Vijaynagar, Jun 23 (IANS): To commemorate the occasion of Olympic Day, the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) released a video bringing together athletes from across the institute's sporting disciplines to highlight the power of sport to unite and overcome obstacles.

With the unprecedented decision to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes across the world have had to stay away from training and competing.

As the sporting world moves towards the 'new normal', the video features star athletes like Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia (Wrestling), Neeraj Chopra, Arpinder Singh, Annu Rani and Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Manisha Moun and Vikas Krishan Yadav (Boxing) to showcase the resilience of athletes in the face of adversity and encourages the world to "keep plugging away" towards a better tomorrow.

Commenting on the occasion of Olympic Day, CEO of IIS, Rushdee Warley, said: "The driving force behind everything we do at IIS is to nurture and holistically develop athletes, allowing them to fulfill their potential and become effective contributing members of society."

"A key life lesson that sport teaches us is to never give up and find ways to overcome any obstacles that come our way. This is as relevant as ever today and we are happy to showcase this resilience through our athletes, who are the best ambassadors of what we stand for," he added.

International Olympic Day is celebrated to commemorate the day when the International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894.

The first-ever Olympic day was celebrated on June 23, 1948. The countries of Portugal, Greece, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Great Britain, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Belgium organized an Olympic Day in their respective countries, relayed a message and urging young people of the world to participate and make sports an integral part of their lives.