In August of 1920 in Antwerp City Hall, Baron Pierre de Coubertin delivered an address to an audience that included Albert I, the King of Belgium.  The title of the Baron’s speech:  “Sport is King.”  In part of his message, the Baron emphasized the need for disciplined training to realize the full benefits of sport individually, but he also covered the social benefits of sport to give the King Albert an overview of how sport could be used to rebuild his nation, which had been 90% overrun by hostile armies in World War I.  King Albert was already a true believer in modern athletics, however, since he had stepped up with the ministers in his cabinet to organize the Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games in the year and a half after the war ended.

“Sport needs freedom. It requires respect for individuality, the chance for each individual to adapt the good or bad aspects of his own nature to exercise, both those that lend him an advantage and those that present a handicap.”

Photo:  A medal created to commemorate King Albert I’s leadership of the Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games