Coubertin’s Mosaic
In 1896, Baron
Pierre de Coubertin created the Modern Olympic Games. The Olympic motto,
"Citius, Altius, Fortius," meaning Swifter, Higher, Stronger, was
borrowed by Coubertin from Father Henri Martin Dideon, the headmaster of Arcueil
College in Paris, in a speech given to describe the great achievements of the
athletes at his school. Another informal motto used by Coubertin came from a
sermon made by the Bishop of Pennsylvania during the 1908 London Games:
"The most important thing is not to win but to take part!" (Wikipedia website, Olympic Symbols)
The
Latin motto with its comparative adjectives pushing insistently for more of
everything translates unusually well to the Postmodern Olympics—faster moving
storylines, more thrilling video, and a firmer hold over the audience across
the communications ether—seems apt as a slogan and business plan for the
electronic version of the Olympic Games as we know them today. The TV Olympics strives for more viewers, more expensive commercial time, and greater visibility for the host city. Coubertin, an educator at
his essence, studied the educational systems of Britain and America and their
emphasis on physical culture and games with the goal of reforming the rigid
French pedagogy. Coubertin switched his attention from reforming the French educational system to creating the Modern
Olympics but retained the same high-mindedness idealism for his new pursuit.
Coubertin was so closely identified
with reviving the Olympics that he was president of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) from 1896-1925 and made Honorary President upon his retirement.
Upon his death, Coubertin’s heart was interred in a marble monument at Olympia
commemorating him as father of the Modern Olympics. The dramatic gesture of
placing Coubertin’s heart in Olympia possesses religious overtones. Coubertin's passion for developing an improbable dream into a quadrennial international gathering resulted in a grand achievement, one of enormous social and
political relevance. The addition of a Winter Olympic Games, starting in 1924,
made the Olympics a biennial event
The Olympic Games, primarily a television experience since the 1950s, corrals the
viewers at home in a digitized, massaged and manipulated format, the ultimate
expression of the television director’s art. Coubertin’s egalitarian Olympic
message somehow survives and reflects Coubertin talent for pragmatism.
Coubertin’s enduring optimism against triumphed over the resistance to the
Modern Games. The Olympic paradigm, established by Coubertin, with its lofty
principles of health, education and world peace, hopefully continues despite
the commercialization of the Games.
Coubertin established a mosaic-like
structure for the Games and fully understood the importance of symbolism,
particularly in the choice of Athens as a first locale for the Modern Olympics.
The Modern Olympics had a surprisingly auspicious start in Athens, Coubertin
having gained the endorsement of the Greek royal family and the citizens. The
Greeks rallied with some of the enthusiasm that characterizes the joyfulness of
the host city to the present day. Interestingly, 1896 Athens greeted the event
with a flair for symbolism not usually associated with sports events. Homes
were decorated with colorful streamers and banners indicated the letters O.A.,
the Greek initials for Olympic Games, and the numbers 776 B.C. and 1896 A.D.,
the dates indicating the beginning year for ancient Games and for the new
Modern Olympics. (MacAloon 208) Symbolism and a sense of historic grandeur
would accompany later Olympic gatherings and reflect Coubertin’s desire for
establishing more than a sports competition.
The Opening Ceremony, full of a
theatrical grandeur not associated with sports competition, showed a marketer’s
instincts for symbolism and drama. The Opening Ceremony provides a festive Act
I, followed by Act II and the sports competition and Act III completion with
the marathon race and Closing Ceremony.
Coubertin’s Act II inspiration was to take advantage of the luster of history
and with “Athletics” events, the term for the track and field events connected
to the ancient Games and expand the number and variety of events to include
swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, shooting, and tennis. The increased palette of sports
guaranteed a wide public appeal, not to mention the likelihood of a wider spectrum
of winners from the 14 participating nations.
American athletes succeeded
mightily at the first Modern Olympic but the Games reached a crescendo of
success when a finally a Greek athlete, Spiridon Louis, crossed the finish line
as winner. Louis was triumphant in the marathon, the event possessing the most
symbolic import for Greeks and every host city needs a hero to call their
own. First and second place winner were awarded silver medals, and an olive
branch and laurel branch respectively. The awarding of medals occurred at the
end of the 1896 Games and provided an exciting Act III finale to go along with
the Closing Ceremony. Coubertin had created a template for an Olympics dense
with tradition, symbolism and drama that lasts to the current day. (Official Souvenir Program, Centennial Olympic Games)
