“Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the quality of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal, fundamental ethical principles.” These ideals can be summarised to personal excellence, sport as education, cultural exchange, mass participation, fair play and international understanding.
One of the main reasons for Coubertin’s rebirth of the Olympic Games was to bring world peace. Coubertin wished that the games were to be played in “mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play”. The first modern Olympic Games saw the union of thirteen nations, including Austria, Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece and the United States. This alone shows a strong and important message showing Coubertin’s hard work to bring so many of the world’s countries together. Four continents participated in these games. The hard work this must have involved due to travel difficulties truly reveals the determination showed by these countries to unite and bring world peace.
Coubertin wanted the Olympic Games to be played “in the Olympic Spirit”. This was shown by Italy, whose single contestant walked from Milan to Athens (only to find he was late).
Furthermore, Coubertin wanted to promote the values of physical exercise. This was fully shown because the central theme of the Olympic Games was the actual games themselves (which involved physical activity). Heroes of games create role models that people aspire to. Heroes or champions also raise the issue of professionalism. In Victorian days, professionalism, or amateurism was not all about how much somebody earned for their achievements, but about being accepted as a gentleman.
Another motive Coubertin based his Olympic Games on was equality and fair play. He wanted the Games to be practiced “without discrimination”. However, it took until the third Olympic Games for black athletes to compete in the games. Lentauw and Yamasani became the first black Africans to compete in the Olympics in the 1904 St Louis Games.
Overall, Coubertin’s main objective of the Olympic games was to bring friendship and unity to the world. I think Coubertin would be disgraced by ‘Hitler’s Games’ in 1936 due to Hitler using the games as a tool to promote the strength of Nazi Germany and the Third Reich. More recent games have been used as political tools, for example, the Atlanta Games in 1996 were used as propaganda for Americanisation and the Sydney Games in 2000 were used as devolution. Coubertin revived the games to unite the world, not to rip it apart.
