INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY TWENTIETH SESSION 15/6 - 1/7/1980 OLYMPIA Published by the Hellenic Olympic Committee 4, Kapsali Street Athens (138) — Greece Editor: Otto Szymiczek, Dean of the International Olympic Academy Printed by: «ATLANTCS — M. PechHvanides & Co» S.A. REPORT OF THE TWENTIETH SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY AT OLYMPIA 1981 In view of the forthcoming 1980 Olympic Games, and the very heavy pressures on my time, it will not be possible for me to be present at the 20th Session of the International Olympic Academy. I sincerely hope that the discussions on the subject "From the Olympic Games to Olympism" will be creative and of assistance to the Olympic Move- ment in these difficult times. LORD KILLANIN President of the International Olympic Committee Quotation of message upon the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 20th Session of the I.O.A. on the hill of the Pnyx, 16th June 1980. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Ε Ρ Η Ο R I A OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY President Nicolaos NISSIOTIS I.O.C. Member in Greece, 1st Vice-Président of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. 1st Vice-Président Cleanthis PALAEOLOGOS Hon. Director of the National Academy of Physical Education, Bronze medal of Olympic Order. 2nd Vice-President Michael MASTRANDREAS Member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, President of the Hellenic Federation of Volley-ball. Dean Otto SZYMICZEK President of the International Track and Field Coaches Association, Bron/.e medal of Olympic Order. Members Vice-Admiral (Rt.) Pyrros LAPPAS I.O.C. member in Greece. Nikos FILARETOS Secretary General of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Secretary General of the I.C.M.G. Marc TZOUMARAS Member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Nikolaos YALOURIS Director of Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture Director Director S. CHRISTODOULOU of the Museum of Modern Olympic Games Jacques KARYOTAKIS INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY President : Mohamed MZALI I.O.C. Member in Tunisia Members : Dr. Giorgio de STEFANI : I.O.C. Member in Italy : Alexandru SIPERCO I.O.C. Member in Romania : Vice-Admiral Pyrros LAPPAS I.O.C. Member in Greece : Nicolaos NISSIOTIS I.O.C. Member in Greece FOREWORD OF THE TWENTIETH SESSION OF THE INTERNATIO- NAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY — 1980 We can consider this issue of the International Olympic Academy as a special one, since the 20th session of the I.O.A. has now taken place. This means that an institution, discreetly founded in 1961 by two distinguished per- sonalities, Carl Diem and John Ketseas, is now solidly established in the conscience of the true friends of the Olympic Idea all over the world. We can honestly say that the celebration for the 20th anniversary of the International Olympic Academy was impressive, though not official, com- prising many different and significant activities at the I.O.A. lasting for over two months. Apart from the 20th regular international session, attended by 47 countries and many delegates, other sessions took place as well: the 4th session for Educationists, the 10th session for Greek Educationists in Second Grade Education, the 1st session for representatives and officials of the Olympic Committees of the Arab countries. The I.O.A. hosted groups of young pupils from Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Germany, France, Belgium as well as students of the Physical Education College in Israel. The I.O.A. was also visited by the delegates of the International Congress of Diabetologists, by the member of NATO's subcommittee P-BEIST-SE and by the Chairmen and the General Secretaries of the Social and Economic Council of the EEC. The I.O.A. also hosted the members of the Council of the International Sports Press Federation. On all those occasions, special meetings were organised with many lectures about the aims and the educational programme of the I.O.A. All sections of the I.O.A. functioned impeccably during all sessions. Whene- ver the I.O.A. hosted groups of people from different countries, not a single complaint or remark was made about the programme of work, the quality of the lecturers, the discussions in groups, the services of the officials and the secretariat, the helpfulness of the staff, the tasty food and the sleeping and recreation facilities. Such an intense programme of activities and sessions as demonstrated by the I.O.A., becomes even more significant if one takes into account the turmoil caused in international sports and in the Olympic world after the serious dispute between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union on the political issue of Afghanistan. There was a widespread concern after the decision of the U.S.A. and of other countries, to boycott the Moscow Olympic Games. Even under such adverse circumstances, the I.O.A. proved that it could faithfully and consistently honour the Olympic Idea. It implemented its pro- gramme without being influenced or impeded. 11 At all sessions, the educational programme of the I.O.A. included the sub- jects of Olympism (History, Philosophy, Administration), as well as a special subject which was discussed in detail. Discussions were held in small English- speaking or French-speaking groups. Each group presented a paper containing the conclusions of the discussions and then a special committee prepared the general conclusions of the subjects discussed. This final paper was read at the closing ceremony. The educational programme also included sightseeing of the archaeological sites, film presentations of the various Olympic Games as well as athletic and recreational events. During this year's sessions and especially during the 20th one, more time was allocated for discussions. The papers of the official speeches were printed in Greek, French and English. We had great difficulties in the past in order to prepare the copies, but now we use a RANK-XEROX machine which facilita- tes our work enormously. Groups of distinguished lecturers guaranteed the success of the sessions. A characteristic of this year's sessions was the fact that because of the Olympic Games, no member of the I.O.C, was present, apart from Prof. N.Nissiotis who lectured not only at the three International Sessions but also at the Session for Greek Educationists. We must make a special mention of the contribution of Prof. Dr. Fernand LANDRY (Canada) and Prof. John POWELL (Canada), who remained present during the whole 20th Session and the 4th International Session for Greek Educationists and of Mr. Cl. Palaeo- logos, who lectured at all five sessions on a subject chosen from the history of sports in ancient Greece. During the 20th Session the list of speakers who had already lectured at the I.O.A. and whose cooperation was highly appreciated, included Prof. Dr. Lis. DIEM, Prof. Sara JERNIGAN, Dr. Jean LEIPER, Mr. Vernon MORGAN. The new speakers were Dr. Jürge MOLTMAN (Germany), Mr. Geoffroy de NAVACELLE (France), President of the International Committee Pierre de Coubertin, Mr. Christian ORTLOFF (USA) who spoke about the 1980 Winter Olympic Games of Lake Placid and Mr. V. STOLIAROV (USSR) who spoke about the preparation for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Mr. Otto Szymiczek (Dean of the I.O.A.) lectured at all sessions with the exception of the Session for Educationists in Elementary Education. The speech of Mr. Henri DIEUZEIDE (France) Director of the Section of Structure and Content of Education of UNESCO at the 4th Session for Educationists was favourably commented as were the speeches of Mr. Bernard JEU(France) and Mr. Simon McNEELY (USA). Mr. Solon ZACHAROF (Greece), Co-director of Athens College lectured for the first time at the IOA as did Mr. N. CHIONIDIS (Greece) who analysed Pindar's Olympic Ode. At the 1st Session for Members and Officials of the National Olympic Committees of the Arab Countries, Mr. Luc. SILANCE (Belgium) though 12 contacted at the last minute, arrived and covered a great part of the educatio- nal program as a lecturer. We highly appreciated his contribution. We can generally say that the qualifications of the participants were better compared to those of the previous sessions. This was certainly due to the fact that in most ^countries the perspective I.O.A. participants are now carefully selected and prepared. Another reason was the fact that among the partici- pants — I am referring to the 20th session — there were older people holding distinguished positions in the athletic hierarchy. The spirit of cooperation between speakers and audience was good and with the help of simultaneous interpretation there were no language difficulties. The great interest of the I.O.C, and the appreciation of the work of the I.O.A. is demonstrated by the final support given to the National Olympic Committees by the Special Committee of "Olympic Solidarity". "Olympic Solidarity" covers the participation fees of one man and one woman from every Olympic Committee at the yearly session of the I.O.A. 56 people coming from 42 countries were granted a scholarship in order to participate in the 20th session. Given that to each National Olympic Commit- tee two separate scholarships are granted — one for a man and one for a woman — there could have been 84 scholarships given for 42 participating countries. But some countries didn't know the exact prerequisites for the scholarships and set one male participant only, thus missing the advantage of the second scholarship. When those countries asked for a second scholarship we did inform them that the rule was to grant one to a man and one to a woman. Scholarships were also requested for the International Session for Educationists. The I.O.A. was even asked by SRI LANKA, through repeated télégrammes, to pay the airfare for the participation of its delegation.