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In January 1948 at the 42nd IOC Session in St Moritz, Switzerland, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the idea of Olympic Day. This celebration would be used to commemorate the creation of the IOC on 23 June 1894 in Paris.

Olympic Day was held for the first time on 23 June 1948 with a total of 9 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) hosting ceremonies in their respective countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Great Britain, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In an effort to encourage all NOCs to commemorate and celebrate Olympic Day, the IOC Sport for All Commission launched the Olympic Day Run concept with the objective of promoting the practice of participation in sport by men, women and children from all corners of the world and all walks of life, regardless of athletic ability. The first Olympic Day Run was held in 1987, over a distance of 10km, with 45 participating NOCs.

While the tradition of holding the Run on the weekend before or after 23 June continues today, many NOCs are now using local trends to develop the event into a large country-wide celebration. The traditional 10km run has been adjusted by many NOCs in order to attract a greater number of participants. Distances now vary from 100 metre events for children to full marathons.

Some countries have incorporated the event into the school curriculum and in recent years many NOCs have added local sporting events and cultural exhibitions to the celebration. Some events are held over half a day, others over a number of months.

Over the last 21 years, the Olympic Day Run has developed into the only worldwide celebration of the Olympic Day, and helps to spread the Olympic ideals to every corner of the world.

The 2004 Olympic Day Run was one of the best ever staged. Taking place just a few months before the Athens Olympic Games, for many National Olympic Committees (NOCs) it marked the start of their promotional campaigns for the Games. 2004 saw 162 countries taking part, compared to 141 in 2003. In total, a record-breaking 1.3 million men, women and children, from all walks of life, celebrated Olympic Day around the world. Normally held on the anniversary of the creation of the IOC (sometimes at a later date), this race is becoming more and more popular every year.

The Olympic Day Run couldn't have taken place without the support and involvement of McDonald's, which in 2003 became worldwide partner to the event. This year, several National Olympic Committees teamed up with their local McDonald's franchises to attract more runners to the event. In Malta, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the start and finish line of the run was at a McDonald's restaurant. And in the Dutch Antilles, participants ate breakfast in a local restaurant before setting off on the run. Other NOCs, like the one in Palau, decided to highlight the need for a healthy lifestyle by joining in with the McDonald's "Go Active" programme.

In 2004, yet again, NOCs showed their determination to get involved in the Olympic Day Run and to help spread Olympic ideals to all four corners of the world.