The Olympic movement
looks ahead
On 2 October 2009, South America was
granted its first ever Olympics: Rio de
Janeiro was selected to host the 2016
Games. The vote cast by members of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
attracted much publicity worldwide,
particularly with the attendance of the
heads of state of the bidding countries
actively supporting the bidding process
and speaking during the presentations.
every 15 years, is an opportunity to assess the goals
and the position of the Olympic movement at
large. The Congress was opened by the Secretary
General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon who
spoke about the impact of sport on the young
people of the world.
The resulting excitement may have stolen some
of the limelight from an equally important event
that began the following morning, also
in Copenhagen, Denmark: the XIII
Olympic Congress. The Congress,
which is organised on average only
© 2009 KELD NAVN TOF T/AFP/Getty Images
President of the International
Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge
(l) and UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-Moon (r) during the opening
of the 13th Olympic Congress in
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Addressing the future of the Olympic movement
under the theme “The Olympic Movement in Society”,
this year’s three-day Congress focused on issues of
concern to the Olympic movement as a whole:
from athletes-to-be and current athletes to coaches,
from International Federations to National
Olympic Committees, and also took
into consideration society at
large in relation to sport.
Youth and athletes
were the overall
main focus, with the
Congress declaring
that “youth and
athletes are equally at
the heart of the Olympic
Movement.” >
1894
in Paris: Re-establishment of the
Olympic Games
1897
pedagogy
1905
1906 in Paris: Art, literature and sport
1913
physiology
1914 in Paris: Olympic regulations
in Le Havre: Sports hygiene and
in Brussels: Sport and physical education
in Lausanne: Sports psychology and
1921 in Lausanne: Olympic regulations
1925
regulations
1930 in Berlin: Olympic regulations
in Prague: Sports pedagogy – Olympic
1973 in Varna: Sport for a world of peace –
1981
The Olympic Movement and its future
1994
in Baden-Baden: The future of the
Olympic Games – International
cooperation – The future Olympic
Movement
in Paris: The Olympic Movement’s
contribution to modern society – The
contemporary athlete – Sport in its
social context – Sport and the mass
media.
The Athlete
“As role models in society athletes are able to
make a major contribution to the Olympic
Movement both by raising the profile of
sport and recreation across communities
and by becoming standard bearers for future
generations.”
Excerpt from the 66 Recommendations
of the XIII Olympic Congress
