Vršac played host to the first DDOR Olympic Track competition, organized by the Olympic Committee of Serbia, in cooperation with the company DDOR Osiguranje and with the support of the local authorities in Vršac.
This competition, which aims to promote Olympic values, gathered more than 600 participants. After a three-hour competition, the most successful competitors were given an award, while DDOR Osiguranje handed over a donation in the form of sports equipment to the elementary schools Paja Jovanović ( from Vršac) and Moše Pijade (from Gudurica), which had the biggest number of competitors at the event.
Čaba Silađi, a competitive swimmer and a member of the Serbian Olympic team that will take part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, was also present. The awards were presented by Tamara Radočaj, a former member of the Serbian basketball team, a bronze medalist at the Olympic Games in Rio and assistant mayor of Vršac, and Vladimir Ćapin, director of the DDOR Osiguranje branch in Vršac.
The main goal of DDOR Olympic Tracks is to promote the values of the Olympic movement and educate all participants about the history of the Olympic Games through interactive physical activity.
Before the start of the competition, Čaba Silađi addressed those present, thanked them for participating in DDOR Olympic Track and for supporting the Serbian Olympic team before this year’s Olympic Games that will take place in the summer, in Tokyo.
„I am glad to be with you today in the wonderful town of Vršac and I am glad that we continued our activities before the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which will start in exactly 48 days. This morning, we were pleased to hear the news that the Serbian Olympic team that will compete in Tokyo has 2 new members because the placement of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay has been confirmed, which means that Uroš Nikolić and Nikola Acin, along with the swimmers Stjepanović and Barna, who had already reached a norm in individual disciplines, will join us this summer in the capital of Japan,“ said Čaba Silađi.
Tamara Radočaj, a former member of the Serbian national basketball team and the winner of the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio, greeted those present on behalf of the Vršac authorities.
„Welcome to Vršac and thank you for participating in this wonderful event. This is a great opportunity for us all to promote our Olympic values together, just before the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which are taking place soon. Also, today we give support to our Olympians who are preparing for the big competition this summer. As a person who had a wonderful experience at the Olympic Games, I know how much this support means to them, as well as how important an event like the Olympics is,“ she said.
The director of the DDOR Osiguranje branch in Vršac, Vladimir Ćapin, presented awards to the best teams that participated in DDOR Olympic Track and thanked all participants.
„It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to give out awards for fair play, courage, exceptional knowledge and top physical fitness. DDOR Osiguranje’s values are almost identical to the Olympic ones. This is why I am proud, as a representative of a leading insurance company and a partner of the Olympic Committee, that we, in Vršac, had the opportunity to host such an event,“ Mr. Ćapin pointed out.
At the end of the medal ceremony, Mr. Ćapin handed over sports equipment to the elementary schools Paja Jovanović (Vršac) and Moše Pijade (Gudurica), which had the biggest number of competitors at the event. The donation was given to school principals who thanked DDOR Osiguranje and said that they were confident that the equipment would boost the quality of teaching in their schools.
The success of the first DDOR Olympic Track in Vršac, which had over 600 competitors and twice as many spectators and visitors, is a validation of people’s interest in the Olympic movement and the great support that the Serbian Olympic team will have at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Thus, the mission of this event was fully accomplished, because the participants learned something new about the Olympic values shared through the partnership of the National Olympic Committee and DDOR Osiguranje.
The next DDOR Olympic Track competition will be held on Saturday, June 12, 2021, in Užice, and future competitors can apply by clicking on this link.