The countdown to the Paris Olympics on July 26 is about three months away. The Musée Grévin in Paris announced that in celebration of the Olympic spirit, the wax figure of the French Baron Gubertin, known as the "father of the modern Olympic Games", will be officially unveiled before the opening of the Olympic Games.
With more than 40 statues in Atlanta, Athens, Tokyo, Berlin and other places, as well as souvenirs such as stamps issued by the state, he is highly respected by the international sports community.
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is getting closer. Known as the "absentee" and "Olympic transporter", the father of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Gübertin, rarely appears in social discussions and activities.
Born in 1863, he believed in the power and virtues of sport, and in 1883 he proposed the idea of reviving the ancient Greek Olympic Games, and in 1896 he successfully hosted the first modern Olympic Games in Athens with 300 athletes from 14 countries.
In 1894, Coopertan founded the International Olympic Committee and designed the Olympic emblem and Olympic flag, which are still in use today.
In his native France, Coobertin was a highly controversial figure. As the father of the modern Olympic Games, it seems that Coobertin should be celebrated by a series of events at the Paris Olympics, but he has become an embarrassing and even avoided topic of the Paris Olympics, and there are only a handful of related tributes. This is a very rare phenomenon in the history of the Olympic Games. The reason for this is that his misogynistic, racist and Nazi past, which has given him mixed reputations.
Le Monde called him "the loser of the Olympics" and the team newspaper described it as "a notable absence from Paris 2024".
The reason for this is that Cooper has always promoted elitism, sexism, racism, colonialism, controversial rhetoric, and anti-Semitic stance. In addition, he fully supported Hitler's hosting of the Berlin Olympics in 1936 despite the opposition of the French government, and combined with the two world wars, France was invaded by Germany, which has led to mixed reviews in France.
Coopertan has banned women from participating in the Olympics, saying that "women's Olympics are meaningless, aesthetically pleasing and incorrect." He even described himself in his memoirs<狂热殖民主义者>, and he wrote even more rebelliously: "Each race has different values, and the white race is superior in nature, and the others should be loyal to it." ”
The French National Olympic and Sports Committee did not mention his name, and the current president, Lapatien, ignored Le Monde's request for a visit to the Gupertin issue.
A few years ago, Sehondou, then president of France's National Olympic and Sports Committee, confessed to Le Monde: "We decided not to talk too much about Coupertan. Compared with the great French man, Coupertin belongs to the inheritance of the world Olympic Games. ”
In 1968, the IOC proposed to French President Charles de Gaulle to pay his respects, but hit a soft nail, and in 2022, former sports minister Deleur proposed that Coopertin be moved to the Panthéon where the great man would be buried, but it was not agreed.
Supporters of Coopertin say his contributions are undeniable, including his contribution to international sport pacifism, the promotion of French as the official language of the Olympic Games, the making of the IOC an autonomous body, and the conceptualization of sports neutrality to counter political and capital influence. His descendants believe that his ideas at that time were the mainstream view of society, not shocking the world, and that it would be unfair to judge them by today's values.
The long-time historian of Coubertain ClaStreus analyzes: "Coupertin in France is reminiscent of his political and social positions. He was a conservative-right intellectual of his time: anti-democratic, anti-social, anti-popular, and he was in the opposite direction of historical evolution on all issues. ”
By the way, do you know such a controversial Olympic celebrity?