Olympic Day 2021

In his Olympic Day message today, ONOC President Dr Robin Mitchell also underscored the importance of sport and physical activity to human life and good health. 

‘Never have these two basic things meant so much as in this current time of the coronavirus pandemic of COVID-19. Never have we been tested so hard as people, families, communities, workplaces and countries,’ he said.

‘Never have we been tested for our Olympic Values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship. 

We are now in the second year of the Pandemic and through our engagement in Sport and in the Olympic Movement, we have demonstrated that we can work in Hope and Solidarity. 

We can deliver Together.’

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Celebrating Australian support to Oceania athletes

Dr Mitchell added that, ‘we have athletes and teams from Oceania in various stages of preparation and travel to Tokyo. A year ago, the resilience of our athletes, our NOCs and indeed, of us as a whole family of ONOC, was tested with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the postponement of the Games. Now, we’re barely weeks away from meeting each other - but in a different way.’

He thanked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of the Australian Government for its timely support through the PacificAus Sports program which is seeing over 170 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from eleven Pacific nations to prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The PacificAus Sports program is contributing toward an estimated 150 Olympic athletes from the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are looking to secure a spot on their respective Olympic Games’ teams. An additional twenty Paralympic athletes will represent Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, PNG, Kiribati, Samoa and Tonga at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

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40 years of Oceania promoting Olympic values

Dr Mitchell referred to ONOC’s 40th anniversary and the importance of sport, he said, ‘In 40 years, we have learned to stand for something much bigger than Sport and that is probably the larger and deeper lesson for us. Sport is our Life. But Sport is now at the cusp of being elevated into recognition as key to Human Health and Survival.’

He thanked all athletes, National Olympic Committees (NOCs), national and regional sport federations, sport leaders and administrators for their commitment to sport and for their joint contributions to healthy Pacific communities. 

The ONOC member NOCs are celebrating Olympic Day in various ways according to the COVID-19 status and restrictions in their respective countries. 

Today (23 June), Australia (AOC) is starting its Olympics Unleashed TV with the airing of Episode 1; the Cook Islands (CISNOC) is holding its Olympic Day Fun Run; and Fiji (FASANOC)  is launching a video and its TikTok account.

Several countries held events prior to the date and these include the Guam Youth Sports Festival: Celebrating Olympic Day & Return to Sport held by Guam (GNOC) from 18 - 20 June; Kiribati (KNOC) held School Visits from 14 - 17 June; and the Cook Islands (CISNOC) which held the  Ability Olympics (15 June), Mini Olympics (21 June), and the Educational School Programme (22 June). 

Upcoming celebrations of Olympic Day include Kiribati (KNOC) a Fun Run on 26 June; Nauru (NOC) with the Olympic Day Run on 26 June; and the Cook Islands (CISNOC) with the balance of its celebration activities including the Olympic Quiz Night tomorrow (24 June) and the MINIstry Games on 25 June. 
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Additional Information
For more information on our Member National Olympic Committees mentioned in this Media Release, please refer to the hyperlinks below:

Australia Olympic Committee - AOC

Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee - CISNOC

Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee - FASANOC  

Guam National Olympic Committee - GNOC

Kiribati National Olympic Committee - KNOC 

Nauru National Olympic Committee - NOC 

Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee - VASANOC