Jun 23, 2009 5:30 am US/Central
Athletic Events Planned Across City On Olympic Day
Fun Runs, Olympic Sports Competitions To Be Held
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
As members of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team works to bring the Summer Games to the city, they are also hosting a series of athletic events and celebrations for Olympic Day.
Celebrations for Olympic Day commemorate the day when French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin began to revive the Olympic Games, on June 23, 1894. The day also marks the formation of the International Olympic Committee.
For Olympic Day, Chicago 2016 is hosting Fun Runs for 30,000 young people in parks all around the city, beginning at 10 a.m. There will be celebrity participants, including Olympians Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Michael Conley, and Paralympian April Holmes.
About 750 children are expected to take part in the Washington Park Fun Run alone, Chicago 2016 said.
For adults, there are two three-mile Fun Runs for those of all abilities at 6 p.m. One starts at the Lake Shore Path at Irving Park Road, the other on the path at Balbo Drive across from Grant Park. They both end at North Avenue Beach. Olympians Gary Morgan, Jason Wening, Mike Day and Patrick Byrne will participate.
In addition to the runs, North Avenue Beach will competitions in host beach volleyball, basketball, wheelchair basketball, soccer and fencing, among other sports between 6 and 10 p.m. The day ends with a concert on the beach with Elevation and the Freddy Jones Band.
Olympians and Paralympians will also attend the White Sox game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at U.S. Cellular Field. Kersee will throw out the first pitch when the game begins at 7:11 p.m.
For more information, click here for the Chicago 2016 Olympic Day page.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Jewish Celebrities
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
