THE St. Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) Inc. commenced this year’s observance of Olympic Week in earnest with the Olympic Walk held on Sunday, June 18, in the Castries area.
Around 280 walkers from various sporting associations and other organizations participated in this year’s early morning walk. The route was as follows: Start on Jeremie Street in front of Castries Market, then turn right into Chisel Street, and then right onto Micoud Street, then turn right into Peynier Street and head up the John Compton Highway. Walkers then turned right into Sans Souci and up L’Anse Road before turning left onto John Compton Highway and towards Vigie Roundabout before turning around and heading back down the John Compton Highway, and ending at the Red Cross Building at Vigie.
Following an aerobics warm-down session, various sporting associations hosted mini-clinics at the Vigie Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, Sab Playing Facility and Vigie Boxing Gym. Sports featured during this session included basketball, netball, volleyball, boxing, table tennis, football, rugby, skateboarding, and track and field. The day’s activities climaxed with a tug-of-war competition among some of the sporting associations, with the male rugby team winning the final round.
The following Monday through Friday, a daily Olympic Quiz was hosted via the SLOC Inc. Facebook and Instagram platforms. Winners were selected for each day.
On Tuesday, members of the Olympic Week committee visited four schools and conducted tree-planting exercises with students and teachers. The schools selected this year were: Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School, Stanley Jon Odlum Memorial Secondary School, Ciceron Secondary School, and Bishop Charles Gachet Combined School.
Weeks before the tree-planting, SLOC Inc. sent out letters to the schools inviting them to participate in the activity which form part of this year’s Olympic Week (June 18-23) being observed under the theme, “Let’s Move”. Schools had to choose two fruit trees and one ornamental tree from a list provided to them by SLOC Inc. These trees were then purchased from the agricultural station at Union.
Olympic Week activities ended yesterday with the President’s Message.