OLYMPIC SPIRIT

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28130, 20 November 1956, Page 16

OLYMPIC SPIRIT

“Hope Of World Today’’ (N.Z Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) MELBOURNE, Nov. 19. The international goodwill produced by the Olympic Games was the theme of addresses made in the Town Hall today at the official opening of the congress of the International Olympic Committee. Mr Avery Brundage, president of the International Olympic Committee., also emphasised the need for preserving the amateur and Olympic spirit when replying to the Prime Minister and president of the Australian Olympic Committee (Mr Menzies), who made the opening address. Referring to the Olympic movement. Mr Brundage said: ‘‘No other enterprise created by man has ever lasted so long. Today we have here representatives from all continents and from every important country, all respecting and observing the same rules and regulations. No code, religious or civil, has ever had such universal acceptance. ‘‘Why is it that the Olympic movement has been adopted by all the world? Because its principles are so sound and so fundamental that they appeal to everyone,” said Mr Brundage. “This is the hope of the world today, when it is so seriously divided in other fields. ; ? , • “One of the objectives of the Games is to develop international goodwill Alas, the Olympic movement has no soldiers and no money. It therefore cannot stop warfare; but it can, and does, set a good example, and only when the politicians of the world adopt those principles of fair play and good sportsmanship, which prevail on the fields of amateur sport, will there no longer be necessity for wars. “Lest one consider this a futile gesture, because there are no guns and no dollars, one should remember that right here in Melbourne are the representatives of countries that have no diplomatic connexion, mingling on the fields of sport, where Olympic rules are followed and respected by all,’’ he said.

After referring to the fusion of the East and West German teams as a furtherance of the Olympic ideals, Mr Brundage said: “Here is a most conspicuous example of Olympic power, the answer to a problem that has baffled the chancellories of the world.” “Sport Must be Amateur” He added: “It is most important that there is a clear understanding that sport must be amateur, or it is not sport at all, but a business branch of the entertainment business. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. It can be as honourable as any business; but if sport is to develop all its social, moral, ethical, and educational values, it must be practised for its own sake as a vocation and not a career. “There are things more valuable than money—things impossible to purchase—and one such thing is an Olympic gold medal.’’ He said: “The International Olympic Committee has striven to keep the Games dignified, pure, clean, and honest as designed by their wise and far seeing renovator. They must no* become a battleground for national ascendancy, a money-making apparatus for participants and officials, or a circus or carnival to groom participants for a professional career to line the pockets of promoters.” Welcome by Mr Menzies In his welcome. Mr Menzies said he retained a special place in his affections for amateur sports. “I have never been able to understanu the minds of those who profess to believe that the perfect world will be one in which there will be no competition or contest, a world in which I suppose some government will guarantee us all a four-minute mile or a seven-foot leap. “The truth is that it is out ol rivalry and generous emulation that

the greatest development of Oui powers emerges. The history of the 20th century abundantly attests that rivalry, ill-founded and basely considered, breeds envy and malice, and uncharitableness. But an hones* rivalry, a meeting on the merits, the matching of self-discipline against self-discipline, these are the salt of life.

“To those who see in these athletic contests a mere futile absurdity, I would say on behalf of every Australian lover of sport and contest, you are wrong. These things are, I repeat, of the salt of the earth and as our English Bible says, ‘lf the salt has lost its savour, wherewithal shall ye be salted?’.” After congratulating the city ol Melbourne on having secured the right to stage the Games, he concluded: “But when it comes to the point, of the people who will make them forever memorable in Australian history are the men and women who. after months and sometimes years of rigorous self-discipline, have qualified themselves for the contests, which are the living reality of the Olympic Games.”