Ah, sports, the joy of the gods, the source of life, you suddenly come to the forest clearing where the busy people live. After reading sports. You are like a radiant messenger, smiling and greeting the elderly. You are like the morning sun appearing on the top of the mountain, illuminating the dim earth...
It was Coubertin who celebrated in Lausanne, Switzerland in April 1919 The speech delivered at the 25th anniversary commemoration of the resumption of the Olympic movement is an important document of the Olympic movement. Coubertin used poetic language to explain the connotation and value of the Olympic spirit.
After a brief review of five years of history, Coubertin explained the differences between the Olympic spirit and the purely competitive spirit. He believes that the pure competitive spirit can only bring athletes a sense of psychological contentment, while the Olympic spirit will bring people a sense of beauty and honor. This is exactly the spirit that Coubertin admired in his heart. In "Ode to Sports", he also sang enthusiastically, praising sports as the embodiment of beauty, art, justice, bravery, honor, fun, vitality, progress and peace.
Coubertin was an educator, and educational thought was the core of his sports thought. In his speech, he explained "the reason for ringing the bell of reopening the Olympic era": based on the desire to reform education. He is dissatisfied with the current situation that "young people are often bound by old and complicated teaching methods, stupid and harsh preaching, and clumsy and superficial philosophy." Comprehensive, balanced and coordinated development. Coubertin once inspected the ruins of the ancient Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and believed that "the ancient Greeks organized competitions not only to exercise physical fitness and show a cheap spectacle, but also to educate people." It can be said that the fundamental purpose of Coubertin's revival of the Olympic Games was to educate young people through sports competition. Therefore, he was determined to "combine the Anglo-Saxon sports utilitarianism with the noble and strong concepts passed down from ancient Greece to create a new Olympic era." era".
How to turn the Olympic spirit into reality? Coubert put forward an important concept: "public" participation, even "citizens with the lowest status" should be able to "enjoy" this spirit . Coubertin's famous saying "It is more important to participate than to win" (also translated as "It is important to participate rather than to win") also emphasizes the essence of this Olympic thought. In another speech, he once pointed out: "Gentlemen, please remember these sonorous sayings. This argument can be extended to many fields. What is important in life is not victory but fighting. The purpose of spreading these maxims is to To create more robust human beings - thus making human beings more rigorous, prudent, brave and noble." It can be seen that Coubertin had a very broad mind in advocating and reviving the Olympic movement, and it was based on the continuous self-improvement of all mankind, and it was by no means a call. People simply fight to win laurels and gold medals.
So, what is the connotation of the Olympic spirit? In paragraph 5, Coubertin gave a detailed explanation. He believes that the Olympic spirit is one of the forces for mankind to absorb ancient traditions and build the future. This power is reflected in: although it is "not enough to ensure social peace", it can still promote peace; although it "cannot allocate production and consumption more evenly to human beings" "the right to obtain material necessities", but it can still promote fairness; although "it cannot provide young people with free opportunities to receive intellectual training", it can still promote education. Peace, fairness, and education are, in his opinion, the complete and democratic Olympic spirit.