Alibaba employees take part in the “Road to Paris” run at the company's global headquarters in Hangzhou. Photo courtesy of Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group kicked off its annual Olympic Day celebrations with sprints and other physical challenges for employees at its newly expanded global headquarters in Hangzhou.
Olympic Day is a global celebration of sport that takes place on 23 June, the same day that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894 and the birth of the modern Olympic Games.
More than 1,000 people at Alibaba's global headquarters in Hangzhou took part in a 3.5-kilometer run to mark the anniversary, while colleagues in the company's offices around the world also got in high spirits on June 20 and 21 by taking part in activities like stair climbing and basketball games.
This year's Olympic Day was celebrated by more than 110 National Olympic Committees, Olympic host countries and the entire Olympic Movement around the world under the theme “Let's Move and Celebrate”.
Olympic Day is also a celebration of increased accessibility to sports and activities.
According to WHO estimates, currently, approximately 1.3 billion people, or about 16% of the world's population, live with severe disabilities.
To ensure everyone can enjoy sports, Alibaba Charity partnered with the Joe Tsai Foundation to organise another short run for over 200 wheelchair users and their families.
Alibaba also rolled out a series of online events to encourage employees to adopt healthy lifestyles.
For example, employees who run every day can record their sports performance online and in exchange can win official Olympic licensed merchandise or Alibaba licensed products.
Alibaba has been a partner of the IOC since 2017 and has since been working on transforming the Olympic Games for the digital age.
The company's cloud computing division delivers best-in-class technology to create a more efficient, sustainable and inclusive Olympic experience.
Check out more stories about Alibaba's Olympic partnership
