Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the visionary originator of the modern Olympic Games, was only 1.62 meters (5'3") tall, yet he was a 20th-century giant by many standards. Born in 1863 in Deux-Sèvres, France, he died in 1937 at the age of 93 in Le Bourget, near Paris.
As a young man, de Coubertin traveled widely and observed how national sports were developed. He concluded that true international friendship could not exist between countries that favored different sports. So, in 1896, he proposed a new type of athletic competition for nations who shared his beliefs -- an event that would unite people from all over the world with a common passion for sport: the Olympic Games.
Inspired by ancient Greece, where athletes competed in events such as running, jumping, wrestling, and boxing, de Coubertin organized the first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece, in 1896. A second Games was held four years later in Paris, and since then they have been held once every four years. The next Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23 to August 8, 2000.
Each country is allowed to send a maximum of two entrants per event, so many athletes fail to make the cut.
... of the contemporary Games, Pierre, Baron de Coubertin, was born on January 1, 1863, in Paris. Pierre de Coubertin, the creator of the modern Olympics and President of the International Olympic Committee from 1894 to 1916, was a great visionary who had the dream of bringing world peace through sport.
He believed that by holding international sports competitions Olympiads could be held every four years, just like wars.
De Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 with himself as its president. His goal was to hold annual international sports festivals called "Olympics" to celebrate sport and promote friendship among nations. He hoped that these Olympics would lead to an end to war. De Coubertin wanted to have cities, countries, and organizations sponsor the games so they would be able to afford to send representatives but this plan never got off the ground due to lack of interest. In 1920, after several unsuccessful attempts at founding new Olympics, De Coubertin created the Modern Games to replace the old Olympics that had been canceled due to World War I.
The current Olympic Games were founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. In 1894, he formed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to help construct a peaceful and better world by teaching young people through athletics. He committed his life to education, history, and sociology. They are still among his many descendants.
Coubertin was born on February 21st, 1825 in Paris. His father was a successful coffee merchant who also owned land in Haiti. When Coubertin was nine years old, the family moved to this land when his father was appointed governor of the island nation. They lived there for three years before returning to France.
He attended the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand where he developed an interest in history and literature. In addition, he began to show an interest in sports. At age 20, he went to America to study marketing but was soon attracted to the growing sport of baseball. Upon his return, he helped form the first national football team of France.
In 1892, Coubertin created the Modern Pentathlon which is today one of the main events at the Olympics. A few months later, he published his ideas about how to improve youth education through sports which led to him creating the International Olympic Academy in Switzerland. This school would later become known as the IOC Education Department.
He is regarded as the father of contemporary Olympic Games. He was very engaged in advocating for the inclusion of sports in French schools. Coubertin, Pierre
| Baron Pierre de Coubertin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pierre de Frédy1 January 1863 Paris, France |
| Died | 2 September 1937 (aged 74) Geneva, Switzerland |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
The Olympic Games were revived by Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) of France. He felt that they had become too commercial and wanted to return them to their original purpose of promoting peace and understanding between nations.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin was a great advocate for sports at an international level. He believed that if young people from all over the world could come together and share in a common cause, there would be less violence and hatred between countries.
He created the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 with himself as its first president. The IOC is still responsible for organizing each summer's games. They select the host city for the event, approve the budget, and oversee the construction of necessary facilities. All member countries can vote on any issue before them. However, only those countries that are members of the IOC can vote on who will represent them at the games. Today, there are 206 countries that are members of the IOC.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin also founded the modern game of tennis in the late 1800's. He felt that since football was the most popular sport in Europe, it should be the one to carry on without interruption after athletics ended its run at the Olympics.
Pierre, baron de Coubertin, formerly Pierre de Fredy (born January 1, 1863, Paris, France—died September 2, 1937, Geneva, Switzerland), was a French educator who was instrumental in resurrecting the Olympic Games in 1896, after over 1,500 years in obscurity. He believed that sports should be part of education, and he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 to promote athletic competition among nations.
De Coubertin is best known for his work establishing international sports federations and standardizing rules and regulations for all types of sports, including but not limited to athletics, basketball, boxing, fencing, field hockey, football, gymnastics, ice skating, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, wrestling, and yachting. The IOC currently has 211 members, with two countries permitted to have voting rights per continent.
He also invented the first sport uniforms (for gymnasts), designed competitions, and proposed annual world championships for various sports. De Coubertin's ideas were influential in bringing about the modern Olympics; they are still used today in some forms or others by most Olympic organizations. His ideas on the importance of sports in education were also very influential.
De Coubertin was born into a wealthy family; his father was an attorney who had been elected mayor of Poitiers, France.
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