Paris, Jul 24 (PTI) Pierre de Coubertin, the visionary behind the modern Olympic Games, is buried in the pages of history. Inspired by historian and educator Thomas Arnold, who had introduced sports in British schools, Coubertin initially used sports as a tool to bring about educational reforms in France.

Eventually, the dream took a better shape and in 1894, he founded the modern Olympics, which gradually grew into the greatest sporting show on the planet. Convinced that sports can play a key role in character building, Coubertin, born into a French aristocratic family, conceived an international sports competition. He was a co-founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Athens hosted the first ever Olympic Games in 1896. When France became host for the second time in 1924, that was the last instance when Coubertin, who held the title of Baron, was actively involved in the organisation of the spectacle.

Unfortunately, the man who created the show, died in obscurity in Geneva in 1937. A century later when France is ready to conduct the Games in the grandest fashion, is Pierre de Coubertin just a memory? Do the people of France remember him? “This is a hard question to answer,” his great-great-grandniece Alexandra de Navacelle de Coubertin told

Source: PTI News