The Founder of the Modern Olympics

As the world prepares for the Olympics in London, it's hard to believe the enormous international spectacle grew from the idea of one eccentric character in the late 1800s.

Pierre de Coubertin, a French nobleman, became interested in the idea of physical education. Why? He believed his country could have avoided humiliation at the hands of the Prussians in the Franco-Prussian War had the French been in better shape.

Baron de Coubertin began traveling to study how athletics had become popular in the United States, and he came up with the idea of an international athletic competition based on the Olympic festivals of ancient Greece.

In the early 1890s the first International Olympic Committee was formed, and the first modern Olympic games were held in Athens in 1896.

Photograph: Baron de Coubertin/Library of Congress

Full article: Pierre de Coubertin

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