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THE
OLYMPIC MOVEMENT - FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
In 1894 Baron de Coubertin wrote:
“Why did I restore
the Olympic Games? To enable and strengthen sports, to ensure their
independence and duration and thus enable them better to fulfill the
educational role incumbent upon them in the modern world; for the
glorification of the individual athlete whose muscular activity is
necessary for the maintenance of the general spirit of competition.”
From this statement the aims of the Olympic Movement have grown and
developed. They are now expressed in the Olympic Charter as Fundamental
Principles.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
From the Olympic Charter – In force as from 4 July 2003
1. Modern Olympism was conceived by Pierre de Coubertin, on whose
initiative the International Athletic Congress of Paris was held in June
1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) constituted itself on
23rd June 1894. In August 1994, the XII Congress, Centennial Olympic
Congress, which was entitled “Congress of Unity”, was held in Paris.
2. Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a
balanced whole the qualities of body, mind and will. Blending sport with
culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on
the joy founding effort, the educational value of good example and
respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.
3. The goal of Olympism is to place everywhere sport at the service
of the harmonious development of man, with a view to encouraging the
establishment of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of
human dignity. To this effect, the Olympic Movement engages, alone or in
cooperation with other organizations and within the limits of its means,
in actions to promote peace.
4. The Olympic Movement, led by the IOC, stems from modern Olympism.
5. Under the supreme Authority of the IOC, the Olympic Movement
encompasses organizations, athletes and other persons who agree to be
guided by the Olympic Charter. The criterion for belonging to the
Olympic Movement is recognition by the IOC. The organization and
management of sport must be controlled by the independent sport
organizations recognized as such.
6. The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a
peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised
without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which
requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity
and fair play.
7. The activity of the Olympic movement, symbolized by five
interlaced rings, is universal and permanent. It covers the five
continents. It reaches its peak with the bringing together of athletes
of the world at the great sports festival, the Olympic Games.
8. The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must
have the possibility of practicing sport in accordance with his or her
needs.
9. The Olympic Charter is a codification of the Fundamental
Principles, Rules and Bye-laws adopted by the IOC. It governs the
organization and operation of the Olympic Movement and stipulates the
conditions for the celebration of the Olympic Games.
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