President Bach celebrates Olympic Day with archery

Pictures used courtesy IOC/Ian Jones. 

Olympic Day was started in 1948 to mark the founding of the modern Olympic Games 64 years earlier, on 23 June 1894, at the Sorbonne, Paris.

In the modern day, it is a worldwide celebration of Olympism and the ideals of the Olympic Movement, participated in by National Olympic Committees, national and international sports federations and other sports organisations. 

The International Olympic Committee celebrated 100 years of housing its organisation in the Olympic Capital of Lausanne, Switzerland in 2015, making for particularly special Olympic Day celebrations in the city, including the annual fun run and additional exhibitions and open days at Olympic HQ, Maison du Sport International – World Archery’s home – and other important venues. 

IOC President Thomas Bach showed visitors around the IOC offices in Vidy, and turned his hand to some of the activities on offer. One of which was a try-archery experience run by the local club in Lausanne! 

Archery was also featured in the gardens of Maison Mon Repos, where Baron Pierre De Coubertin inaugurated the first Olympic Museum, with the installation of a collection of two-plus-metre-high model arrows.

“Sport is what brings us together,” said President Bach in a speech during the weekend’s celebrations.