The Olympic Week 2012, which aims to celebrate the foundation anniversary of the International Olympic Committee, will happen in all Brazilian regions beginning this Tuesday 15 May. The municipality of Serra, in the state of Espírito Santo, will stage the first activities. The event, a partnership between the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) and the State Secretariat for Sport and Leisure, will gather students and teachers of Espírito Santo schools for a varied agenda that includes sport, cultural and educational activities.

In addition to Espírito Santo, the states of Amapá, Bahia, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro will also hold celebration activities during the Olympic Week, besides the Olympic Day Run in São Paulo. The Olympic Week is part of the Olympic Day celebrations to be held on 23 June.

"The Olympic Week is a way to celebrate the well-being brought about by sport. It is important that we divulge the educational content, its power to integrate, include and mobilise people through the practice of sport and its values. The Olympic ideal is directly associated with ethics values, for a fairer and solidary society", defines Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the President of the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games Organising Committee and BOC. “In an Olympic year, the Olympic Week becomes even more important for the Brazilian society”, concluded Nuzman.

One of the highlights of the programme is the presence of athletes such as 4x100 metre dash race silver medalistin Sydney, André Domingos, who was chosen to act as ambassador of the Espírito Santo event. During his visit to Serra next Thursday 17 May, Domingos will have a chat with children and youths from Espírito Santo’s education network. Robson Caetano, 200 metre dash race bronze medalist in Seoul 88, will also give speeches during the activities to be held in Rio Grande do Sul, in the city of Santa Cruz do Sul.

The Olympic Day Run, the most traditional event of the Olympic Week celebrations, will be staged in São José do Rio Preto on 24 June. In Rio de Janeiro, the activities will be held at Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, the base of the Brazilian Team Training Centre. Sport clinics of several disciplines will be held for students of the municipal education network, as well as a puppets show and speeches by Olympic athletes.

Olympic Week

The "Olympic Day" was firstly celebrated in 1948 on 23 June, the date on which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded by Baron Pierre de Cubertin in 1894. In Brazil, the date coincides with the National Sports Day. The Olympic Week, held since1998 in Brazil, aims to promote the Olympic ideals, for a fairer and healthier society, as well as to reinforce its main pillars: sports, culture and education

2012 Olympic Week Programme:

- Espírito Santo – 15 to 17 May

Location: Serra/ES

School and Youth Sport Seminar: Athletics

Speaker: Lázaro Pereira Velázquez

Ambassador: André Domingos - Athletics

Speech on the Olympic Movement

Puppets Show

- Bahia –  31 May to 2 June

Location: Salvador/BA

School and Youth Sport Seminar: Volleyball

Speaker: Percy Oncken

Ambassador: to be defined - Volleyball

Speech on the Olympic Movement

Puppets Show

- Rio Grande do Sul –  4 to 6 June

Location: Santa Cruz do Sul/RS

School and Youth Sport Seminar: Athletics

Speaker: Pedro Henrique Camargo de Toledo

Ambassador: Robson Caetano - Athletics

Speech on the Olympic Movement

Puppets Show

- Amapá – 12 to 14 June

Location: Macapá/AP

School and Youth Sport Seminar: Table Tennis

Speaker: Nelson Machado

Ambassador: Ubiraci Costa (Biriba) – Table Tennis

Speech on the Olympic Movement

Puppets Show

- Goiás – 20 to 22 June

Location: to be defined

School and Youth Sport Seminar: to be defined

Speaker: to be defined

Ambassador: to be defined

Speech on the Olympic Movement

Puppets Show

- São Paulo – 24 June – partnership with SESC

Location: São José do Rio Preto

Olympic Day Run

- Rio de Janeiro –  26 to 28 June – partnership with SESI

Location: Maria Lenk

Puppets Show

Sport Clinics

Ambassadors