Every 23rd of June, the Olympic movement celebrates around the world the Olympic Day, and the triathlon family is pleased to join the celebrations by letting our athletes take over our social media channels.
For a day, Olympic champion and silver medallist, Nicola Spirig, will share on ITU’s Facebook, her training schedules only five weeks after giving birth to her second child, while Olympian Andrea Hewitt, explains on our Instagram her whereabouts while training in New Zealand.
American Olympican, Ben Kanute, has taken over ITU’s Snapchat account as well to get in touch with the younger generations, while quite a few Olympians, including Mario Mola (ESP), Katie Zaferes (USA), Emma Jackson (AUS), Marten Van Riel (BEL) and Carolina Routier (ESP), among others, will try to engage with the “Tweetersphere” with some insights into the daily life of being an Olympian.
More than six million people around the world of all ages are joining today the International Olympic Committee hashtag of Being Active. Whether it’s moving, running, jumping, swimming, stretching or getting their sweat on to promote a healthy and active lifestyle and celebrate the birth of the modern Olympic Games and its values.
“We all should embrace these values, because these are the true values every sport promotes, and the values ITU is strongly committed to as well”, explained ITU President and IOC member, Marisol Casado. “We as a Federation, and our athletes, are a great sample of the need to get moving and exercising every day. Not only for the elite athletes, but also for the younger kids who are just joining our sport. Triathlon is truly a sport for all, no matter your age or gender”.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), globally, one in four adults are not active enough and more than 80 per cent of the world’s adolescent population is insufficiently physically active. In a bid to reverse that trend, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called upon the Movement at large – from National Olympic Committees, International and National Sports Federations to Organising Committees of Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, National Olympians Associations and Young Ambassadors – to help get the “couch potatoes off the couch”. And our triathletes are showing the world that they are the first “off the couch”.
Mixed Relays
This year, ITU is celebrating the Olympic Day also with a very special adding to our Olympic events: the Mixed Relays. Starting on Tokyo 2020, our triathletes will have a second chance of winning an Olympic medal, competing together in teams of two men and two women.
With the announcement of the inclusion of the Mixed Relays in the Olympic Programme made by the IOC, our sport ads a thrilling and engaging event to the Olympic calendar, so fans around the world can enjoy more triathlon at the Olympic Games.