As the Olympic games begins this weekend, Country Life looks back to moments that were inspired by the ideals of Faster, Higher, Stronger and Together.
Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger). These noble words spoken at a schools sports day in France in 1881 were subsequently adopted by Pierre de Coubertin as the inspiration for his grand sporting project. In 2021, Communiter (Together) was added to the official motto for the Olympic movement, a much-needed leitmotif for these fractious times as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad start this weekend.
Both de Coubertin and his English counterpart, William Penny Brookes, would recognise and salute the heroic sporting endeavour of the next fortnight, even if they would be astonished by the kit worn. What might horrify them is the exorbitant cost and political point scoring; ruthless professionalism is probably not what they had in mind either. As a reminder of the original Olympic ideals, here are some stirring moments from history. Let’s hope Paris 2024 produces another.
1896 The Greek hosts were jubilant with a home win in the Athens marathon for Spyridon Louis, a water carrier wearing shoes donated by villagers.
1924 Eric Liddell, a missionary, withdrew from his favoured distance of 100m at Paris because the heats were on a Sunday; he won gold in the 400m.
1936 Jesse Owens, the descendant of a slave, rose above Nazi hostility in Berlin to win four gold medals.
Jesse Owens crosses the finish line to win gold at the 100m in Berlin in 1936. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty
1948 Lord Burghley, chairman of the organising committee, opened the postwar London ‘Austerity’ Olympics with the words: ‘A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality.’
1960 Bill Roycroft, an Australian farmer, was knocked out in an eventing fall in Rome, but returned from hospital, dosed up with whisky, to ride for team gold.
1976 The Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto shattered his kneecap in Montreal, but, not wanting to let down his team, carried on with the rings and helped his nation to gold.
1988 Lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor, won the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Olympic spirit; he abandoned his race in Seoul (when lying second) to rescue the capsized Singaporean team.
1992 When sprinter Derek Redmond’s hamstring snapped in the 400m semi-final in Barcelona, his father burst out of the audience and led him across the finish.
2000 Eric ‘the Eel’ Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea had only been swimming for eight months when he laboriously ‘won’ a heat (his two rivals were disqualified) at Sydney.
2012 The cheery charm of 18,200 members of the British Armed Forces, who came to the rescue when the organisers underestimated security levels, restored national pride at the home Games.
The London Olympic games were best summarised by the nation’s community spirit. Credit: Ian MacNicol via Getty images
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