Can men win medals for merely writing words?
Can a man throwing a javelin stop a war?
Can enemies become friends, at least every 4 years?
The answer is simply ‘yes’.
They already have – many, many times.
For more than a thousand years. …….it’s to do with Olympism the real meaning of the Olympics. Watch the video and please share it/pass the link on to as many people as you can so that as many people will understand why the opening and closing ceremonies are such lavish affairs and the impact the Olympics can have on world peace. Please also post a comment – whatever your reaction is – we want to hear it.
See also
‘London 2012 Olympics – Anyone For Olympism?’ for more plus some great photos of the Olympic Park & St Pancras Station
How London 2012 Became ‘The Friendly Olympics’ for backstage photographs showing what went on backstage and video interviews of how the volunteers had fun with the athletes.
Great video! I like your code of conduct. A lot of popular sports could be improved by following those.
I very much admire your utopian view of what sport contributes to civilisation and how it helps us push ourselves to the limits of our capacity. I absolutely see that this is true. Your code of conduct is important because it highlights that some of the uglier sides of competitive sport (such as the racism, violence and homophobia that surfaces in football) can be kept in check by valuing what makes good sportsmanship.
Thanks Amy – Code Of Conduct is in the video but is also available from ‘Spread The Moments’ section of the site http://www.greatmomentsofsportsmanship.com/spread-the-moments/ – you probably knew that but just in case. Paul
During the match, Boris Becker suggested that “this might be his (Murray’s) only chance ever to win a Wimbledon Singles Final.” Given that Murray was probably well aware of this, it makes his subsequent loser’s speech an even greater moment of great sportsmanship.
Love this video – will pass this onto my local school.
Jean – we have a lot of free materials for schools. Go to the ‘Spread The Moment’ tab on the left hand side to get posters. Or ‘Great Reviews’ (bottom left) to listen to (or download) me telling the stories on the radio.
Full schools workbook & tutor’s guide also available. ~ Paul
Great video Paul!
I will share it on my blog shortly.
Keep up the good work!
“Your video on Olympism is very inspirational and true to the Olympic ideal”
In times when everything is commercialised and all meaning and ideals reduced to pennies and pounds this video comes to remind us of what the true values of the Olympic Games were about! Thank you Paul for a truly inspirational video that I will be sharing with my network. I will request that it be added to the Institute of Sports Marketing and Management website and the Digital Marketing Association blog.
loving this video – want to see more as it aligns to our own vision and mission
Thanks James – much appreciated. We have more videos on youtube – Great Sportsmanship Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/greatsportsmanship NB some are shaky hand held iphones & crude editing BUT they embrace the same values – Great Sportsmanship. ~ Paul
Brilliant, Paul. Not only is the initiative a great idea, but the presentation is delivered by a maestro.
If GSP permit I shall adapt the Code of Conduct – with attribution – to spell out to kids taking part in our annual Kosovo-wide Europe Quiz (and their teachers…) what sort of behaviour is expected of them.
I also think strengthening of the rather flimsy and token aspect of the “Cultural Olympiad” as a complement to the sporting side is long overdue: yes, let’s give poets, sculptors and other artists medals too.
Bravo!
Hi Patrick yes permission granted of course – pls somehow link to our web site & facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Greatsportsmanship. Can you send me a link to Kosovo-wide Europe Quiz so I can think about , if you want, some sportsmanship quiz questions for you …
Hi Paul. Thanks for the thought. The Europe Quiz is narrowly based on a text-book we have produced about Europe. (Kosovars are those rare people who really want to join the EU, at a time when others are talking about whether and how they can get out.) The aim is to make them more are of what they are heading towards – – warts and all.
But let’s keep in touch.
Patrick