It is rather remarkable that the enduring power of Coubertin’s philosophy of making peace through sport is playing out in our headlines right now.  As the North and South Koreans sit down to talk about easing hostilities on their divided peninsula, it is the Olympic Games that have brought them to the table.  While it is unlikely that the full nuclear threat will be resolved through the Games—or that the growing animosity between North Korea and the U.S. will not return after the flame is doused—it is a hopeful sign to see the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, which will celebrate their opening on February 8th, take center stage in the diplomatic effort to achieve peace, if only temporarily.

As the quote above indicates, Coubertin believed that the Olympic Movement could, indeed, serve such a purpose.  He made that point in a 4,600 word essay he wrote in 1896 for The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine in the U.S.  Entitled The Olympic Games of 1896, the article summarized the events of the first Games of the modern era in Athens, Greece, and posed the idea that the festival itself could serve the larger goals of peace on our planet. Here is the concluding paragraph of that piece.

“It was with these thoughts in mind that I sought to revive the Olympic games. I have succeeded after many efforts. Should the institution prosper—as I am persuaded, all civilized nations aiding, that it will—it may be a potent, if indirect, factor in securing universal peace. Wars break out because nations misunderstand each other. We shall not have peace until the prejudices that now separate the different races are outlived. To attain this end, what better means is there than to bring the youth of all countries periodically together for amicable trials of muscular strength and agility? The Olympic games, with the ancients, controlled athletics and promoted peace. It is not a vision to look at them for similar benefactions in the future.”

The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXXI, November 1896 to April 1897, pp. 39-53.