More than 600 students from different schools across Thimphu and 200 coaches and volunteers participated in the 9th edition of Olympic day celebration yesterday. The Olympic day is celebrated with an objective of getting as many people as possible experiencing the Olympic values of move, learn and discover.
An annual event which started since 2011 has recorded over 10,000 students across the country to participate so far. The Olympic day is aimed at fulfilling the Bhutan Olympic Committee’s (BOC) vision of taking sports to all the youth in the country. Therefore, the Committee take this festival to different Dzongkhags every year on a rotation basis. This year, the event saw 10 national sports federations with its 10 interesting sports.
“We try to introduce sports, at a young age. If you introduce at a later stage, it will be difficult for them to adjust to that sports. So that’s why we try to take it to the youth so that they can learn at an early stage and later develop into what they are interested in,” Kesang Phuntsho Tshering, the Event Director of BOC, said.
Participants shared that such an event provide them with the opportunity to take part in different sports.
“I played with my friends and it was the first time for me playing many sports in a day,”Lekshed Chhophel, a participant, said.
“We got the opportunity to play many new sports, which we never played before,” Jamphel Dema Phuntshok, another participant said.
The committee says they require the cooperation and assistance of all the stakeholders including the government and the private sector to create firm foundations for a dynamic and vibrant sports sector in the country.
