The New Role of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul

Abstract

As readers may know, the first ancient Olympic Games were held at Olympia, Greece, in 776 B.C. From that year on the Olympic Games were held every 4 years for nearly 1200 years without interruption until they were halted by the decree of Emperor Theodosius I of Rome in 394 A.D. The Games were suspended for 15 centuries; However, during this time many philosophers, writers and educators contemplated a revival of the Olympic Games. In 1882 the Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin, commissioned to study physical education by the government, became convinced that athletics combined with education could improve international understanding and he publicly set out to establish a modern Olympic Games. His wish was “to promote the development of those fine physical and moral qualities which are the basis of amateur sport and to bring together the athletes of the world in a great quadrennial festival of sports, thereby creating international respect and goodwill and a more peaceful world.”