Today’s quote is an update and a paraphrase from the passage below, replacing the phrase “young men” with “young athletes” and reordering the last phrase for clarity.  It is sometimes essential to modernize both the content and style of Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s inspirational ideas.  While the Baron was a visionary, he was also a man of his times, raised in a paternalistic society in which the preference for male pronouns was paramount.  And while the Baron encouraged the participation of women in sport in general, it is well known that he opposed the participation of women in certain elite Olympic sports, a position which, in part, ultimately weakened his leadership of the IOC and helped lead to his retirement.  Today’s message comes from the Baron’s article, “Why I Revived the Olympic Games,” which appeared in 1908 in Britain’s Fortnightly Review.

“The fundamental principle of athletic sports—that there is nothing else with which young men can employ their strength in their hours of recreation and liberty with such advantage both moral and physical.”