TERRE DE JEUX. French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz spearheads the Terre de Jeux campaign at Fort Santiago in Intramuros on Wednesday (April 6, 2022). Around 100 participants joined the event, which also coincides with the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)
MANILA – The Philippines took part in the French government-organized Terre de Jeux (land of the games) Wednesday, a 24-hour global relay that aims to raise awareness about the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The campaign, which also coincides with the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace, kicked off at Fort Santiago in Intramuros and was joined by about a hundred runners and cyclists, which include uniformed personnel, diplomats, and local officials.
The Terre de Jeux involves a one-hour race on a dedicated route in the participating countries from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. (local time). Once the race is completed, each of them will pass the baton to the embassies located in the next time zone who will carry out the race.
A total of 45 countries participated in the relay, which started in Fiji. At 9 a.m. (Philippine standard time), Japan formally passed the baton to Manila, which was then symbolically handed over to Cambodia.
"This is so important to bring all the values of sportsmanship, being together, the partnership, the solidarity, and all the values of sports. We're happy we put Manila on the map," French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz said.
"We think the Philippines is a sports nation and there's a lot of people practicing sport, we want to encourage that. You have a fantastic gold medalist with Hidilyn Diaz and we hope to have many Filipino participants and hopefully many Philippine medals in Paris 2024," she told reporters in an interview.
Boccoz said France has been preparing "very seriously" for the Olympics in Paris, taking into account the health situation and possible emergencies that may arise during the event.
"This is one of the major factors. At the moment the situation is really good in France because you know we have a very high rate of vaccination which is the case in many countries," she said.
"We have experience (and) we've gained so much experience (regarding) Covid. We're privileged we have so many vaccines to protect the people so we're very confident that by 2024 we'll be back to normal but we'll be prepared for any health issue that may happen," she added.
Joining Boccoz at the event were Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino, Philippine chef de mission to the 2024 Olympics Alfredo Panlilio, Intramuros Administration chief Guiller Asido and members of the diplomatic corps.
The next Summer Olympics, also known as the Paris 2024, will begin on July 26, 2024 and ends on August 11, 2024. (PNA)
