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Countdown to Olympic Day – 5 days to go!

18 | 6 | 2014

Angola will be showing its Olympic spirit on 23 June as the country marks Olympic Day 2014 with a celebration of its national sport, football, in the capital Luanda.

Olympic Day 2014 will see the Angolan Olympic Athletes Association (AAOA) team up with the Angola Football Academy (AFA) to stage their annual celebration under the themes of move, learn, discover. Around 600 players aged 14-16 years will take part in football training workshops and a number of Olympians as well as top Angolan football players will also be on hand to mentor the young athletes. 

President of the Angolan Olympic Athletes Association (AAOA) Nádia Cruz will be overseeing the events. A four-time Olympic swimmer for Angola, Cruz made her debut as a 13-year-old at the Seoul 1988 summer Games and went on to represent Angola in Olympic swimming for a further 12 years before her retirement.

Speaking about the Olympic Day celebrations, Cruz, said:

“We are delighted to bring together the Angola Athletes’ Association and the Angola Football Academy to celebrate Olympic Day. The ideals of Olympism are very important to our society and our aim is to spread these important values to young people in Angola and the communities they live in.”

The southern African nation is a relative newcomer to the Olympic Games. Angola made its first Olympic appearance at the 1980 summer Games in Moscow, since then number of participants has steadily grown and at London 2012 it fielded a team of 34 athletes across seven sports including basketball, handball, boxing, judo, canoeing, athletics and swimming.

Olympic Day is an opportunity for National Olympian Associations (NOAs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Sports Federations from around the world to come together to spread the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship and respect. It marks the anniversary of the founding of the modern Olympic by Pierre de Coubertain in Paris in 1894. This year, nations across the globe will be staging activities to encourage participation in sport and educate communities of the health benefits of an active lifestyle.

You can find out more about Olympic Day and the other events happening around the globe here.