“Olympic Day”, held annually on June 23, was created as part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) efforts to get people active. It is celebrated by millions of people in over 160 countries, including Greece where 300 children gathered at Costa Navarino in Messene. Together, they relished in the occasion with a whole host of sporting activities including golf, fencing, target practice and handball.

Greece has been celebrating “Olympic Day” since 2004, with the first event of its kind organized in the country during the year when Athens hosted the Olympic Games.This year, the National Olympic Academy of Greece joined forces with the Costa Navarino resort and gathered 300 children from the region to the resort’s facilities at 9 a.m. for a round of golf. Though golf has not featured in the Olympics since 1904, the 121st IOC Session held in 2009 chose to re-introduce it during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Olympic athletes couldn’t be missing from the event and there were over twenty Olympic champions present to speak to the children about the sports.

As part of its framework to help Olympic ideals and values spread, Costa Navarino is preparing a display of Olympic mementos.

June 23 is the date when the first modern Olympic Games were held in Paris in 1894 and Olympic Day is an international effort to promote fitness and the Olympic ideals of fair play, perserverance, respect and sportsmanship.