KATHMANDU, June 17: Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) marked the beginning of a week-long celebration of Olympic day in the capital on Friday.

Accompanied by a cavalry unit of the Nepalese Army, a musical band of army led a rally of students and players.

The rally organized by Sports for All Commission under the aegis of NOC kicked off from the quake-ravaged Basantapur Durbar Square with an aim to spread the message of Olympic Movement, which champions the idea of ‘Excellence, Friendship and Respect.’

According to NOC President Jeevan Ram Shrestha, the rally was organized to spread the core values of Olympic Movement and to establish peace and friendship through sports.

Nepal, which got the membership of International Olympic Committee in 1963, has been organizing various programs every year to mark the Olympic Day which falls on June 23, Shrestha informed.

“Altogether 56 programs are included in the week-long celebrations. National sports associations, various schools along with the army and police are actively involved in this program. This is the first time we are celebrating this event on such a grand scale and we look forward to make it even bigger in the next edition,” he said.

Programs under the Olympic Day include national and open championships as well as friendship matches and demonstrations. “Basically, we want to spread the message that sports is not just for athletes but for all. Everyone should benefit from sports. It is essential for establishing peace and friendship in the society,” Shrestha added.

About 500 students, representatives from different schools, Olympians, United Nations officials, film artists, national players, army, police, APF, sports journalists, NOC officials and locals were present during the inauguration of the rally at Basantapur.

“We choose Basantapur for the rally as it was badly affected by the quake. We want to spread the message

 
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