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This morning – the dawn of 7 April 2022 in Suva, Fiji, marks the end of the 24-hour Terre de Jeux Relay organised by the French diplomatic network to celebrate sport and signpost PARIS 2024 which will welcome athletes of the world to the City of Lights or La Ville Lumièr in two years.
Also known as the City of Love, Paris, which is host to the 2024 Summer Olympics, is set to be a celebration of sport and culture.
Led by ONOC President Robin Mitchell, the Oceania National Olympic Committees joined Ambassador Francois-Xavier Leger, French ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu and the Fiji Association of Sport and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) in a 10-km Run-a-thon in Fiji’s capital, Suva to begin the global relay.
ONOC President Robin Mitchell spoke about the contribution of sport to development and peace, on International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, underscoring his message with the point that sport is what it means to be human. As part of the key message, President Mitchell paid tribute to founder of the modern Olympics, the French educator and reformist, Pierre de Coubertin, whose legacy resonates until today.
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Mitchell was joined by Ambassador Leger who relayed the message of sport being a cultural pursuit that the Terre de Jeux Relay highlights in celebration of the United Nations (UN) designated 6 April as International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) since 2014.
Ambassador Leger also said, 6 April, was the date of the first modern-day Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, a celebration which is now the largest celebration of sport globally.
FASANOC Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, Lorraine Mar, shared the message of peace as a critical component of sport in communities, citing its application as a peace-building tool in the Pacific Islands.
Mar also paid tribute to all athletes who participated in the Suva, Fiji, beginning leg of the Terre de Jeux Relay.
From Suva, Fiji, the Terre de Jeux Relay moved to Australia and circled the globe to end in Tahiti, which is earmarked to be the PARIS 2024 venue for the aquatic sport, surfing.
The run-a-thon featured the Embassy of France in Fiji, FASANOC, Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), Fiji Disabled People’s Federation, Fiji’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French business community in Fiji, New Caledonia’s representative to Fiji, Ms Rose Wete, athletes of Fiji, and ONOC staff.
This year, the theme of the #WhiteCard campaign is “Sport is an answer, raise your #WhiteCard”, and ONOC and FASANOC joined the global sporting community to send a message for peace in these troubled times.
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For more information:
On the Embassy of France in Fiji
On the Oceania NationalOlympic Committees
On the PARIS 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in France
On the Pacific Islands Forum
On the Fiji Association of Sport and National Olympic Committee, FASANOC
On the WHITECARD Campaign 2022
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About ONOC
Established in 1981, the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) is one of five Continental Associations. It looks after the interests of 17 member nations in the Oceania Region, including Australia and New Zealand as well as seven associate members.
ONOC has an office in Guam where Secretary General Mr. Ricardo Blas is based and the Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, where the Office of the President Dr Robin Mitchell is located.
All services and-programmes are based on the ONOC Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, and its 4 Core Functions of (1) Building and Strengthening NOCs Capacity (2) Cultivating Strategic Partnerships (3) Contributing towards Sporting Excellence and (4) Leading by Example.
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For more information, please contact;
Shivneel Narayan
Chief Communications Officer (Acting)
shivneel@oceanianoc.org
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