As international sport emerged on the world stage at the end of the 19^thcentury, the most gifted athletes and teams had a natural hunger to test their skills against the best from other countries.  Baron Pierre de Coubertin recognized that the combination of the competitive urge and the honor of representing one’s country would fuel the growth of international sport and the Olympic Games.  During the Paris 1900 Olympic Games, the Baron published a report on the competition and the motivations of the international participants.   

“If young men are active and in good health, they will be fond of manly games and competitions in which they display their strength and agility, and, incited by the instinct of emulation, they will desire to contend, in the name of their country, against young men of other countries.”

Photo:  This may be the final of 2000 meter sprint in Paris 1900, in which two Frenchmen, Georges Taillandier and Fernand Sanz, won gold and silver while the American, John Henry Lake, captured the bronze.