Long before anyone had coined the term ‘role model,’ Baron Pierre de Coubertin believed the Olympic Games and their champions were inspiring young people everywhere and extending their influence across all the countries of the world.  And he used that point to dismiss those critics still making ‘out of date’ arguments that modern sport was nothing more than childish amusements.  He made this claim in the article, “Why I Revived the Olympic Games,” which appeared in Britain’s Fortnightly Review in the run up to the London 1908 Games.  In anticipation of the great competition to come and the growing enthusiasm of the public for the first British Olympics, the Baron expressed his unshakable conviction that the Games would continue contribute in a major way to the health of young people worldwide.

“It is my profound conviction that (the Olympic Games) are one of the cornerstones of progress and health for the youth of our day. Let it be understood that if among the readers of this article there are any who despise athletic sports, and see in them nothing but expensive and puerile amusements, I do not address myself to them, for we have no common ground of argument. But I do not expect to encounter such a point of view, it would be quite out of date.”