Introduction

Olympism can be defined, understood, and applied in many forms: as a philosophy, a perspective, a theory, a world view, an attitude, or a way of life, among other interpretations. Regardless of the form or the content, the ideas inherent in modern understandings of Olympism have evolved from ideas dating back to ancient Greece, to a powerful framework for addressing values and ethics through sport. Tracing the evolution of Olympism begins with an examination of ancient Greek philosophy, progresses to explore Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of the moral and educational potential of sport, and culminates with the ways in which National Olympic Academies and Committees worldwide apply the values inherent in Olympism in meaningful ways today. Thus, renewal and adaption, the main themes of the 55th International Session for Young Participants, characterize the evolution of Olympism very well.

Ancient Olympism

Insight into what people valued in ancient Greece can be interpreted from many surviving sources, including Homer’s writing in the 8th century BC and Plato’s writings from the 4th and 5th centuries BC. Homer’s epic poems, the Odyssey and the Iliad, inform us about how ancient Greek city-states and societies functioned, what people valued, and the ideals to which people ascribed. Jumping ahead many centuries, Plato’s work provides additional insight into what people valued in ancient Greek life. Book V of Plato’s Republic, in which Socrates and his interlocutors attempt to describe an ideal system of education, acknowledges that sport aids in the pursuit of the virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Socrates argued that the ideal environment for schooling was the gymnasium, which provided space for students to complete their physical, moral, and intellectual education. This system of education envisioned the gymnasium as a space where a harmonious curriculum would be taught, supplementing training in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and dialectics with poetry, music, military training, and “gymnastics” in the form of running, wrestling, boxing, ballgames, and other physical activities (Olivova, 1984, p. 5; Plato, 1945, p. 235–263).

Physical education was included for the purpose of developing character; according to Plato, “physical training, no less than education in literature and the arts, has to do with the soul” (Plato, 1945, p. 93). Furthermore, he elaborated, “together, physical training and the arts produce a harmonious development of the spirited and the philosophic elements in human character” (p. 93). Plato’s athletic accomplishments in wrestling demonstrate his dedication to developing both his mind and body through participating in sport, and his advocacy for an education including sports helps cement the perceived connection between ancient Greek athletics and education.

Plato clarified in his writing that physical training as a part of a harmonious education differs drastically from physical training done solely to become a better athlete. Writing about the relevance of physical education in creating an ideal society, Plato noted that training only the body produces disharmony at the expense of the other aspects of the personality, which invariably prevents the athlete from achieving kalokagathia. Similarly, in Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle condemned “all exaggerated unilateral development whether mental or physical” (p. 39) and was adamant that developing the body alone was not enough to give meaning to one’s life. However, Young’s (2005) translation of Aristotle’s Politics (1339a-b) suggests that Aristotle viewed physical and mental training as simultaneously incompatible pursuits and recommended their separation into different years of study. Regardless, it is clear that some of the greatest ancient philosophers recognized the merits of developing a harmoniously balanced personality, for the cultivation of which, they believed, sport played a significant role.

Among the values associated with ancient Greece are eudaimonia, arete, and kalokagathia. Eudaimonia translates directly as “happiness” but implies a broader form of human flourishing that one can only attain through leading a virtuous life. Arete refers broadly to virtue and human excellence. In order to achieve arete, people had to develop their minds, bodies, and souls in a balanced way. This harmonious balance was represented by two Greek words

– kalos (roughly meaning beautiful), and agathos (meaning what is good, noble, and learned), neither of which has a direct English translation. The

closest the English language comes to matching and providing a definition for the word kalokagathia is with phrases such as “the harmonious personality”, “the cultivation of both the body and the mind” and “the struggle between the physical and the intellect to create a healthy and virtuous person” (Olivova, 1984, pp. 1–4). These ancient ideals influenced Pierre de Coubertin heavily as he conceived of reviving the Olympic Games, and elements of all three persist in our current understanding of Olympism.

Some classical studies scholars note that the athletes who competed at the ancient Olympic festivals ascribed to the notion of kalokagathia (Reid, 2012), but not all agree. In contrast, others conclude that the ancient Olympics were not the idealized grounds for striving for arete and kalokagathia that some people today declare they were. As Jim Parry explains, “the myths of ancient virtue and modern depravity can no longer be sustained. Again, the value of participation rather than winning is more a creation of Victorian amateurs than ancient Greeks” (Parry, 1988, p. 82). Evidence of athletes cheating, bribing, and intentionally injuring their opponents when competing at Olympia, and other ancient festivals, demonstrates that the ancient Greek educational values were not always witnessed on the field of play (Young, 2005). Yet the association of the ancient Games with the pursuit of arete and kalokagathia remains strong, and values such as honour, peace, perseverance, and noble competition remain closely associated with the ancient Olympic competitors, a fact that many people attribute to one man: Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Coubertin’s vision of Olympism

After excavations resumed in Olympia in the 1800s, many Western European intellectuals, including Pierre de Coubertin of France, developed an interest in ancient Greek culture. For Coubertin, this interest led to increasingly bold ideas about reviving the ancient festivals. In the late 1800s, the average person had very little knowledge of what life was like in ancient Greece, what people valued many hundreds years ago, and what the ancient Olympic values might have signified. Coubertin’s interest in reviving the ancient Games was widespread and complicated. His motivation was not to generate profits and gain international fame and recognition, but to revamp the French physical educational system by providing youth with something to strive to achieve. This aspiration came about after witnessing German forces occupy France in his youth, and a desire to improve the general health and well-being of the population. As a young man, Coubertin traveled throughout Britain, North America, and Europe studying models of physical education in schools. Drawing inspirations from the many models he saw, he developed a physical fitness program that stressed gymnastics, the values associated with Muscular Christianity, and his interpretation of the virtues espoused by the ancient Olympic athletes. As scholar and Olympian Bruce Kidd (1984) explains, “dressing his games in the image of antiquity proved to be a masterstroke of public relations” and “linking to antiquity gave universal character to the Games” (p. 71). Coubertin’s most noble intention was to use the Olympic Games to educate the youth of the world on peace, goodwill, and fair play by bringing young people from all nations together for friendly, peaceful competitions. He felt that international competition could develop character in athletes, in addition to developing the body.

Combining his understanding of the ancient Olympic Games with the ethos of Muscular Christianity and Victorian liberal ideals, Coubertin developed a liberal philosophy, which he called Olympism (Parry, 1988). Coubertin’s Olympism constituted a “broad educational movement that, through the activity of sport and culture, would enhance human development and generally make the world a better place” (Kidd, 1996, p. 83). Education played a large role in Coubertin’s Olympism, and involved “a grand attempt to fuse academic training with moral and physical education” (Lucas, 1988, p. 95). As part of his vision of Olympism, Coubertin wanted Olympic participants to embody the Greek notion of kalokagathia; reference to this idea became prevalent in his oft-used phrase “Mens fervida in corpore lacertoso [a fervent spirit in a well-trained body]” (Coubertin, 1911 as cited in Müller, 2000, p. 212). To promote the inclusion of the total personality, Coubertin intended the Olympic Games to inspire competitors’ artistic and intellectual sides, in addition to their physical and athletic skills. He believed one way to do so was by incorporating fine arts competitions into the program of events. As Coubertin had studied Greek philosophy and understood the importance of kalokagathia in ancient Greek life, he was convinced that people could achieve excellence through “the pursuit of sport in the name of progress and social and cultural unity” (Segrave, 1988, p. 58) as well as through religion, art, and politics (Bandy, 1988, p. 65).

Coubertin believed that sport helped people develop self-knowledge, and he once answered the question of what Olympism involved with the following response: “It is the religion of energy, the cultivation of intense will developed through the practice of manly sports, based on proper hygiene and public- spiritedness, surrounded with art and thought” (Coubertin, 1918 as cited in Müller, 2000, p. 44). The influence of ancient Greek philosophy on Coubertin’s philosophy of Olympism is evident. Horton summarized this thought nicely in his work Revival of Olympian Games in 1896, when he wrote: “All of us who love beauty, peace, athletics, who have done no ‘impiety or sacrilege,’ who believe in fair play, are advocates of Olympism and ‘are Greeks in the highest sense’” (as cited in Lucas, 1988, p. 96). Through participation in sporting and artistic events in morally and socially acceptable ways, Coubertin believed people could develop excellence in their physical, intellectual, and spiritual personalities.

Modern applications of Olympism

In practice, the philosophy of Olympism has been critiqued as being vague, lofty, and even contradictory in de-emphasizing total dedication to training. Jim Parry’s (2006) distinction between concepts (general statements) and conceptions (specific interpretations of these broad statements) helps explain how people can develop multiple or particular understandings of the same universal idea, which in turn helps explain why one simple, precise, and universal definition of Olympism is not the goal. Acknowledging that people can and will hold many different conceptions of any given concept (Gallie, 1956), it becomes clear that numerous conceptions of the concept of Olympism are thus not only possible, but are expected to emerge. A review of the literature addressing Olympism demonstrates that there is considerable variation in how athletes, members of the Olympic family, and scholars understand the essential elements of Olympism (Teetzel, 2012). As a starting point, the Olympic Charter includes in its introductory remarks many descriptors that, when combined, present an account of Olympism. Key phrases, such as joy of effort, harmonious development, dignity, mutual understanding, human rights, and non-discrimination, are used to describe the philosophy of Olympism (IOC, 2014). Pierre de Coubertin’s numerous articles on Olympism have been characterized as an eclectic, and often contradictory, mix of ideas and philosophies that without adequate background knowledge can appear superficial and unsystematic (DaCosta, 2002, p. 42). Simplifying the multiple conceptions Coubertin espoused, communications from the IOC now often identify three particular values as the Olympic values: excellence, friendship, and respect (IOC, 2015).

Impactful definitions of Olympism presented by scholars who have contributed to the study of Olympic values and the Olympic Movement include M. H. Eyler’s (1981) work, which focused on distinction, duty, excellence, glorious deeds, goodness, greatness, valour and virtue, and Nikos Filaretos’ (2004), which placed emphasis on education, human thinking, fair play, antidiscrimination, mutual respect, and cooperation. In addition, the values inherent in Peter Arnold’s (1996) analysis of Olympism stressed the importance of fairness, equality, friendship, justice, honesty and courage. Jim Parry’s (2004) writing emphasized equality, fairness, justice, respect for persons, autonomy and excellence, while Lamartine DaCosta’s (2002) conception gave primacy to pluralism, ancient Greek ideals, and athleticism. Among these conceptions there are identifiable overlappings in the areas of equality, respect, and ethical behaviour. Equality, with emphasis on non-discrimination and respect for human rights broadly construed, plays a central role, alongside the concept of respect, which encompasses fair play, justice and respect for the rules, traditions, and opponents. Overlap in the area of ethical behaviour focuses on the modern and ancient values of honour and moral excellence.

Conceptions of Olympism can differ throughout different time periods and geographical areas. Recognizing that the Olympic ideals, like all ideals, are by definition unattainable, it is the pursuit of these ideals that is encouraged and morally significant. Similar to the pursuit of any ideal, failing to see the philosophy of Olympism come to fruition does not mean that pursuing Olympism is a futile process. An important question that arises is what type of virtues and values sport can promote (Gough, 1997). The easy answer is the virtues contained with the philosophy of Olympism; however, there is often a matter of public policy at play as well. For example, many extreme sports, some of which appear on the program of the Olympic Winter Games, contain an element of danger. Yet these sports also develop in athletes the pursuit of honour, the development of courage and responsibility, and provide outlets for risk-taking impulse or thrillseeking in a safer and controlled environment (Russell, 2005).

Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of sport emphasized the promotion of ethical, spiritual, and educational values. What Coubertin aspired to pass on to generations of students and young athletes was not the glory that Olympic champions might attain, or even the importance of victory. Coubertin did not intend educators to teach students about Olympism simply through lecturing and assigning readings to complete; instead, Coubertin envisioned Olympism as a living idea that one cultivates through practice and role modeling (Müller, 2000). His goal was to inspire people toward a lifelong orientation to personal development and moral excellence. In doing so, Olympism has evolved to become a “lifeworld orientation” (Naul, 2008) emphasizing moral excellence, similar to the pursuit of the well-lived and flourishing life. Consequently, in pursuing excellence, it is not simply athletic excellence that is desirable, but moral excellence and personal growth are of utmost importance.

In this pursuit, there is the possibility of conflating the philosophy of Olympism and Olympic education with Olympic propaganda. Not all Olympic education programs are value-driven or align with the values that form the backbone of Olympism. Curricula may lean toward indoctrination if they contain heavy emphasis on nationalistic reasons for winning, or are designed exclusively to attract the most talented young athletes to sport (Teetzel, 2014). National sports days, for example, have the potential to fall within this category if the intention behind these events is simply to recruit talented young athletes to win Olympic medals in the future after intensive training and coaching. On the other hand, sports days that seek to introduce new sports to youth athletes in order to inspire a love of sport and lifelong pursuit of excellence function differently and align well with the philosophy of Olympism. As a concept, Olympism has evolved over the course of the modern Olympic Movement. Using value-based Olympic education programs, organized by many nations’ National Olympic Academies and Committees, the philosophy of Olympism continues to be discussed, promoted, and developed in order to showcase the value of participating in sport.

Conclusion

Coubertin drew on his interpretation of ancient Greek educational values, his appreciation of the Victorian requirements of amateurism and fair play, and his belief in the value of physical education to convince his peers on the International Olympic Committee that the philosophy of Olympism was worth promoting. His insistence that the Olympic Games had to be about more than sport, ensured the philosophy of Olympism was included in the Olympic Charter and as an integral component of the Olympic Movement. However, his views, by today’s standards, particularly with respect to his focus on aristocratic young male competitors at the expense of women and the working class, were far from inclusive and functioned to restrict amateur status, and thus eligibility, to privileged male athletes in many events (Coubertin, 1935 in Müller, 2000, pp. 580–583). Today, particularly with the passing of Agenda 2020, the successful development of the Youth Olympic Games, and the continued investment in the educational aspects of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Movement is repositioning itself to allow for the continued evolution of the philosophy of Olympism.

‍

References

Arnold, P. J. (1996). Olympism, sport, and education. Quest, 48, 93–101.

Bandy, S. J. (1988). The Olympic celebration of the arts. In J. O. Segrave and D. Chu (ed.), The Olympic Games in Transition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Coubertin, P. (1918). Les gardins de l’effort. Almanach olympique pour 1918, 4. In N. Müller (ed.), Olympism: Selected Writings, 44. Lausanne: IOC, 2000.

Coubertin, P. (1911). Mens fervida in corpore lacertoso. Revue Olympique, 99–100. In N. Müller (ed.), Olympism: Selected Writings, 212–213. Lausanne: IOC, 2000.

DaCosta, L. (2002). Olympic Studies: Current Intellectual Crossroads. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Gama Filho.

Eyler, M. H. (1981). The right stuff. In Report of the 21st Session of the International Olympic Academy, 159–168. Athens: International Olympic Academy.

Filaretos, N. (2004). Introduction on Olympism through the works of the International Olympic Academy. In International Olympic Academy Proceedings of the Fortyfourth Session 23 May – 6 June 2004, 63–70. Ancient Olympia: International Olympic Academy.

Gallie, W. B. (1956). Essentially contested concepts. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 56, 167–198.

Gough, R. (1997). Character is Everything: Promoting Ethical Excellence in Sports. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Hughes, G. J., (ed.), Aristotle on Ethics. London: Routledge.

IOC (2015). Agenda 2020. Available at: http://www.olympic.org/documents/ olympic_ agenda_2020/olympic_agenda_2020-20-20_recommendations-eng.pdf

IOC (2015). Olympism in action. Available at: http://www.olympic.org/olympism-in- action

IOC (2014). Olympic Charter. Lausanne: IOC.

Kidd, B. (1996). Taking the rhetoric seriously: Proposals for Olympic education. Quest, 48, 82–92.

Kidd, B. (1984). The myth of the ancient Games. In A. Tomlinson and G. Whannel (eds.), Five Ring Circus: Money, Power and Politics at the Olympic Games. London: Plus Press.

Lucas, J. A. (1988). The genesis of the modern Olympic Games. In J. O. Segrave and D. Chu (eds.), The Olympic Games in Transition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Müller, N. (2000). Olympism: Selected Writings. Lausanne: IOC.

Naul, R. (2008). Olympic Education. Oxford: Meyer & Meyer Verlag.

Olivova, V. (1984). Sports and Games in the Ancient World. London: Orbis.

Parry, J. (2006). Sport and Olympism: Universals and multiculturalism. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 33(2), 188–204.

Parry, J. (2004). Olympism and its ethic. In International Olympic Academy Proceedings of the Forty-fourth Session 23 May – 6 June 2004, 86–102. Ancient Olympia:International Olympic Academy.

Parry, J. (1988). Olympism at the beginning and end of the 20th century. In Report of the International Olympic Academy 28th Session. Athens: IOC and Hellenic Olympic Committee.

Plato [1945]. The Republic. Translated by F. M. Cornford. London: Oxford University Press.

Powell, J. T. (1994). Origins and Aspects of Olympism. Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing.

Reid, H. (2012). Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World: Contests of Virtue. London: Routledge.

Russell, J. S. (2005). The value of dangerous sport. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 32(1), 1–19.

Sansone, D. (1988). Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Segrave, J. O. (1988). Toward a definition of Olympism. In J. O. Segrave and D. Chu, (eds.) The Olympic Games in Transition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Teetzel, S. (2014). Values-based approaches to Olympic education. Sport Science (Sporto Mokslas), 75(1), 28–32.

Teetzel, S. (2012). Optimizing Olympic education: A comprehensive approach to understanding and teaching the philosophy of Olympism. Educational Review, 64(3), 317–332.

Torres, C. R. (2004). Ethics and Olympic Games. In International Olympic Academy Proceedings of the 44th Session. Ancient Olympia: International Olympic Academy.

Young, D. (2005). Mens sana in corpore sano? Body and mind in Ancient Greece. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 22(1), 22–41.

‍

‍

TEETZEL Sarah,"Olympism: The Evolution",in:K.Georgiadis (ed.), Olympic Movement: The process of renewal adaption, 55thInternational Session for Young Participants (Ancient Olympia,23/5-6/6/2015),InternationalOlympic Academy, Athens, 2016, pp.107-117.

‍

‍