“Cities are on the front lines of this post-pandemic world. Because it is in the large urban centres where we see these consequences impact lives and affect our communities the most. The IOC and the entire Olympic community are ready to make our contribution. Cities are once again a key partner in this, because shaping the post-pandemic world is in the end about people and it has to happen at the community level.”
Promoting a healthy society through sport is at the heart of the IOC’s vision of “building a better world through sport”, and an integral part of the work of the organisation. Its strategic roadmap, Olympic Agenda 2020+5, focuses strongly on the role of sport as an important enabler to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Increased physical activity is also an important part of the legacy created by the Olympic Games for their hosts. Paris 2024 Executive Director of Impact and Legacy Marie Barsacq, also speaking at the Summit, highlighted the Games’ objective to make France “move more” and “awake an athlete sleeping inside each French person”. One of Paris 2024’s flagship initiatives aim to introduce 30 minutes of daily physical activity in French schools. Five thousand schools have already signed up to the initiative.
Established in 2014, Smart Cities & Sport is an initiative which originates from the group of former and future Olympic host cities. It has since expanded to any cities interested in using sport as a platform for growth and development.
