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• It serves as a vital vehicle in disseminating the principles of Olympism
and increases awareness of its values throughout the Olympiad.
• It promotes enthusiasm, encourages striving for excellence and fosters
participation in the Olympic Movement through an educational means.
The groups agreed that the implementation of an Olympic Education program
is a critical issue, as the Olympic Movement has a responsibility to establish an
educational legacy for the young people of today and the future. The strategies
must be broad, flexible and embrace the respective cultural, social, political and
religious domains in order to be feasible in terms of implementation.
The programs should not concentrate only on youth however, they are a
primary target audience. The IOA, NOAs, OCOG educational programs, and
IOC Olympic Museum pedagogy programmes are effective promoters and
vehicles for Olympic Education for all age groups.
Bill-board messages, print, broadcast media, on-site set up at the Olympic
Games venues, public forums, the Internet, films, etc., should be enhanced in
addition to the courses and resource kits that are currently used for Olympic
Education programs. The programs should have distinguished goals and an
effective and precise Olympic Education evaluation policy.
The programs should harness sport as a tool to develop a lifestyle based
on the principles of Olympism. It could be implemented through meta-cognition,
discussion, role-play, brainstorming, problem solving strategies youth camps,
competitions and/or road shows.
In addition, it was felt by some that integration and emphasis should be placed
on the understanding of the Ancient Olympic Games.
The IOC should exert a compulsory rule for the NOCs to implement Olympic
Education Programs.
Question 13: What suggestions do you have for Athens 2004 on cultural
dimensions?
All groups agreed that Athens 2004 Olympic Games should and will have an
important cultural dimension. Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, has a
long and rich Olympic Tradition. A number of suggestions regarding the ways this
rich tradition could be presented to the public were made:
• Before the Olympic Games, the cultural and historic aspects of the ancient
and early Modern Olympic Games could be emphasized through Olympic
Education programs, youth camps, etc., targeting not only the Greeks but
also the potential audience of the Games worldwide. Some groups
cautioned however, that an overemphasis on the ancient history of the
Games should be avoided. The IOA could further promote this aspect
during the years leading up to the 2004 Games.
• During the Games, attention could be drawn to the Olympic Tradition of
Greece during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the torch relay
and other cultural activities that will be organised in Athens in conjunction
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