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			FROM HISTORY July 26, 2000 Baron Pierre de Coubertin Baron Pierre de Coubertin, French educator, was primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, after nearly 1,500 years of abeyance. He was a founding member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and served as its president from 1896 to 1925. ***** The inaugural games of the modern Olympics were attended by at least 280 participants, all male, representing 13 nations. The athletes competed in 43 events covering athletics, cycling, swimming, gymnastics, weight lifting, wrestling, fencing, shooting, and tennis. The 1896 Olympics featured the first marathon. The race followed the legendary route of Pheidippides, a trained runner who was believed to have been sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the defeat of an invading army in 490 BC. The race became the highlight of the Games and was won by Spyridon Louis, a Greek whose victory earned him the lasting admiration of his nation. ***** The Olympic flag was presented by Coubertin in 1914. It has a white background, and in the centre there are five interlaced rings - blue, yellow, black, green, and red. These rings represent the "five parts of the world" joined together in the Olympic movement. The Olympic flag was introduced at the Antwerpen Games, 1920. ***** At the Congress of Paris in 1894, the control and development of the modern Olympic Games was entrusted to the International Olympic Committee. It is responsible for maintaining the regular celebration of the Olympic Games, seeing that the Games are carried out in the spirit that inspired their revival, and promoting the development of amateur sport throughout the world. The IOC elects its president for a period of eight years, at the end of which he is eligible for reelection for further periods of four years each. Juan António Samaranch (of Spain) was elected in 1980. Previous presidents were Dimítrios Vikélas (1894-96, Greece), Pierre, baron de Coubertin (1896-1925, France), Henri, comte de Baillet-Latour (1925-42, Belgium), J. Sigfrid Edström (1946-52, Sweden), Avery Brundage(1952-72, United States), and Michael Morris, Lord Killanin (1972-80, Ireland). Top of the page Previous page
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