INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

Academy
NATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMIES:
HISTORY AND PRESENT DAY SITUATION
Mr Héctor ARGÜELLES (ESP)
The etymology of this word leads us to Greece, as Academy was
the name given to Plato’s famous school of philosophy founded in 387
BC. It was originally located outside Athens close to an olive grove,
called the Gardens of Academo, an Athenian hero who owned those
grounds.
Since that time, the word Academy has been used in relation to
different institutions dedicated to teaching and providing training in
different matters of study. Nowadays, we define Academy in general
terms as a society of learned individuals organized to advance art,
science, literature, music, or some other cultural or intellectual area of
endeavour.
Therefore, applying this general definition to our particular
purpose, it can be concluded that an Olympic Academy is formed by
experts in Olympism and dedicated to the study, dissemination and
safeguarding of the Olympic philosophy and its values.
International Olympic Academy
The idea of creating an International Olympic Studies Centre arose
as early as the first modern Olympic Games were held. These initial
celebrations had two very different results: on the one hand, the
diffusion and progressive popularization of the recently created
quadrennial competitions, and on the other, the growing estrangement
of the Olympic Movement ideals detected during the Games,
especially at Paris 1900 and Saint Louis 1904.
Coubertin, trying to avoid a deviation of the Olympic Movement
from his original ideals, organized what were called the Olympic
Congresses. The Congresses were focused on the discussion of the
most topical issues of the time, the study of the sciences involved in
the sport practice and also the relations between arts and sports. The
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