July marks the beginning of the Summer Olympics in London, England. The founder of the modern Olympic games is Pierre de Coubertin. Pierre was born into a French aristocratic family in the 1860s and studied history and education. His biggest influence came from the role of physical education in society. He saw that sports can help build moral and social strength and was greatly influenced by the role that Ancient Greece played in molding the characters of young men through the use of physical education. Coubertin also viewed physical education in practical terms as a way to strengthen the French army which had previously been humiliated by the Prussians in the Franco-Prussian war. Coubertin would become the father of the modern Olympic movement and helped to bring back the summer Olympics in 1906 in Athens, Greece and helped the Olympic games become the world’s most important sports event. In addition, Coubertin also helped to create the ‘modern pentathlon’ event for the 1912 Olympic games. Coubertin helped to strengthen the belief in participation in sports with winning not only being the only important factor at stake. In this month’s quote, Pierre de Coubertin gives us a quote on the benefits in participating in the Olympic games…
| “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. – Pierre de Coubertin |
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