1998 International Olympic Committee

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION 19th JUNE - 2th JULY 1996 1 1998 International Olympic Committee Published and edited jointly by the International Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Academy. Scientific Supervisor: Konstantinos GEORGIADIS/IOA Dean 2 INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY REPORT OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION 19th JUNE - 2th JULY 1996 ANCIENT OLYMPIA 3 IOC COMMISSION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY Chairman Mr Nikos FILARETOS IOC member in Greece Vice-Chairmen Mrs Carol Anne LETHEREN IOC member in Canada Mr Freddy SERPIERIS President of the International Olympic Academy Members Mr Fernando Ferreira Lima BELLO IOC member in Portugal Mr Ivan DIBOS IOC member in Peru Major General Francis NYANGWESO IOC member in Uganda Mr Wlodzimierz RECZEK IOC member in Poland S.E. M. Mohamed 2ERGUINI IOC member in Algeria S.E. M. Anselmo LOPEZ Directeur de la Solidarité Olympique M. Fékrou KIDANE 4 Mr Abdul Muttaleb AHMAD Representative of the NOLs Comte Dieter LANDSBERG-VELEN Representative of the IFs Mr René ROCH Representative of the IFs Mr Peter MONTGOMERY Representative of the Athlete Commission Mrs Helen BROWNLEE Individual Member Mr Conrado DURANTE2 Individual Member Mr Jip KIM Individual Member Mrs Nadia LEKARSKA Individual Member Mr Vasco LYNCE Individual Member Prof. Norbert MULLER Individual Member 5 EPHORIA (BOARD OF TRUSTEES) OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY Honorary Life President H.E. Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH Honorary Vice-President Mr Nikolaos YALOURIS President Mr Freddy SERPIERIS 1st Vice-President Mr Marton SIMITSEK 1st HOC Vice-President 2nd Vice-President Mr Thomas MEDESSIDIS HOC Member Dean Konstantinos GEORGIADIS Members ex officio Nikos FILARETOS IOC Member in Greece Lambis NIKOLAOU IOC Member in Greece Members Dionyssis GANGAS HOC Secretary General Ioannis THEODORAKOPOULOS President of the Hellenic Association for Sports Journalists George KOSMOPOULOS Mayor of Ancient Olympia 6 FOREWORD The programme of events of the International Olympic Academy opened on 30 March with the ceremony of the lighting of the Olympic Flame for the 26th Olym- pic Games in Atlanta and the celebrations marking the centennial of the modern Olympics. The representatives of the Greek government, the members of the Ame- rican delegation, HOC members, the priestesses and approximately 40 Academy alumni from different countries who attended the lighting of the Flame, stayed at the Academy. In the presence of American First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton, before the official lighting of the Flame, a simple ceremony was held at the Pierre de Coubertin grove in honour of the reviver of the modern Olympic Games. The guests then watched the lighting of the flame from the rays of the sun with the help of a concave mirror, in front of the majestic ancient temple of Hera in the sa- cred Altis. The priestesses, led by the head priestess Maria Pambouki, carried the flame to the ancient stadium of Olympia. A beautiful dance performance followed, choreographed by Mrs Hors, as part of the ritual for the delivery of the flame to the first torch runner. For the first time since it was inaugurated, this moving ceremony was watched by about 20,000 spectators. They had gathered since early in the morning on the slopes of the ancient stadium reviving glorious memories from its past, in an atmosphere filled with emotion. The Flame Relay was followed by the group of Academy alumni who, all together, in a symbolic peace march, representing all the peoples of this earth, accompanied the Flame to mount Tayge- tos in the Péloponnèse, over a distance of about 15 km. During the Games' centennial celebrations, the IOC's Executive Board met for the first time in the IOA's facilities, on 5 April, under the chairmanship of Juan An- tonio Samaranch. The meeting was attended by IOC Vice-Presidents Dr. Un Yong Kim, Mr. Marc Hodler, Prince Alexandre de Merode, H.E. Mr. Pal Schmitt and members of the Executive Board, Mr. Richard W. Pound, Mr. Ahwini Kumar, Mrs Anita DeFrantz, H.E. Judge Keba Mbaye, Mr. Zhenliang He and Mr. Richard Kevan Gosper. On the occasion of that official meeting a commemorative plaque was unveiled in the hall of the new Conference Centre by the President of the IOC. Mr. Sa- maranch also inaugurated the IOA's new library, expressing the wish to contribute 7 to its equipment. The modern library of the IOA is one of the best sports libraries in the world; together with the new conference facilities it marks a new start in the Academy's work. The IOC members who attended the meeting had the opportunity to get better acquainted with the Academy's work and activities. As part of the centennial events, an official ceremony was organized by the Hellenic Olympic Committee on 5 April in the old Parliament Building, in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. C. Stefanopoulos, the Presi- dent of the IOC, H.E. Juan Antonio Samaranch and the Mayor of Athens Mr. Avra- mopoulos. A cup which was the exact replica of the cup offered by Michel Breal to the winner of the Marathon race in 1896 was awarded to all three. There were also two highly successful exhibitions at the Zappeion: the World Exhibition of Olympic Stamps and Memorabilia and the exhibition «the Mind and the Body" from 25/3 to 10/4. Festivities culminated in the ceremony that was held in the Panathenean Sta- dium on 6 April, in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic C. Ste- fanopoulos and IOC President J. A. Samaranch, to commemorate the revival of the Olympic Games. Invited athletes from the 13 countries which took part in the first international Olympic Games competed in track and field events in a packed Pa- nathenean Stadium. The celebrations for the centennial of the Olympic Games en- ded with a torch relay run by athletes from the 22 cities that have staged summer Olympics. For the record, the names of the Olympic winners who took part in the symbolic torch relay in the Panathenean Stadium and the cities which they repre- sented are listed at the end of this introduction.(1) This year also marked the 36th anniversary of the Academy's operation. During the simple but beautiful ceremony on the hill of the Pnyx, Professors John Powell (Canada) and Nicolaos Yalouris (Greece) were honoured with the gold Kotinos of the Academy. Mr. Conrado Durantez (Spain) was awarded a replica of the sculpture of Victory which stands on the Academy's grounds. Mr. Schizas' (Greece) long-standing contribution to the HOC and the IOA was also recognized, while Mr. Petros Linardos, sports journalist and historian, received the IOC's Centennial Olympic Games Trophy. The events continued in the IOA's facilities in Ancient Olympia. The 36th Session opened with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the steles of Pierre de Coubertin and John Ketseas and Carl Diem. Officials gathered there to the sound of music. Following a presentation on the history of the stele, eight discussion group coordinators representing all continents read short extracts from the work of Coubertin which reflected his ideas on the revival of the Olympic Games, their significance, Olympism and Olympic Education. A shiver went through the audience when Coubertin's tape recorded voice could be heard through the loudspeakers delivering his Olympic message for the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Then, sculptures generously donated to the IOA on the occasion of its 36th anniversary by the NOCs of Guatemala and Saudi Arabia were unveiled. Today, in 8 the luscious green grounds of the IOA, there are 6 sculptures altogether, including the sculpture offered by the National Olympic Committee of Korea and the three works created by Greek artists. Our objective is to create an Olympic Sculptures Park with works from all over the world in the Academy's open spaces. The academic part of the Session started with the lectures by guest professors. The level of these lectures was exceptionally good. All speakers used audiovisual equipment to attract the interest of their audience. The first three lectures, on historic subjects, were delivered by the President of the Academy, Mr. Serpieris, Professor Yalouris and Dean Georgiadis. The Presi- dent of the Academy presented the work of the Academy from 1991 to this day and outlined the areas of its future development. Professor Yalouris, basing himself on documentary evidence, spoke of the in- fluence of excavations at the sanctuaries of Olympia and Delphi on the revival of the Olympic Games. The Dean of the Academy presented the history of the revival of the first modern Olympics in Athens and their impact on the Greek and world communities at the time. On the second day of the Session, participants had the opportunity to ex- change views with IOC member Mr. Willi Kaltschmitt Lujan. They made good use of the time available to present all their queries on the Olympic Movement and the IOC. They also put a number of questions about the IOC to lecturer Mr. Carlos Montserrat. The IOC Head of Personnel described the IOC's activities before and during the Games. On the following days, there were also very interesting lectures. The President of the Spanish National Olympic Academy, Mr Conrado Durantez, presented the life, work and ideas of humanist Pierre de Coubertin, with the support of abundant photographic material. Professor Mr Ian Jobling explained how his idea of bringing simple citizens and school students closer to the Olympic Idea was realized by organizing an Olympic train journey along the eastern coast of Australia. Presenting his «Comparative study on the social status, role and problems of athletes in Athens 1896 and Atlanta 1996", Professor Ed.

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