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THIRTY-SEX YEARS OF THE<br />
INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC<br />
ACADEMY :<br />
AIMS AND CONTRIBUTION TO<br />
THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT by<br />
Mr Freddy Serpieris (GRE)<br />
In 1927 Pierre de Coubertin first contacted Carl Diem about the creation of a cultural<br />
Olympic centre. He wrote:<br />
"I have not been able to finish what I wanted to complete. What<br />
would be extremely valuable to me would be for Germans to accept,<br />
in memory of the 11th Olympiad, to create a very small institute<br />
where I could keep my papers, documents and unfinished<br />
plans as regards the revival of Olympism, since I do not think that<br />
elsewhere anyone will be interested in the history of this movement<br />
and already a lot of mistakes and erroneous information have been<br />
published on this question. I believe that a Centre of Olympic Studies<br />
would contribute significantly to the preservation of this movement,<br />
protecting it from deviations."<br />
Coubertin further requested that upon his death his heart be taken to Ancient<br />
Olympia. In March of 1938, in the presence of many IOC members, his wish was<br />
granted. This marked the beginning of the idea of an International Olympic Academy.<br />
In the years that followed, two men were responsible for developing and nurturing<br />
Coubertin's idea further: Jean Ketseas and Carl Diem. They decided that Ancient<br />
Olympia would be the birthplace of an International Olympic Academy. Thus, Coubertin's<br />
spirit would live on through annual meetings of young students from all over<br />
the world who would come to Olympia to learn and experience the values of<br />
Olympism. The Olympic ideal would be renewed and spread throughout the world.<br />
In 1939 the Hellenic Olympic Committee decided to establish an Olympic Academy,<br />
and in June 1939, the International Olympic Committee gave its approval. However,<br />
the war years that followed made progress virtually impossible. But, in 1948<br />
Jean Ketseas was able to propose concrete plans to the IOC regarding the establishment<br />
of an <strong>IOA</strong>. In Rome during the 1949 IOC Session, his proposals were unanimously<br />
accepted.<br />
The inauguration of the <strong>IOA</strong> was finally arranged for the summer of 1961. At the<br />
first session, thirty students represented twenty-four countries. All of the IOC, after<br />
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