Coubertin Quote for Jun, 12
There is no use denying the evidence. There is plenty of cheating and lying. This is a repercussion of a decline in morality in the world of athletics.Share
As he crossed the threshold into retirement and relinquished control of the IOC, Baron Pierre de Coubertin expressed his fears that the commercial interests then drawn to the success of the Olympic Games would undermine their idealism. As our quote from May 11th made clear, he derided the construction of too many new stadiums, the hyperbolic promotion that fueled the sale of tickets, and the pursuit of political ends through his festival of youth. All of this, he worried, would lead to the corruption of the athletes. In his retirement speech at City Hall in Prague in May of 1925, he warned his IOC colleagues—and particularly those guiding each sport federation—that moral decay was underway in the world of athletics and it wouldn’t be long, if they didn’t act, before it reached the Olympic athletes themselves. Today’s headlines once again make it clear that the Baron’s message remains highly relevant in the world of sport.
“There is no use denying the evidence. There is plenty of cheating and lying. This is the repercussion of a decline in morality in the world of athletics. Sports have developed within a society whose love for money threatens to cause that society to rot right to the marrow. Now it is up to the athletic associations to set a good example by returning to a belief in honor and sincerity, by driving lying and hypocrisy from their midst.”