Coubertin 1863 was born in a Catholic aristocratic family in Paris, France. My father is a royalist bureaucrat, and my mother is engaged in charity and a devout believer. Coubertin is the youngest child in his family. Since childhood, he has a wide range of interests in sports. He likes boxing, boating, fencing and horseback riding. He has been smart and studious since he was a child. After studying, he worshipped Father Caron, a well-read rhetoric teacher. Therefore, he became interested in the course of literature and history and dabbled in the splendid culture of ancient Greece with great interest. After graduating from high school, he went to the military school and then continued his education. In order to further his studies, he went to England to study. There, he devoted himself to studying the history of British education and wrote an academic paper on Thomas Arnot, a British child educator in the18th century. Arnot once said: Physical education is an activity of self-education for teenagers. In Coubertin's mind, this famous saying sparked the spark of joining sports. At that time, he also inspected the current situation of education and sports in Britain, and expressed his appreciation for the physical education class, extracurricular sports activities and frequent outings in the schools there. He hopes that French schools can also set up physical education class to cultivate students' collectivism and the spirit of hard exercise and physical fitness. At that time, he was deeply saddened by the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and hoped to revitalize France by reforming education and strengthening people's physique.
Influenced by ancient Greek culture and British bourgeois education at that time, he gradually sprouted the idea of reforming the French education system and advocating sports. After graduating from college, Coubertin ignored his parents' advice, set foot in the military and legal fields, and resolutely chose the road of education and sports.
After returning to China, he has published a series of works, such as French History after 1870, Reform of Education System, Guiding Principles of Sports, Ideal of Sports Psychology, Memories of Britain and Greece, and British Pedagogy. And put forward many suggestions on reforming education and developing sports, which attracted the attention of the French people and had a certain international influence.
During the period of 1875- 188 1, with the efforts of European archaeologists, the ruins of the ancient Olympic Games in the process of destruction were continuously excavated, and the excavation results were announced soon every year. Therefore, Coubertin, like other people interested in Olympia, can listen to the announcement in time and in detail. In this regard, he put forward a very valuable excavation plan. At that time, he wrote: "The Germans have excavated the ruins of Olympia, but why can't France begin to restore its glorious ancient history?"
In order to realize his ambition, Coubertin crossed the English Channel westward to investigate the development of British sports. From 65438 to 0887, he made a report on "Comparison of Secondary Education Systems between France and Britain", spoke highly of Britain's inclusion of outdoor competitive games in education, and advocated that competitive games should also be carried out among French students, and educational reform should focus on sports. 1May 888, Coubertin pointed out that students were overworked because of heavy schoolwork: "The only solution is to let children play." At that time, Coubertin became the Secretary-General of the Preparatory Committee for Physical Education Training in French Schools. The following year, under the impetus of St. Clay, the "French Sports Federation" was established. In the same year, Coubertin represented France in the sports training conference held in Boston, USA. During the meeting, he learned about the development of world sports in detail, and deeply felt that the development of modern sports was moving towards internationalization, and a number of international individual sports federations were established one after another. For example, 188 1, the International Gymnastics Federation was established; 1 1892, the International Rowing Federation and the International Skating Federation were established. These organizations laid the foundation for the birth of the modern Olympic Games.
In order to further investigate the development of sports in various countries, Coubertin took pains to visit some European countries. 1890, he visited Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic movement for the first time in his life. When he saw the remains of the ancient Olympic Games, he was deeply moved, and he came up with the idea of hosting the Olympic Games in which all countries participated, so as to enhance the friendship between athletes from all countries.
This year, Coubertin was entrusted by the French government to investigate and study the sports work in universities, so he took this opportunity to send out questionnaires on the sports situation to many countries in the world. Through investigation, he found that international sports organizations are full of contradictions and chaos, and the opposition is very serious, and sports are becoming more and more commercialized. Therefore, he realized that the historical experience and traditional influence of ancient Greek sports can be used to promote international sports, and deeply felt that the modern Olympic Games should be established with the ancient Olympic spirit as soon as possible, and the competition should be guided with the spirit of "unity, friendship and peace" to eliminate all kinds of chaotic and unhealthy tendencies in the sports field. Therefore, he actively started the work of establishing the modern Olympic Games.
189 1 year, Coubertin reorganized "Julius Simon Committee" into "Sports High Council". In the same year, he also founded Sports Review magazine, and used it as a position to enthusiastically publicize his sports thoughts. At that time, Father Didong, an admirer of Coubertin, founded an academic club and put forward the slogan of "Faster, Higher and Stronger". Coubertin appreciated and agreed with this slogan very much, and later used it as the slogan of the international Olympic Games. Because it embodies the spirit of eternal upward and continuous progress of mankind.
1892165438+1On October 25th, Coubertin delivered a speech entitled "Reviving the Olympics" at the 3rd anniversary meeting of the French Sports Federation, and he formally put forward the initiative of establishing the modern Olympic Games for the first time.
In order to realize this initiative quickly, Coubertin proposed that the French Sports Federation should initiate and hold an "international sports conference" attended by representatives of important sports federations from all over the world to discuss the revival of the Olympic Games. To this end, a "Preparatory Committee" headed by Coubertin and composed of social celebrities from Britain, the United States and France was established. Later, he traveled across the ocean to Britain, the United States and other countries to further promote the concept of reviving the Olympic Games. Under his impetus, 1893 held an international sports consultation meeting in Paris to discuss the establishment of a modern Olympic Games.
After years of hard work and careful preparation by Coubertin and his colleagues, the "Restoration of the Olympic Games Congress" was successfully held in Paris from June 6 to June 24, 1994. 79 official representatives from 12 European and American countries attended the meeting. At this historic meeting, the Charter for the Restoration of the Olympic Movement was unanimously adopted, which clarified the purpose of the modern Olympic Games and stipulated that only amateur athletes were allowed to participate. In order to prepare for the modern Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee, the permanent leading body of the Olympic Games, was formally established. Wei Ze Kailas, a famous Greek poet, was elected as the first chairman and Coubertin as the secretary-general. The meeting also decided that the first modern Olympic Games will be held in Greece in April 1896. According to the tradition of the ancient Olympic Games, it was held every four years.
1894 10, Coubertin visited Olympia again. In order to save money and facilitate transportation, he canceled the plan to hold the Olympic Games in Olympia, and decided to build a new stadium in Athens with a capacity of 5,000 spectators, and hold the first modern Olympic Games according to the ancient Greek style. The first Olympic Games was successfully held in Athens on April 5, 1996 at/kloc-0 with the support of Greek businessman George Avirov.
Coubertin called for the Olympic Games to be held all over the world and opposed Greece as the permanent venue for the Olympic Games. He believes that the glorious history of the ancient Olympic Games belongs to the Greek nation and all mankind. Only by making it widely spread in different countries and regions and becoming an international activity can the Olympic spirit be carried forward and have more vitality.
In order to defend the purity of the Olympic spirit, Coubertin published his masterpiece Ode to Sports during the 19 12 Stockholm Olympic Games. Singing sports enthusiastically expressed his Olympic ideal. To this end, he won the gold medal in the literary competition of this Olympic Games.
19 13, Coubertin carefully designed the Olympic flag for the International Olympic Committee, that is, five colored rings of blue, black, red, yellow and green were nested in the middle to form a white boundless flag. It symbolizes the unity of the five continents and the gathering of athletes from all over the world in the Olympic Games with fair and frank competition and friendly spirit.
In addition, Coubertin also opened up the field of sports psychology in sports. He has published famous books such as On Sports Psychology (19 13) and Jingji Sports Pedagogy (19 19). He also expressed his views on the classification of sports and made his own contribution to the academic research of sports.
Baron Coubertin was the president of the International Olympic Committee from 1896 to 1925. Responsible for the leadership of the organization. During his term of office, the number of IOC members increased from 14 to 40. At the same time, with his support, more than 20 international special sports federations have been established. 1924, due to his advanced age, he voluntarily resigned as president of the International Olympic Committee for 28 years, but was hired as honorary president for life.
13 years later (i.e.1September 2, 937), Baron Coubertin died of a heart attack in Lausanne at the age of 74. According to his last wish, Coubertin's body was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland, and his heart was buried in Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Greek Olympic Games. He hopes that even though he has been buried underground, his heart can still beat with the pulse of the Olympic movement.