23 June is Olympic Day

Today (Tuesday 23 June) marks the annual Olympic Day, celebrated annually to mark the founding of the modern Olympic Games in 1894.

With lacrosse due to make its return to the Olympic Games at LA28 in two years’ time, England Lacrosse is delighted to be celebrating Olympic Day once again and is excited to join the Olympic Movement in bringing people together through sport and physical activity.

You Can Do This! Let’s Move is the theme of Olympic Day

Let’s Move is an ongoing initiative from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) aiming to inspire and enable people to discover and access the many benefits of movement and sports participation.

This year, Let’s Move carries the simple message: You Can Do This, aiming to empower young people to make their first move, by reminding them that feeling awkward, imperfect, or uncertain is normal.

Research shows that young people face several barriers to participating in sport and physical activity, with self-doubt being a contributing factor. At the same time, even brief bouts of activity can give an immediate boost to mood and energy.

For young people, sport can also support the development of essential life skills such as resilience, perseverance, and communication, whilst being a powerful tool in building self-belief. One step, one session, one breath is all it takes to start, and through movement, self-belief can flourish.

Let’s Move first launched in 2022, in response to worrying findings that nearly one-third of adults and, notably, four out of five young people, are not meeting recommended daily physical activity levels (WHO, 2024), contributing to growing health and well-being challenges around the world.

Let’s Move has evolved to provide opportunities and inspiration for people to move throughout the year and will continue with initiatives around World Mental Health Day and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said:

“Being physically active is critical for health and well-being, which is why the Let’s Move initiative between the IOC and WHO is so important. Physical activity adds years to life and eases pressure on health systems. Yet in today’s world, many people are not active enough. By removing the social and environmental barriers that prevent young people from being active, we can create more opportunities for everyone to move more and live healthier lives.”

Over 150 opportunities to get active on Olympic Day

Olympic Day is celebrated across the Olympic Movement, with National Olympic Committees, International Sports Federations, and Organising Committees of the Olympic Games creating opportunities for their communities to participate all over the world.

Join the movement at Olympics.com and by following @Olympics #LetsMove.