On the Pnyx, in the presence of the President of the International Olympic Committee Mr Thomas Bach, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Prokopios Pavlopoulos, opened the works of the 59th International Session for Young Participants held in Ancient Olympia.

The Ceremony was attended, among others, by the former Prime Minister and Vice-Chairperson of the International Olympic Truce Foundation, Mr George Papandreou, the Ambassador of the USA to Greece, Mr Geoffrey Pyatt, the President and the General Secretary of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Messrs. Spyros Capralos and Manolis Kolympadis, the IOC Honorary Member in Greece, Lambis Nikolaou, the General Secretary of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games, Mr Iakovos Philippoussis, and the Member of the IOA Ephoria, Mr Gordon Tang.The President of the IOA, Isidoros Kouvelos, welcomed the young men and women from all over the world, stressing inter alia: “The International Olympic Academy has been entrusted with the dissemination of Olympic Values, which it has been carrying out successfully for almost sixty years, developing Olympic Education with all appropriate educational means, at all levels of the Olympic family members.Times have changed and the motto Citius – Altius – Fortius, which the reviver of the Olympic Games promoted in order to put across the importance of physical exercise in particular at the beginning of the previous century, appears to be something relegated to the past!

Perhaps it is time to ‘re-interpret’ Coubertin through the lens of modern developments and the new challenges of our times.I believe that in the modern, politically fragile world, Olympic education must focus on those challenges and attach importance to how to face them from a practical standpoint. That is why, when addressing modern man, we should supplement Citius – Altius – Fortius with the words ‘balanced’, ‘better’, ‘peaceful’ to provide a more modern interpretation of this motto. Because only by achieving all these incitements can one get safely closer to attaining the supreme Olympic Value of Excellence!Olympic Education will serve as your guide, dear friends from all over the world, to discover Olympic culture through it!” The President of the IOC, Thomas Bach stressed that: “The objective of the International Olympic Academy is to preserve this precious Greek heritage and promote the Olympic spirit in our world today.

It acts in many ways as the academic pillar of the Olympic Movement, implementing the educational and social principles of Olympism. In this way, the International Olympic Academy helps and supports the IOC to better pursue our overarching mission to put sport at the service of humanity.This is why I would like to thank everyone at the IOA for their excellent cooperation over the years. In particular, my thanks go to the President of the International Olympic Academy, Isidoros Kouvelos, and the members of the Ephoria. Under their great leadership, the IOA is laying the intellectual foundation for the Olympic spirit to grow strong.In our fragile world today, we need this Olympic spirit more than ever before. Hardly a day goes by without news of rising nationalism, of mistrust and protectionism. In an age of global crises, we are seeing a worrying trend towards more isolation, more separation and less cooperation. Paradoxically, in our digital age, when there are more opportunities for communication than ever before, there is less dialogue and less engagement with people who hold different views.In a world drifting apart, the Olympic Games stand out as the only event that brings the whole world together in peaceful competition.

As the International Olympic Committee celebrates its 125th  anniversary this year, the ideals and values of the Olympic Games, revived by our founder Pierre de Coubertin, are more relevant than ever before.”During the ceremony on the Pnyx, the IOA “Olympia” prize was awarded to Olympic champion Valeriy Borzov, member of the International Olympic Committee in Ukraine, while the “Athena” prize was awarded to the Olympic Academy of Chinese Taipei.The musical interludes were interpreted by the Children’s Choir of the Greek National Opera, direct- ed by Konstantina Pitsiakou and accompanied by pia- nist Maria Neofytidou.