In 1936, a few months before the Olympic Games began in Germany, Baron Pierre de Coubertin was asked to send a “Message to the Olympia-Berlin Runners,” the first torchbearers of the modern era.  Part of his message was an appeal asking the “youth assembled in Berlin” to carry on his work and complete what he had begun.  Through the continuation of his legacy in the Olympic Games, the Baron believed sport would build bridges of peace and friendship between nations, creating progress and promoting human dignity through the honor of elite competition. The text of his message appeared in Le Sport Suisse at the time.

“On my behalf, ask the youth assembled in Berlin to accept the legacy of my work. Ask them to complete what I have begun, a task that pervasive routine and tedium prevented me from achieving completely. Let the union of the body and mind be sealed forever, for progress and for human dignity.”