As the new year began in January of 1919—less than two months after the end of World War I—Baron Pierre de Coubertin sent a long letter to his colleagues in the International Olympic Committee, providing them with a historical overview of their accomplishments, the established strengths and ideals of the movement they were guiding, and the promise the future held as they returned to the mission of spreading sport around the world.  He suggested the road ahead was bright but admonished them to avoid the self-interest that undermines the integrity of competition.  That was good advice then, and remains good advice today. As the headlines often tell us, when the leaders of international sport begin operating on self-centered calculations, things tend to go awry sooner or later. 

“There is a magnificent career ahead for athleticism, provided that athleticism avoids overly-narrow structures, discards outdated distinctions, and above all condemns self-centered calculation and self-interested attention.”