Madagascar Olympians help celebrate International Women’s Day

20 | 3 | 2014

The National Olympians Association of Madagascar helped organise a race for Women's Solidarity earlier this month in celebration of International Women's Day. The race, which took place on 9 March 2014, saw 38 teams of 10 women and men take part in the annual relay fun run. More than a thousand people gathered on Independence Avenue to watch and join in the joyous celebrations.

In addition to celebrating International Women's Day, the Women's Solidarity race aimed to bring people together to embrace the Olympic ideals of unity, strength and respect while also promoting fitness and healthy lifestyles.

This year's edition of the event showed a remarkable increase in participation numbers with the 38 teams taking part being a 100% increase on the number of teams that participated in 2013.

The continuing success of the race represents how sport can be used as a tool for solidarity, unity and development and the race organisers hope that the event can continue to grow.

Speaking about this year's race, Rosa Rakotozafy from the Madagascan NOA said:

"We are delighted to see so many people show such enthusiasm for a great cause. This year's race has been a huge success and we are very happy that participation numbers continue to grow. We will make every effort to keep progressing the event in future, ensuring that we harness the power of sport to raise awareness of the Olympic values of respect and solidarity."