Coubertin’s perspective on:
Paris 1924 and Pierre de Coubertin’s enduring love for France

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The French genius of sport who founded the modern Olympic Games
Charles Pierre de Coubertin is born on 1 January in Paris. He is the fourth child of Charles Louis de Fredy, Baron de Coubertin, and Agathe Marie Marcelle Gigault de Crisenoy.
In a lecture at the Sorbonne on the subject of physical activity in modern times he rounds out his presentation with his proposal of the idea to re-establish the Olympic Games.
On 23 June at the International Congress of Paris for the Re-establishment of the Olympic Games he sees his dream realised as the Congress approves the proposal.
At the 1896 IOC Session, Pierre de Coubertin is elected as the 2nd President of the IOC and takes over from Demetrius Vikelas.
The first celebration of the modern Olympic Games took place in its ancient birthplace - Greece. The Games attracted athletes from 14 nations, with the largest delegations coming from Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain.
Coubertin’s vision of the inclusion of arts competitions in the Olympic Games is realised with their first edition taking place at Stockholm 1912. Entered under the pseudonyms of Georg Hohrod and Martin Eschbach, Coubertin’s Ode to Sport wins the gold medal in the literature category.
Pierre de Coubertin designs Olympic Rings. A year later he writes that the “five rings represent the five parts of the world now won over to Olympism” and the five colours of the rings plus the white background of the flag “combined to produce the colours of every country”.
At the Olympic Congress, in Prague, Coubertin stated that when it came to the Olympic Games “All people must be allowed in, without debate, just as all sports must be treated on equal footing, without concern for the fluctuations or caprices of public opinion”.
In a speech recorded in Geneva for German radio, Coubertin focuses on delivering a message about the “philosophic foundation of modern Olympism”.
On 2 September, Pierre de Coubertin collapses in a park in Geneva and subsequently dies. He is buried in Lausanne. As per the wishes expressed in his will, his heart is taken to Olympia where it is placed in a marble stele that commemorates the revival of the Olympic Games
The French genius of sport who founded the modern Olympic Games