• Schools across the country to be engaged as part of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), with collaborators Reliance Foundation and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation.
• Successfully running since 2023, Let’s Move has already inspired over 15 million people to embrace physical activity.
• Everyone is invited to celebrate the Olympians heading to Paris 2024 by sharing their moves on social media with @OlympicKhel and #LetsMoveIndia.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the launch of Let’s Move, India, inviting everyone to embrace the joy of movement and to celebrate athletes participating at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. People all over the country can join the movement through a digital challenge on social media. Young people can also take part in a series of regional school initiatives in collaboration with the Reliance Foundation and Abhinav Bindra Foundation to coincide with Olympic Day on 23 June.
Starting today, people of all ages, regions and abilities are encouraged to recreate their favourite athlete celebrations, or create their own, aiming to inspire and celebrate the Olympians heading to Paris 2024, who will be representing their 1.4 billion compatriots from 26 July. In the regional context, this is inclusive of, but not restricted to, catchy dance steps, hero tributes, or simply moves from India’s many local games and sports. The moves should be uploaded to local social media platforms tagging @OlympicKhel and #LetsMoveIndia.
Unveiling the initiative on Viacom18’s JioCinema, the official Media Rights-Holder of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in India, and a supporter of the Let’s Move campaign, table tennis star and Reliance Foundation sponsored athlete, Manika Batra, who is set to represent India at Paris 2024 said, “I am thrilled to support IOC’s ‘Let’s Move India’ initiative in partnership with Reliance Foundation. As an athlete I believe that physical activity is essential for our well-being. ‘Movement is medicine,’ and our goal is to inspire more Indians to embrace an active lifestyle, not just today but throughout the year. Together, we can build a healthier, more active nation.”
The unique aspect of Let’s Move’s India edition will be the active involvement of children and young adults as leaders in participation. The IOC has joined forces with the Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist and an IOC Athletes’ Commission member, through his foundation (Abhinav Bindra Foundation) and the Reliance Foundation. Together, they will extend invitations to schools across the nation to join the movement, as part of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP).
Through OVEP, in collaboration with the IOC and the governments of Odisha and Assam, the Abhinav Bindra Foundation initiative has already positively impacted 7 million children by enhancing physical activity, gender inclusivity and educational outcomes. This is set to continue, to coincide with Olympic Day on 23 June.
Olympic gold medallist, sport shooting, Beijing 2008, and IOC Athletes’ Commission member Abhinav Bindra said: “Let’s Move in India is more than just a campaign; it’s a celebration of our collective spirit and dedication to physical well-being. By coming together through movement, we are fostering a sense of unity and joy that transcends all barriers. Through the Olympic Values Education Programme in Odisha and Assam, we’ve witnessed firsthand how sport can inspire and empower young minds. I am excited to see India embrace this initiative and support our athletes as they prepare for Paris 2024.”
An ongoing initiative from the IOC, Let’s Move aims to inspire people all over the world to move more every day, anywhere, anyhow. It is part of the Olympic Movement’s mission to make the world a better place through sport and sets out to highlight the positive impact that sport and fitness have on physical and mental health. Launched on Olympic Day 2023 in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), Let’s Move has witnessed participation from over 1,000 athletes, with more than 15 million people around the world taking part in physical activity.
People all over India can participate in the Let’s Move digital challenge with three simple steps:
1. Record or ask friends/parents/teachers to record a video of you doing a hook-step, a dance move, a tribute to a sporting hero, or anything that celebrates movement.
2. Open Instagram or X (formerly Twitter) and share your video on your feed, nominating your friends/followers to join the movement.
3. Tag @OlympicKhel and add the #Paris2024 and #LetsMoveIndia hashtags.
Join in spreading the joy of movement and cheering the athletes to victory at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
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About the International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit, civil, non-governmental, international organisation made up of volunteers which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of USD 4.2 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.
About the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust
Founded in 2010 by Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust (ABFT) harnesses the transformative power of sport to inspire, educate and drive social change. Integrating global best practices, it aims to make sport more efficient and adaptable, nurturing role models who positively influence society. Through the foundation, it trains grassroots athletes, providing access to sports science across the country via its high-performance training centres. ABFT trains over 200 athletes through the STEAM and Sport4Her initiatives, offers surgical assistance through the SportofLife initiative, and provides mental conditioning and support through the Athlete Mental Wellness initiative. Additionally, it has launched the Olympic Forest Project, aiming to restore 1,500 hectares of land using the best practices for ecological restoration. The Abhinav Bindra Sports Medicine and Research Institute (ABSMARI) further empowers the sporting ecosystem through education in sport science, physiotherapy and allied domains. For more information: www.abft.in.
About the Reliance Foundation
Reliance Foundation’s initiatives have touched the lives of over 22 million young people since 2013 across the country from over 13,000 schools and colleges, enabling an opportunity for a talented kid anywhere to be able to achieve their dream of a career in sport. It is especially committed to ensuring more presence and the success of girl and women athletes in India and designs its programmes in a manner that offers them maximum opportunities. Reliance Foundation’s Sports For Development Programme aims to develop the sporting ecosystem in India starting from the grassroots. Through its scholarship and athletics programmes, Reliance Foundation currently supports over 200 athletes in more than 10 Olympic sports. Reliance Foundation also operates three world-class athletics training facilities in India and has partnerships with the IOC, IOA, AFI and Odisha government. Reliance Foundation runs the Reliance Foundation Young Champs football academy, which is India’s highest rated football academy, with many graduates going on to represent various ISL clubs. Reliance Foundation’s approach to developing the football ecosystem includes organising three grassroots initiatives: Reliance Foundation Youth Sports, RFYC Naupang League and Reliance Foundation Development League. For more information, please follow on: https://www.rfyouthsports.com/.