Avery Brundage on the Olympic Goals of Social Justice and International Amity

The International Olympic Committee, which has promoted the philosophy of the Baron de Coubertin and has led the Olympic Movement to this lofty position can certainly look upon its work with modest pride. However, it is not yet generally understood that the revival of the Olympic Games is only the first phase of Coubertin’s programme. The Games were to arouse the interest of Governments, of educators, and of the public in establishing national programmes of physical training and competitive amateur sport, which would assist in the tasks of eradicating social injustice, of combating the growing materialism of our times, and of correcting features of expanding industrialism and urban living that are destructive to health and morals. In addition, by extending the ancient Greek idea, which was strictly national, to all countries, they were to create and develop international amity and good will.