Alibaba employees enjoyed a dance workout to celebrate Olympic Day on June 23. Photo credit: Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group is rolling out a week of sports and green-related activities for employees as well as a conference with Olympians to mark the birth of the modern Olympic Games. Events took place in Hangzhou, Paris, and other different cities in China and Europe.

June 23 is Olympic Day, when National Olympic Committees and Partners organize sporting, cultural and educational activities to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

This year, Alibaba is shining a spotlight on the power of sport: whether to maintain our mental and physical health, protect our environment, or encourage diversity.

As the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company, Alibaba has been working as an Olympic Partner since 2017 to help transition the Olympic Games into the digital era.

“We are proud to support the coming Olympic Games Paris 2024 and to continue making such a global event more efficient, inclusive and sustainable,” said Chris Tung, chief marketing officer of Alibaba Group.

The company’s cloud computing branch Alibaba Cloud provides powerful cloud services including delivering fast and secure event viewing feeds, while online B2C marketplace Tmall is home to an official Olympic Store in China.

Keeping Fit

Alibaba employees don’t need to wait until Paris 2024 for marathon events – they participated in their own this week to celebrate Olympic Day.

A vertical marathon team challenge saw many Alibaba staff climb stairs instead of taking elevators at home and in the office between June 15 and June 23.

At the group’s base in Hangzhou in southern China, a vibrating dance floor hosted a 45-minute dance routine as more than 100 employees move to the beat of a remixed rendition of “We Are Alibaba” on Olympic Day.

Alibaba’s Parisian staff felt the burn as well with their own musical workout for Olympic Day.

To be sure, wellness extends far beyond strength and cardio. The UK’s National Health Service says that people who take part in regular physical activity have up to a 30 percent lower risk of depression.

To raise awareness, the company invited former handballer and Olympic champion Amandine Leynaud and breakdancer BBoy Lagaet in preparation for Paris 2024 to speak on the power of sport, on mental and physical health in its Paris office on June 21.

Green is Gold

Sporting activities are as much about the environment as the athletes competing in it.

This Olympic Day, Alibaba employees were challenged to measure and reduce their carbon footprints.

“Alibaba encourages everyone to embrace green lifestyle, which echoes Olympic ideal for sustainability,” noted Tung.

To learn more, Alibaba offices around the world screened a short video on June 24 celebrating simple yet impactful measures we can take to reduce carbon emissions, such as turning off lights and reducing use of disposable tableware.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has pledged to reduce emissions by 30% by 2024 and 50% by 2030. Alibaba is providing tools and know-how to help make this possible.

At the Olympic Games last summer, cloud computing reduced the carbon impact of journalists and media members, who could commentate and screen events from their own countries.

The footprint of the International Broadcast Centre, the media hub for televising Tokyo 2020, was about 30% smaller than at Rio 2016 as a result.