INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

framework for stating his thought in terms of its contemporary
relevance. It is essential to note that Coubertin was an eclectic person.
He read widely covering authors as diverse as Cyrano Bergerac and
Friederich Nietzsche. Coubertin selected from his reading everything
that is relevant to provide him with the bases for developing Olympic
Education. He was thus in continuous dialogue with the trends of his
time. He advanced the impression of a mind greatly worried by the
developments he witnessed, but he possessed the capacity for
synthesis, characteristics of Greek dialectics. For him, ancient Greek
philosophy was a body of life-wisdom, a spirit embracing the reality
of life as a whole, without discrimination among the elements, which
contribute its irrevocable value.
During his time Coubertin found elements such as mind and
matter in the sense of intellect and intuition and the body. For
Coubertin, Greek philosophy is not a theory of life but life itself as the
object of rational thought and it has its place among the four virtues of
human life, which are: “calm, philosophy, health and goodness”.
Here, philosophy takes second place and its value lies in its role as an
existential commentary, truth experienced, reality comes into being
through passion, the thirst for calm which is not immobility but a
continuous struggle. It is important to be reminded that the meaning of
Olympic Education – its ideals and values in all its complexity, are
encapsulated in the Fundamental Principle 2 (p 8) of the Olympic
Charter (1996), it is stated that:
“Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a
balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending
sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a
way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational
value of good example and respect for universal fundamental
ethical principles."
Fundamental Principle 3 (p 8) also states that:
“The goal of Olympism is to place everywhere sports at the
service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to
encouraging the establishment of a peaceful society concerned
with the preservation of human dignity. To this effect, the
- 68 -