Baron Pierre de Coubertin always sought to place the rise of international sport and the Olympic Movement in its proper historical context.  As World War I was slowly moving toward its inexorable conclusion in 1918, he issued “Olympic Letter VIII:  The Formation of Character.”  He was seeking to rally his colleagues to help resurrect the Olympic Games once again, reminding them that they would soon be entering a new epoch of peace, the beginning of an era in which international sport could play a vital role in restoring and renewing our world.

“It is only at certain historical epochs that physical exercise is called upon by general consent to accomplish a task of renewal, of restoration, of general rigor. We are living in such an epoch.”