The activities that the International Orienteering
Federation is organising on this occasion are well aligned with a key
objective of Olympic Agenda 2020: engaging youth through sport. The
strong focus on involving schools and teachers around World
Orienteering Day is an innovative way to combine sport and
education.”
Wishing “much success in your quest
to establish a new record in participant numbers on World
Orienteering Day”, Thomas Bach couldn't be more optimistic: “It
is thanks to such efforts and using the power of sport to bring
people together that orienteering will have a bright future.”
Thomas Bach's last words assure the importance of working together
looking forward the same goal: “To promote the practice of sport
and make it available to everyone, everywhere.”
The letter can be read at
http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IOC-letter-07-04-2016.pdf.
Joaquim Margarido
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