The idea that joy must reside at the heart of sport and exercise was a consistent theme in the writing of Baron Pierre de Coubertin across his nearly fifty-year career.  From his perspective, joy was the first essential ingredient for any physical effort or any game of sport.  He noted that the child at play experiences a pure kind of joy—and he wanted to see that attitude of enjoyment captured in the heart of every Olympian.  That was the key message he sought to convey in the excerpt below, which is taken from “Olympic Letter VII: The Recipe for Becoming Olympic,” which he wrote in 1918. 

“If someone were to ask for the recipe for ‘becoming Olympic,’ I would say that the first prerequisite is to be joyful. No doubt, my answer seems surprising. The term ‘Olympic’ incorrectly evokes an idea of tranquil balance, of forces in perfect counterbalance, a scale in perfect equilibrium. Mens sana ... the old saying that pops up in speeches when prizes are awarded. But come now! This is hardly human, or at the very least, hardly youthful! It is an ideal for old fossils! … Well, I ask you, what feeds effort buy joy.”