This year, a year that will remain in history and in our memories as the year that the world was shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic, was a year of difficulties and challenges for everyone and of course, the fields of sport and education were no exception. The International Olympic Academy, as an educational institution with a 60-year tradition in the organisation of international sessions, found itself in the dilemma of breaking this long tradition or facing the challenge and inventing new ways to continue its work. Needless to say that the IOA, in line with the Olympic spirit, believes that challenges are meant to be overcome and so decided without hesitation to organise this year’s sessions online for the first time in its history, through a platform designed especially for this purpose. More specifically, transferring the Session for Young Participants to an online environment was a great undertaking as we wanted to try to convey, as much as possible, the atmosphere of the Session for Young Participants in Ancient Olympia, a 15-day session with a variety of activities, educational, sports, artistic and cultural, in a digital environment with limited time and means.The 60th International Session for Young Participants took place from 4th to 10th September 2020, with 58 young participants from 56 countries, 7 eminent lecturers, 16 coordinators and several observers-friends of the IOA. The main topic of the Session was “Olympism and Humanism” while the special topic was “Olympic Games: Human rights, diversity and inclusion in sport”.The invited lecturers were: Prof. Dr Bruce Kidd from Canada, who spoke on the achievements of human rights in sport, Prof. Dr Susan Brownell from the USA, who explored the relationship between Olympic Games and human rights, Mr David Wallenchinsky from the USA, who analysed the issue of human rights in the Olympic Movement, Prof. Dr José Luis Pérez Triviño from Spain who raised the issue of protecting athletes from sexual harassment and violence. Prof. Dr Giannis Theodorakis from Greece gave a lecture entitled: “Sport as a tool for the inclusion of refugees, immigrants and ex-addicts in local communities”, while Assoc. Prof. Dr Mike Duignan from the UK spoke about balancing local and global interests in mega-events cities and more specifically about the example of the Rio Games, and finally Prof. Dr David McGillivray, also from the UK, focused on Mega Sport Events and Public Space. The young participants were required to watch daily lectures, which were given in English with simultaneous French interpretation for the French speakers, and then pose their questions to the lecturers. Following, they were divided into groups in order to identify and analyse the issues that emerge from the lectures. The conclusions of these working groups were presented on the last day of the Session.The Session’s programme, in addition to the mandatory attendance of the lectures and the discussion groups that followed, also included optional, complementary activities that went on throughout the day, in order to give to the young participants from countries in different time zones the chance to participate.So, we had virtual exercise, an arts programme that included four workshops (poetry/literature, sound art /music, performing arts/dance and visual arts), social meetings where participants had the opportunity to get to know each other better and talk about current events, as well as cultural meetings where they presented the culture, customs and traditions of their country. Within the context of the Session, the participants also had the unique opportunity to attend a virtual tour of the Museum of the Historyn of the Ancient Olympic Games located in Ancient Olympia, by Mr Konstantinos Antonopoulos, to participate in the Olympic Quiz coordinated by Yarden Har Lev as well as to create a unique Olympic torch relay video under the guidance of the coordinators.An important moment of this year’s Session too was the presentation of the experiences of young participants who have participated in Olympic Games. Lena Gabršček from Slovenia, Genevieve Saumur from Canada, Marisleysis Cedeño from Guatemala, Maria Tsouri from Greece, Ka Man Lee from Hong Kong, Ariana Orrego from Peru and Louise Cavenaile from Belgium inspired us with their stories and taught us the power of the Olympic spirit.This year’s Session, unique in all respects, was concluded in an atmosphere of gratitude, emotion, enthusiasm and willingness of all to meet again, next time in Ancient Olympia! The success of this unprecedented endeavour has shown us that this year’s special circumstances, despite their difficulty, have certainly been overcome. The inauspicious atmosphere did not break our spirit, on the contrary it made us more creative and stronger. The IOA will be here for at least the next 60 years, uniting people from all over the world with the power of education and Olympism.