The Olympic Games

In the late 1800s, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (1863–1937), a French historian and educator, was inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games of Greece as a mode for “improving education and promoting international understanding through sporting competition.” In 1894, De Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee, the governing body of the Olympic Games. It was just two years later, in the summer of 1896, that the Athens Olympics were presented as the first Olympic Games of the modern era.

Coming up: 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and 2012 London Summer Olympics!