download - IOA

Address
By Dr Robert D. STEADWARD (CAN), OC, LLD (Hons)
IOC Member and IPC President
On Behalf of the lecturers of the Session
International Olympic Committee, Mr Nikos Filaretos, President of the International
Olympic Academy, Distinguished Guests and Speakers, Young Participants:
I would first like to take this opportunity to tell you all how very fortunate our
young participants are to visit the beautiful land of Hellenic civilisation, a country
which enjoys more than three thousand years of history.
Your Excellency, Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the y, legend
and global dimensions. Secondly, to explain to our 41 st group of young Olympic
participants, that their first assignment will be to avoid the temptation of sitting
and dreaming yourselves back into the time when you might expect to meet an
Immortal on the mountain or in the olive-groves. Although, with all the breathtaking
beauty of Greece around us, it is not surprising that ancient Greeks felt that
the ancient theatres and temples, the mountains and valleys, the woods and
streams, the very sea itself, were peopled with Immortals. It is my wish that upon
completion of your Session, you will feel empowered by the Herculean spirit,
which prevails and speaks through battered stones at the majestic ancient Olympic
site. It is my wish that each of you will return to your homelands inspired to
fulfil a future of greatness.
On behalf of all my fellow lecturers at this 41 st Session of the IOA for Young
Participants, I wish to express our deep and sincere gratitude to Mr Filaretos and
the organisers who have enlisted an impressive roster of talent to lecture, each one
of whom is as honoured and pleased as I, to share with you their knowledge,
experience and expertise on the subjects which they will present.
The "basic subject" for this 41 st Session is "Olympism" under which title will
be discussed the "Olympic Games: An Overview of the Sydney Olympic Games
and Athens 2004." You will all be interested in a variety of lectures: in Dr
Rogge's speech on the IOC Co-ordination Commission; on The Olympic Games
in Antiquity by Prof. Kalpaxis; on topical subjects such as Mrs Lu's talk on
Women's participation and performance in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games; and
Prince Alexandre De Merode's speech on Doping in Sport, among all the others
from whom you will learn a great deal about the world of Olympism and how
it affects not only athletes, but the world in which we all live, as discussed by
28