Iran’s National Olympic Committee marked Olympic Day with a commemorative event in Tehran honoring the memory of 120 students from Shajareh‑Tayyebeh School in Minab.
Iran
NOC; Tehran: Hundreds of young athletes joined sports officials at Azadi Sports
Complex for the ceremony combining remembrance with Olympic values. A ceremony
commemorating Olympic Day was held at Tehran’s Azadi Sports Complex, bringing
together senior sports officials and hundreds of student athletes to honor the
memory of 120 students from Shajareh‑Tayyebeh School in Minab.
The
event took place in the open area in front of the 12000‑seat Azadi
Hall—one of the country’s largest venues for cultural and sporting events. The
ceremony was attended by Dr. Mahdi Alinejad, NOC Secretary General; Dr. Mahin
Farhadizad, NOC Vice President; Soraya Aghaei, IOC Member; Rasoul Asadi,
President of the Cycling Federation; Alireza Sohrabian, President of the
Canoeing Federation; as well as members of the NOC Athletes’ Commission
including Milad Vaziri and Negin Altoni, alongside representatives from several
national sports federations. Approximately 700 elementary‑school student
athletes from the disciplines of karate, taekwondo and wushu also participated
in the ceremony. The program began with a recitation from the Holy Quran
followed by the national anthem. In his address, Alinejad highlighted the
symbolic significance of holding the ceremony at Azadi Hall, describing it as
the country’s largest indoor sports venue with more than five decades of
history and a central stage for major national sporting events.
During
the ceremony, the Secretary-General also delivered the message of International
Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry on the occasion of Olympic Day. In
the message, IOC President described Olympic Day as an opportunity to celebrate
the power of movement, health, solidarity and self‑confidence,
emphasizing that sport not only strengthens the body but also contributes to
mental well‑being and social connection. The message also stressed that sport
is accessible to everyone, encouraging people to take the first step toward an
active lifestyle. A central moment of the event saw the 700 student athletes,
dressed in coordinated uniforms bearing the Olympic Day 2026 slogan “You Can Do
This, Let’s Move” along with the Olympic rings, walk between 120 symbolic
school desks placed at the venue. Each desk displayed the photograph of one of
the students from Shajareh‑Tayyebeh School in Minab, creating a visual tribute to their
memory.
Alongside
the commemorative elements, the event also featured a range of cultural and
sports activities for participating students. With the cooperation of the Sport
for All and the Winter Sports NFs, several educational and recreational
programs were organized, including an introduction to the sport of floor
curling. The Olympic Day 2026 ceremony in Tehran was organized with the
cooperation of several departments of the National Olympic Committee, including
Public Relations, Olympic Solidarity, Support & Logistics, the Olympic Museum
and Security, combining remembrance with the promotion of Olympic values among
the younger generation.