The Olympic Day Celebrations (ODC) took place in Ugyen Dorji Higher Secondary School, Haa on the 2^nd of June coinciding with the Coronation of the 4^th Druk Gyalpo, His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The Coronation Marathon also took place on the same day with the flagging off of the marathon by the Dzongdag. Olympic Day serves to celebrate the anniversary of the International Olympic Committee and is celebrated by thousands of people in more than 160 countries with the objective of getting as many people as possible, moving and experiencing the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, in addition to the Olympic ideals of Fair Play, Perseverance and Sportsmanship.

The Secretary General of the Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC), Sonam Karma Tshering said “Last year we took the Olympic day to one of our eastern most dzongkhags and this year we have brought it to one of our western most dzongkhags.  This is in our own small way, in keeping with our vision to take sports to all the youth in the kingdom and we hope that we will be able to someday, truly achieve this noble vision.”

He also stated that,  “this year, is an important year for all of us in the worldwide olympic family, as it is the year that the greatest sporting spectacle on earth takes place in London, in July. For the Bhutan Olympic Committee too, it has been a momentous year, as finally, after nearly 29 years since its establishment, sports has finally been adopted, for the first time ever, by the government and given its rightful place on the national development agenda. The immense strategic benefits of sports have at long last, finally been recognised and from the 11th five year plan onwards, has been included as a separate sector altogether and accorded its due importance.”

The celebration included the organization of a varied range of activities inspired by the Olympic Principles and Values. This was done so with the help of the Federations affiliated to the BOC. This includes sporting events which will encourage people regardless of age, athletic ability and gender to move and discover new sports.

Bhutan Amateur Athletics Federation (BAAF) organised a series of marathons for different age groups to encourage the people of Haa to keep themselves fit. The General Secretary of BAAF, Dorji Tenzin says that “as athletics is the mother of all sports, the annual Coronation Marathon along with the ODC were held to encourage people to run as running is a vital component of any game and sport.”

The participants had the opportunity to experience and partake in sports like Olympic Archery, basketball, football, kids athletics, taekwondo, boxing, bodybuilding and so on.

During the day long celebration, the participants also took part in the Olympic Day T-Shirt painting competition, where prizes were awarded to the best message or the art work. The winning entries will be incorporated as the theme for the next Olympic day celebrations. Since 2012 is an Olympic year with the London 2012 Olympic Games coming up soon, the BOC has decided to promote the London Games in this celebration.

A group of cyclists who started their journey from Trashi Yangtse reached Haa on the 2^nd of June to join the celebrations. Their journey to Haa was an enriching experience and they visited numerous places of religious importance along the way, to light butter lamps as a gesture to symbolize the lighting of the Olympic torch and to pray for a successful London 21012 Olympic games.

The BOC also screened audio visual programs to promote the London Olympic 2012 Games and the 14^th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and also various sports clips.

Over 2000 people comprising of students and sports enthusiasts took part in the celebrations this year.