According
to Peeter Lusmägi, head of Sport for All of the Estonian Olympic Committee, the
number of the events and participants is rather impressive. “Summing up the
figures today, it can be said that residents and organizations in Estonia gave
a very warm welcome to the fifth Week of Sport, and it had been keenly
anticipated. As far as the number of events goes, we are at the forefront
alongside other states of the European Union, and those who prefer an active
lifestyle could certainly find the activity they liked during the Week of Sport.
This year, the slogan of the campaign was “Be Active”, and I hope we have
managed to give even those Estonian residents who do not engage in regular
fitness activities yet a positive impulse,” Lusmägi said.
According to the physical activity surveys conducted by the NOC, almost half of the adult population of the country does not get enough exercise. “We have a clear goal of reaching the same level as the Nordic countries, where 70% of adults choose an active lifestyle, by 2030. I am convinced that the annual Week of Sport will contribute to reaching this goal and infect us all with the ‘fitness virus’,” Lusmägi noted.
The most active messengers of the Week of Sport in Estonia were general education schools and kindergartens, which initiated the organization of 908 events. Fitness clubs offered additional fitness opportunities to the public 186 times, and employers organized 88 events. In total, 193,840 participations were registered during the Week of Sport in Estonia, which makes it the largest project promoting fitness and healthy lifestyle choices in the small country.
The goal of the Week of Sport is to provide as many local people as possible with positive fitness-related impressions and experiences. The patrons of the Week of Sport 2019 to set an example and inspire people to be more active were bodybuilder and businessman Ott Kiivikas, Olympic bronze winner and businessman Allar Levandi, singer Tanja Mihhailova, actor Tõnis Niinemets, coach Sandra Raju, top executive Kai Realo and football player Konstantin Vassiljev, who communicated the messages about the importance of physical activity and visited various events. More information can be found at www.spordinadal.ee.
Useful and interesting information about all-year-round fitness activities can be found on the NOC’s web portal www.liigume.ee and the Facebook page www.facebook.com/eestimaaliigub.
In Estonia, the Week of Sport is organized by the Estonian Olympic Committee in collaboration with the association “Sport Kõigile” [Sports for All]. The organization of the Week of Sport is supported by the Erasmus+ program, the Ministry of Culture and Coop Eesti.