To mark the 38th Olympic Day of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) on 23 June 2024, the Beijing Olympic Games Community under the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) carried out a series of commemorative activities at the National Olympic Sports Centre and the Beijing Olympic Museum, in active response to the call of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for renewing Olympic friendship and warming up for the upcoming Paris 2024.

On that morning, the COC held the main event at the National Olympic Sports Centre. Adopting the theme of this year’s IOC Olympic Day - “Let’s Move and Celebrate”, the event conveyed China’s expectations and blessings for the upcoming Paris 2024. This year also marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and is designated as the Sino-French Year of Culture and Tourism. A total of 140 members of the running club of Beijing Olympic Games Community participated in this main event. It was a concrete move to actively respond to the IOC’s call for inheriting the Olympic spirit through sports, renewing the Olympic friendship, and wishing the Paris 2024 a complete success.

（Runners at the event）

Volunteering is an important part of the Olympic Games. The volunteer service of the Beijing 2008 and Beijing 2022 Games were highly praised by the IOC and added to the city reputation. On the afternoon, the Beijing Olympic Games Community hosted its first salon for the Games volunteers at the Beijing Olympic Museum. The salon invited more than 20 previous volunteers and volunteers who will serve the Paris 2024 to share their volunteer experience and what they had learned from the experience. Their vivid and touching stories illustrated the glorious journey and far-reaching significance of volunteering, and won warm applause from the audience.

Pu Chao, a volunteer of both the Beijing 2008 and Beijing 2022 Games, said: “From 2008 to 2022, Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics and then the Winter Olympics, the first to do so in the world. As the Olympic Games is around the corner once again, the volunteers of Beijing will continue to deliver their service and create a better future together”.

Ke Lele, a veteran volunteer who served the Rio 2016, the PyeongChang 2018 and is about to serve the Paris 2024, said, “In 2016, I transferred at Paris on my flight to Rio de Janeiro for my first Olympic volunteer experience. The Rio Adventure was unforgettable and touching. Eight years have passed and once again, inspired by the spirit of volunteerism, I will reunite with my old friends in the middle of summer in France with my passion for the Olympics and continue my Olympic story”.

（Ke Lele speaking）

The volunteers visited the Beijing Olympic Museum to review the glory of the Olympic Games. In the “Home of Volunteers” exhibition area, they gathered together and recorded a video expressing their best wishes for the Paris 2024. The video will be sent to the Organising Committee of Paris 2024.

（Volunteers at the event site）

The Beijing Olympic Games Community is a platform for BODA to reach out to and connect with the people who participated in the bidding, preparation, and operation of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, in order to form a talent pool, inherit the Games legacy, and promote the urban and regional development. The Beijing Olympic Games Community actively encourages and supports these Games participants to organise a variety of sports and cultural activities. So far it has formed a running club and a choir, which not only enrich the spare time life of the participants, but also show their upbeat spirit to the public. In the future, the Beijing Olympic Games Community will hold salons from time to time, as well as lectures, interviews and workshops covering a variety of topics, to cement the Olympic bonds, promote the Olympic spirit and inherit the Olympic culture.