The principal founder of the modern Olympic Games, which began in Athens in 1896, was a French aristocrat, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. One reason for de Coubertin’s interest in the Olympics was that he hoped to counter the contemporary tendency toward:
A) An unhealthy obsession with appearance B) Alcohol abuse among teenagers C) Declining athletic standards D) Commercialism in sport ü
The concept of “amateurism” was the principal topic at the conference in Paris where de Coubertin first proposed the modern Games, and has been a central theme of the Olympic movement ever since. Inspired throughout his life by the Greek ideal of “a healthy mind in a healthy body”, de Coubertin also hoped that the modern Olympic movement would help promote international peace.
