ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — Just outside the site of the ancient Olympic Games, the hoot of an owl breaks the silence of the night at the white marble monument to the unique French heart.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the architect of the modern Olympic Games, overseeing the last Olympics in Paris exactly 100 years ago as president of the International Olympic Committee.
On Tuesday, the torch that will be lit for this summer's Olympics, the third in the French capital, will be lit in an abandoned temple and sports venue in Olympia, southern Greece.
The first stop of the relay, which culminates with the opening ceremony on July 26th, will be this cypress-encircled Monument to Coubertin, where torchbearers will light the altar in his honor.
That happens at every lighting ceremony, but this year it will have a special resonance, said Spiros Kapraros, head of the Greek National Olympic Committee.
“Every time we pay homage to Coubertin (monument)… the torch is lit there first,” Capralos told The Associated Press. “And now, 2,800 years after the first Olympic Games, he is delighted that the Olympics are returning to Pierre de Coubertin's hometown of Paris.”
Inspired by ancient games and based on his desire to revitalize modern sporting culture, the efforts of a French aristocrat led to the first modern Games being held in Athens in 1896 .
Coubertin's original seat in the renovated ancient marble stadium in the Greek capital is still preserved, with his name engraved on it.
Before he died in 1937 and was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland, Coubertin left special instructions in his heart. His heart was to be removed and placed in a monument erected in his honor ten years earlier just outside the ruins of ancient Olympia.
The future King of Greece, Paul, performed the ceremony in March 1938, with a blessing from Greek Orthodox priests dressed in black robes. The grove is now part of the International Olympic Academy, an institute established to promote education on the history and principles of the modern Olympic Games.
Born in 1863, Coubertin was the second IOC president after Demetrios Vikelas of Greece, serving from 1896 to 1925. His tenure also included matches held in Paris in 1900 and 1924.
On a personal level, his life was ruined by a family tragedy, which may explain his single-minded dedication to the Olympics. His son suffered a severe brain injury at an early age, and his daughter suffered from mental health issues throughout her life. Coubertin had no other children, and two close nephews were killed in World War I.
