In 1932, the organizers of the Los Angeles Olympic Games published an “Official Pictorial Souvenir,” a beautiful 64-page guide to the Games.  This souvenir included a tribute to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, which featured three quotes from his writings as “An Expression,” from the “Founder of Modern Olympism.”  Today’s message is taken from one of those quotes.  It emphasizes the Baron’s vision for the ways in which the Olympic Movement and its ideals ultimately serve our society and our world. 

“The Olympic Movement gives the world an ideal which reckons with the reality of life, and includes the possibility to guide this reality toward the great Olympic idea: ‘The joy of the muscles and an appreciation for beauty working in the service of family and society; these three elements united in an indissoluble whole.’”