According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by
Heracles (the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus. Yet the first Olympic
Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE
(though it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for
many years already). At this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a
cook from Elis), won the sole event at the Olympics, the stade - a run
of approximately 192 meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very
first Olympic champion in history.
The ancient Olympic Games grew and continued to be played every four
years for nearly 1200 years. In 393 CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a
Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences.
Approximately 1500 years later, a young Frenchmen named Pierre de
Coubertin began their revival. Coubertin is now known as le Rénovateur.
Coubertin was a French aristocrat born on January 1, 1863. He was only
seven years old when France was overrun by the Germans during the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Some believe that Coubertin attributed the
defeat of France not to its military skills but rather to the French
soldiers' lack of vigor.* After examining the education of the German,
British, and American children, Coubertin decided that it was exercise,
more specifically sports, that made a well-rounded and vigorous person.
Coubertin's attempt to get France interested in sports was not met with
enthusiasm. Still, Coubertin persisted. In 1890, he organized and
founded a sports organization, Union des Sociétés Francaises de Sports
Athlétiques (USFSA). Two years later, Coubertin first pitched his idea
to revive the Olympic Games. At a meeting of the Union des Sports
Athlétiques in Paris on November 25, 1892, Coubertin stated,
Let us export our oarsmen, our runners, our fencers into other lands. That is the true Free Trade of the future; and the day it is introduced into Europe the cause of Peace will have received a new and strong ally. It inspires me to touch upon another step I now propose and in it I shall ask that the help you have given me hitherto you will extend again, so that together we may attempt to realise [sic], upon a basis suitable to the conditions of our modern life, the splendid and beneficent task of reviving the Olympic Games.**
His speech did not inspire action. Though Coubertin was not the first to
propose the revival of the Olympic Games, he was certainly the most
well-connected and persistent of those to do so. Two years later,
Coubertin organized a meeting with 79 delegates who represented nine
countries. He gathered these delegates in an auditorium that was
decorated by neoclassical murals and similar additional points of
ambiance. At this meeting, Coubertin eloquently spoke of the revival of
the Olympic Games. This time, Coubertin aroused interest.
The delegates at the conference voted unanimously for the Olympic Games.
The delegates also decided to have Coubertin construct an international
committee to organize the Games. This committee became the
International Olympic Committee (IOC; Comité Internationale Olympique)
and Demetrious Vikelas from Greece was selected to be its first
president. Athens was chosen as the location for the revival of the
Olympic Games and the planning was begun.
source : http://history1900s.about.com/od/fadsfashion/a/olympicshistory.htm
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