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When he announced in Paris, on a winter's evening in 1892, the forthcoming re-establishment of the Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin was applauded, but nobody at the time imagined the scale of the project entailed by reviving the ancient Olympic Games, appointing a committee in charge of organising them and creating an international movement. The IOC was created on 23 June 1894; the 1st Olympic Games of the modern era opened in Athens on 6 April 1896; and the Olympic Movement has not stopped growing ever since.

Olympism is a state of mind based on equality of sports which are international and democratic.

It is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind.

The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised without discrimination or any kind, in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

The Olympic Movement is defined also by the numerous activities in which it engages, such as:

• - Promoting sport and competitions through the intermediary of national and international sports institutions world-wide.
• - Cooperation with public and private organisations to place sport at the service of mankind.
• - Assistance to develop "Sport for All".
• - Advancement of women in sport at all levels and in all structures, with a view to achieving equality between men and women.
• - Opposition to all forms of commercial exploitation of sport and athletes.
• - The fight against doping.
• - Promoting sports ethics and fair play.
• - Raising awareness of environmental problems.
• - Financial and educational support for developing countries through the IOC institution Olympic Solidarity.

"All sports for all people. This is surely a phrase that people will consider foolishly utopian. That prospect troubles me not at all. I have pondered and studied it at length, and know that it is correct and possible", wrote Pierre de Coubertin in 1919. The future proved him right.