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Address<br />
by Mr Andreas FOURAS (GRE)<br />
It is with feelings of joy, honour and emotion that I welcome to this sacred<br />
place young men and women from all over the world, who have come to our<br />
country in order to discuss the past, present and future of the Olympic Movement.<br />
I wish to extend my congratulations to those who have created the International<br />
Olympic Academy and contributed to its constructive and productive operation<br />
for 35 years.<br />
During all these years, the <strong>IOA</strong> has contributed, significantly, to the promotion<br />
of the Olympic Idea, the consolidation of Olympic values and the dissemination of<br />
the Olympic messages, while forming many thousands of ambassadors of the<br />
Olympic cause throughout the world.<br />
By educating and informing young people from all over the world, the International<br />
Olympic Academy is preparing the future administrators and leaders of<br />
the Olympic Movement. It has developed into a workshop of unity and friendship<br />
among individuals, countries, continents and a bond between tradition and modern<br />
times.<br />
The fact that this Session is intended for young people allows us to describe it<br />
as a gathering of life and freshness, as a search for a new, hope-bearing future.<br />
We are convinced that the anxieties, concerns, thoughts and experiences you<br />
share will be converted, in this sacred site of Olympia, into a creative and forwardlooking<br />
proposal for Olympic issues, in the context of the work of the Olympic<br />
Academy.<br />
We believe that young people have the greatest potential for absorbing the<br />
Olympic values, for giving them a new content and bringing answers to the various<br />
problems which the Olympic Movement faces, on the eve of the 21st century.<br />
This year we are celebrating the centennial of the revival of the modern Olympic<br />
Games. It is a year of celebration, but also of stock-taking. Over and above<br />
anything else, however, it is a year of contemplation about the present and the future<br />
of the Olympiads.<br />
The major problems that need to be solved are doping, commercialization, violence<br />
and intolerance in sport.<br />
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