100 years ago: Prague left a lasting legacy in the history of Olympism

One hundred years ago, the VIII Olympic Congress was held in Prague and the capital of Czechoslovakia became the centre of the Olympic world for a few days. Let us recall this important event of world sport, on which Pierre de Coubertin resigned and handed over the leadership of the International Olympic Committee.

The founder of the Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, had long sought a space for a broader theoretical discussion of Olympism - beyond the actual functioning of the International Olympic Committee and the practical Olympic Games. He organised the first Olympic Congress immediately after the First Olympic Games in Athens (1896) in 1897 in Le Havre. Gradually, these congresses became a platform for professional debate on the philosophy, meaning and functioning of the Olympic Movement.

In the 1920s, the Czechoslovak Olympic Movement, led by Jiří Guth-Jarkovský, attempted to bid for the 1924 Olympic Games (which were eventually held in Paris, according to Coubertin's wishes), but due to the financial limits of the new state, Prague soon withdrew its candidacy. Nevertheless, Coubertin wanted to honour the Czechs - not least because he had a particularly warm relationship with Guth and Czech sport. He therefore initiated the organisation of the VIII Olympic Congress in 1925 in Prague. He informed his Czech friend of his intention in a letter in January 1923 and asked him to negotiate support from President Masaryk.

Guth-Jarkovský resigned from the IOC Executive Board, where he also served as Secretary General, to organize the Congress. Preparations had been underway since the autumn of 1924 at the Hotel Gráff. Coubertin arrived in Prague on Friday, 15 May 1925, was received at Prague Castle by President Masaryk on Saturday, and on Sunday he was awarded the Order of the White Lion, the highest state decoration, the design of which coincidentally originated at the initiative for Guth-Jarkovsky.

The actual VIII Olympic Congress 1925 was preceded by meetings of the IOC Executive Committee at the Old Town Hall in Prague from 21 to 25 May and then by the annual meeting. From 26 May to 28 May there were six such meetings in total, and the last sixth meeting accepted the resignation of its President. Count Baillet-Latour of Belgium was elected as the new IOC President.

 The Prague Congress began on 29 May at the Old Town Hall and was held under the auspices of the President of the Republic and the honorary chairmanship of the entire government. It was divided into two parts: technical (dealing with the organisation and structure of the Olympic Movement) and pedagogical (devoted to philosophy, education and ethics in sport), and then held at various venues: the Tyrš House, the Municipal House and the National Museum.

It was the pedagogical part that was the first and for a long time the last attempt to have a worldwide professional debate on the educational importance of sport. One of the key topics was the question of women's sport, which was accepted with reservations by many, including Coubertin. For example, the Congress took the view that some sports (boxing, rugby, football) were not suitable for women and that women's sport should be under medical supervision. The Pedagogical Congress also raised themes such as violence in boxing, the limitation of otherness, the commercialisation of sport and criticism of so-called "non-sportsmen", i.e. people without a sporting background who run sporting institutions. Coubertin considered these 'buffoons' a threat to the ideals of Olympism.

The Eighth Olympic Congress had no executive power, that was vested solely in the IOC Executive Committee, so everything discussed in the two parts of the Congress was to be "only" proposals, comments or recommendations, which would eventually be decided at the next IOC session.

However, at the technical part of the Congress, two quite fundamental points were proposed that have since significantly transformed the Olympic Games.

1) Shortening the Games to 15 days - the previous Olympic Games usually lasted several months and this had a rather negative effect on the clarity of the competitions and the organisation.

2) It was proposed that the 1924 Chamonix Winter Sports Week, a prelude to the snow and ice sports of the Games of the VIII Olympiad in Paris, be recognized as the first Winter Olympics, which, like the "summer" ones, would be repeated in a four-year cycle.

One of the initiators of this idea was the Czech representative and secretary general of the CSOC Josef Rössler-Ořovský, who founded the Association of Skiers of the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1903, the first ski association in the world. 45 votes were in favour, 15 against. A year later, the IOC approved the proposal at a meeting in Lisbon (1926) and in 1928 the Winter Olympic Games could officially take place in St. Moritz.

From Saturday 23rd May to Thursday 4th June there were also many cultural, social and sporting activities. From various banquets and gala dinners, to rowing races, football matches, demonstrations of Sokol exercises and the performance of "The Bartered Bride" at the National Theatre.

The Congress was not only an organizational but also an ideological milestone of the Olympic movement - and an important international event for young Czechoslovakia.