The article was originally published in Macedonian and can be found on the following websites:
In the past two years, we have all faced a situation that changed our lives. The pandemic completely altered our daily routines, separating us from our loved ones and colleagues. Working from home became the new normal, and we only saw our colleagues on Skype or Zoom. This distance inspired the ⋮IWConnect marketing team to create activities that maintain connections while respecting COVID-19 measures.
We had many ideas, but the Tokyo Summer Olympics inspired us to do something unique in Macedonia: organize our own Olympic Games with amateur sports competitions. We decided to include 14 sports over 8 weeks, requiring extensive organization and preparation. First, we needed to create the necessary equipment for the sports. Second, we had to find venues for the activities.
The sports we organized included:
- Basketball 3х3
- Handball
- 100 meters race
- 800 meters race
- 5km race
- 4x100m relay
- Archery
- Swimming
- Table tennis
- Biking
- Throwing a spear
- High Jump
- Long Jump
- Shoot put
We want to thank the schools that supported us. The Demir Hisar High School provided their gym and sports field. Along with Professor Heston Karchevski, we created a sand terrain for the long jump and provided equipment for the high jump. The Agriculture School in Bitola offered their gym for basketball and handball, and Todor Angelevski School helped with equipment for these sports.
Even with meticulous planning, we weren’t sure if employees would participate. To our surprise, around 70 employees joined, forming 8 Olympic teams eager to compete and connect.
During the competition, we saw intense cheering and rivalry among the teams but ultimately fair play and camaraderie. The games helped create new friendships, discover new talents, and form lasting memories.
At the end of two months, we awarded 104 medals across all sports and crowned our Olympic Champion Team. Congratulations to the Red Hot Chilly DOTS on their victory! We exceeded our expectations as a company and decided to make this an annual tradition, organizing it each spring.
After the whole cycle, we managed to surpass our expectations as a company and we decided to turn this into a tradition, and as such have it organized each spring.
P.S. If you want to see how ⋮IW Olympic Games looked up close don’t miss our video. And in case you want to see pictures from the event check out our social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram.
