Today 23 June, the Olympic Movement celebrates its birthday. Today close to six million people across the globe, young and old alike, are reversing the trend away from sport and are moving, jumping, stretching and sweating to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, and celebrate the birth of the modern Olympic Games and its values.

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 – refers today the International Olympic Committee.

In a bid to reverse this trend, the IOC called upon the Movement at large – from National Olympic Committees (NOCs), 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”.

The result? Close to 6 million people of all ages and abilities have been joining the movement and taking part in Olympic fun runs and quizzes, trying new sports, competing in school tournaments, contributing to musical and arts exhibitions or chatting with champions. And there is more to come!

Some 108 NOCs across all five continents have already heeded the IOC’s call to action. In collaboration with national federations and local authorities and leveraging the power of their Olympians, many have or are staging educational, cultural and sporting activities in their territories to encourage their communities to be active and spread the Olympic values in the lead-up to and on Olympic Day. By the end of the year, this figure should rise to 142 NOCs.

Europe is proud to be in the frontline.  From Albania to Ukraine, from Portugal to Russia from Iceland to Cyprus, the NOCs from the Old Continent have been actively planning all kinds of activities, to take place from spring to autumn. The many proposed gatherings, mini marathons and games, this year include the Spanish Santiago Pilgrims’ Run, which comes to an end today at the famous basilica.

And many more initiatives are in place. Visit our website www.eurolympic.org and link up with the websites of the 50 NOCs of Europe and their social networks to discover their proposals.