EXPLORATION, ENCOUNTER, EXCHANGE IN HISTORY
9
Cultural Exchange and
the Olympic Games
T
Teri Hedgpeth, Archivist & Historic Steward, United States Olympic Committee
he Olympic Games, a quadrennial event that excites the blood, quickens the pulse, and fills us with vicarious glory,
magnifies superlative athletes until they are larger than life. However, the Olympic Games do more than give us an
opportunity to showcase our athletes; the Games also afford the casual observer the ability to encounter new cultures,
explore new lands, and exchange ideas while watching the world’s premier athletes compete. For the athletes, this
opportunity is like none other.
Athletes from around the world come together in the Olympic Village, on the playing
field, and in the Olympic Stadium, transforming the Olympic Games into a microcosm
of the United Nations. A kind of subliminal sharing occurs, transcending competition,
as the athletes encounter one another and learn about different cultures and
different lifestyles.
British athlete Philip J. Noel-Baker, Olympic silver medalist in the 1,500-meter at the
Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games and the 1959 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work
with the League of Nations and the United Nations, wrote an appeal to the press in
1932, stating, “It [the Olympic Games] has done much—more perhaps even than the
League of Nations—to make different peoples understand each other and to link them
by bonds of common thought and feeling.” Furthermore, Noel-Baker stated that the
Games “are breaking down the ‘atmosphere,’ the beliefs, and emotions that led to war.”1
The cultural exchange that occurs during the Olympic Games was as important to
Noel-Baker as the competition itself.
“It [the Olympic Games]
has done much—more
perhaps even than the
League of Nations—to
make different peoples
understand each other
and to link them by bonds
of common thought and
feeling.”
The opportunity to explore new cultures and experience the kind of exchange that Noel-Baker mentioned are not the primary
reasons why Olympic athletes gather; however, it is a byproduct. This phenomenon can be traced back to Frenchman Pierre
de Coubertin’s ideals when he resurrected the ancient Olympic Games on June 23, 1894. In an era rife with nationalism, Baron
de Coubertin wanted to improve the youth of France, to build not only individual character but also national character, and if
possible foster peace among nations.2
Baron de Coubertin envisioned a regular sports competition on an international scale that “fostered the spirit of chivalry,
love of fair play, [and] reverence for true amateurism.”3 From this ideal grew the first modern Olympic Games, held in Athens,
Greece, April 6-15, 1896.4 The modern Olympic Games, held every four years, assembles athletes from all nations for a “fair and
Philip J. Noel-Baker, M.P. “The Olympic Games: Their Power For Good, An Appeal to the Press.” Reprinted from the British Olympic Journal in Olympic News, January-February (1932):
10.
2
Fred G. Jarvis, From Vision to Victory: America’s Role in Establishing the Modern Olympic Games (New York: New York Athletic Club, 1996), 2.
3
International Olympic Committee, The International Olympic Committee and the Modern Olympic Games Charter (Lausanne: IOC, 1933), 9-10.
4
According to the Official Report, the dates are March 25 – April 3, 1896, using the Greek calendar. SP. P. Lambros and N. G. Polites, Official Report: Olympic Games, 776 B.C. - 1896 A.D.
(New York: American Olympic Committee, 1896), 81.
1