In attendance was HH Prince Fahad bin Jalawi, the Vice President of SOPC, and H.R.H Princess Delayel bint Nahar Al-Saud, Deputy Director of the Saudi Games. The French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ludovic Puille, was also present. They visited a judo activity and were very interested to see judoka in action.
Dr Abdulaziz Albassam, President of Saudi Judo, and Hassan Alanssari, CEO of the federation, underlined the necessity of including Saudi Judo in this great event together with the NOC. The judo federation has thus joined the 'Let's Move and Celebrate' initiative launched by the International Olympic Committee.
As the world warms up for Paris 2024, the IOC has set the initiative in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), to inspire and encourage people to embrace the joy of movement this summer for better mental and physical health. It invites everyone to join in the fun of sport and show their support for athletes at the Olympic Games, by creating or recreating their own iconic athlete celebration moves.
The French Ambassador, Ludovic Puille, said, "I am delighted and honoured to have participated in Olympic Day in Riyadh. It was an opportunity to present the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and to salute the role of the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi federations for the unprecedented development of sports disciplines in the Kingdom, in the framework of the Saudi Vision 2030."
For the judo federation, performance and skills were the key words of the day, through exceptional demonstrations from the national champions. Young children were given the opportunity to try judo, providing federal officials with the opportunity to discover potential new talent. It is no doubt that Saudi Judo will move forward and get more visibility and results in the years to come.