The idea of mutual respect between competitors is fundamental to the Olympic Games. In Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s vision, that mutual respect was the first step in the formation of friendship between adversaries on the field of play at the Olympics. Today, the Olympic Movement expresses its three fundamental values as ‘Excellence, Friendship and Respect,” which is a direct reflection of the Baron’s value system, although he believed respect typically led to friendship. Today’s quote comes from Sport Is a Peacemaker, an article in which Coubertin described how mutual respect develops. It was published in La Revue Sportive Illustrée in 1935.

“Because they are individualists, athletes tend to be interested in and to appreciate the performances of their rivals ... you will always see them paying close attention not only to the records that have been broken, but also to unsuccessful attempts to beat them, provided that those attempts were made with guts, to the maximum extent possible.”