Alibaba employees take part in the “Road to Paris” run at the company’s global headquarters in Hangzhou. Photo credit: Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group kicked off its annual Olympic Day celebrations with a short run and other physical challenges for employees at the platform company’s newly expanded global headquarters in Hangzhou.
Olympic Day is a global celebration of sport and falls on June 23, the day the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894, which is also the birth of the modern Olympic Games.
At Alibaba’s global headquarters in Hangzhou, over 1,000 people participated in a 3.5-kilometer run to mark the occasion. They were joined in spirit by colleagues across the company’s global offices as they participated in stair climbing, basketball games and other activities on June 20 and 21.
This year’s Olympic Day, themed “Let’s Move and Celebrate”, was observed by more than 110 National Olympic Committees around the world, together with Olympic hosts and the wider Olympic Movement.
Olympic Day is also a celebration of the growing accessibility of sports and activities.
According to the WHO estimates, an estimated 1.3 billion people – about 16% of the global population – currently experience significant disability.
To make sport accessible to all, Alibaba Philanthropy collaborated with Joe Tsai Foundation to host another short run for over 200 assisted wheelchaired participants and their families.
Alibaba also rolled out a series of online events to encourage its employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
For example, employees who run every day can record their sports performance online in exchange for official licensed Olympic merchandise and licensed Alibaba merchandise.
Alibaba has been an IOC partner since 2017 and has worked since then to help transform the Olympic Games for the digital era.
Its cloud computing arm provides best-in-class technologies to create a more efficient, sustainable and inclusive Olympic experience.
Check out more stories on Alibaba’s partnership with the Olympics
