O LYMPIC E DUCATION

Imparting Olympism and Olympic values to young people is one of the priorities of the Olympic Movement. Rule 2(1) of the Olympic Charter specifies that the IOC’s mission expressly includes the “education of youth through sport” (International Olympic Committee, 16) while Rule 2(16) underscores the importance of “the International Olympic Academy (“IOA”) and other institutions which dedicate themselves to Olympic education” (ibid., 17).

However, the term “Olympic education” appeared in Olympic literature at a relatively late stage, from the 1970s onwards, and has flourished particularly in Germany, with influential academics such as Carl Diem and Norbert Müller contributing decisively to its elaboration.

Olympic education is based on the premise that if young people engage in sport they will lead happier, more fulfilled lives but will also learn to live together harmoniously in society.

Sport simultaneously benefits personal development and the common good. This idea goes back to Coubertin’s original conception of a “pédagogie sportive” as inspired by nineteenth-century physical education at public schools, and ultimately to the athletic tradition in Ancient Greece which regards sport as a way of forming the minds and bodies of young people in a positive manner. In ancient times, Reid argues, athletics was “adapted to the educational

function of cultivating individual virtue (aretē) or, in modern parlance, moral character” (2009, 40).

Müller (2004, 11) has identified five core components of Olympic education that young people are supposed to acquire during Olympic education:

(1) the concept of harmonious development of the whole human being;

(2) the idea of striving for human perfection through high performance, in which scientific and artistic achievement must take equal rank with sporting performance;

(3) sporting activity voluntarily linked to ethical principles such as fair play and equality of opportunity, and the determination to fulfil those obligations; also included is the ideal of amateurism, which has been almost totally abandoned in international sport today;

(4) the concept of peace and goodwill between nations, reflected by respect and tolerance in relations between individuals;

(5) the promotion of moves towards emancipation in and through sport.

In terms of specific teaching methods, the IOC has launched its own initiative called “Olympic Values Education Project” (OVEP), complete with toolkit, media campaign and dedicated website. The toolkit in particular contains teaching materials that take account of different teaching styles around the world and offer corresponding “pathways” for a range of teaching approaches. Directly addressing members of the Olympic Family, educational authorities, coaches, sports club leaders, teachers, instructors and young people on how best to teach and learn the values of Olympism, the toolkit gives the following examples of educational activities (International Olympic Committee, 2007, 14):

- academic research, courses and seminars in universities and Olympic studies centres - programmes of national and international Olympic academies and national Olympic

committees

- information books, textbooks, videos, CDs and TV programmes on the Olympic Games and Olympic sport

- Olympic Day activities, Olympic festivals and competitions in schools and communities

- high-performance training and physical education from within the framework of Olympic values

- “Education through Olympism”: integrated and life-oriented values teaching programmes for children and young people

- education and youth programmes of OCOGs - Olympic and sport youth camps

- Olympic museums, halls of fame, art and culture exhibitions

- marketing and promotion programmes of Olympic sponsors and supporters

For these methods to be implemented, an adequate organisational framework is required.

From the outset, Coubertin had attempted to provide his “pédagogie sportive” with an institutional foundation. In 1926, he launched the “Bureau international de pédagogie sportive” in Lausanne, which published an annual bulletin and many of Coubertin’s own articles and books. It was followed by the “Centre d’études olympique” in Berlin, which existed from 1939 to 1944. Today, the Olympic Movement has its own permanent institutions with exclusive responsibility for Olympic education, above all the International Olympic Academy (IOA) which was founded as the main Olympic study centre in ancient Olympia in 1961. Apart from the IOA, there are seventy National Olympic Academies (NOAs) in the Olympic nations which have sprung up since 1966 and have made a considerable contribution towards spreading Olympism in schools and universities and among the public.

One of the prime tasks of the IOA and the NOAs is to compile teaching materials and lesson plans that can be downloaded and used for free by schools and sports associations.¹⁴ At university level, the Centre d’Estudis Olímpics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (CEO-UAB) with its International Chair in Olympism has become an international centre of reference in the field of Olympic studies, promoting scholarly research on Olympism and its impact on society.

According to Naul, the IOC has taken five major steps to promote Olympic education since World War II: (1) the founding of the International Olympic Academy; (2) the institution of Olympic Youth Camps alongside the Games; (3) the set-up of National Olympic Academies;

(4) the call of the IOC at its 1994 centennial congress for a lasting promotion of Olympic ideals during the Games and (5) the decision by the IOC in 2007 to hold a separate sports competition event for 14-18-year-olds which later came to be known as the Youth Olympic Games (2008, 30 f.)

14 Cf. for instance the excellent collection of teaching materials on the website of the German Olympic