Pierre de Coubertin, considered the father of the modern Olympic Games, would be pleased.
He was also president of the Wenlock Olympian Society - the forerunner of the modern Olympic movement.
Regardless of the status of the IOC itself, the modern Olympic games are profit-driven, and the broadcast, merchandising and sponsorship rights are extremely valuable.
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It was Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement, who first conceived the idea of a marriage between sport and the arts.
Wrestling has been a part of all but one of the modern Olympic Games since their inception in 1896, missing only the 1900 Games in Paris.
The event was staged between Marathon, the village which gave the event its name, and the Panathinaiko marble amphitheater in the center of Athens where the modern Olympic Games were revived in 1896.
When the Ancient Games were revived as the Modern Olympic Games in Athens 1896, local hero Spiridon Louis won the marathon -- as he should have -- to bring his country international recognition and fame.
However many Olympic historians believe that the wily Baron de Coubertin - founder of the modern Olympic movement - used the eruption as a face-saving formula to disguise the fact that the Italians just could not afford to stage the Games.
Simple clinical diagnosis would probably trace the condition back to 1896, the year of the first modern Olympic Games, when a trainee accountant from Melbourne called Edwin Flack headed to Greece as Australia's first Olympian.
The cost of running a modern Olympic games represents a staggering burden to the host city, and endorsement contracts are one of the best ways to offset that cost.
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But in modern times the Olympic truce has been honored and the breach.
For one or two of them maybe that was the case, but the truth is that there is a genuine belief within the Olympic movement that the modern Olympics simply wouldn't be the same if it hadn't been for Samaranch, and the Spaniard's supporters have a point.
Making its way to Britain, the flame will first take in Greek archaeological sites including the Acropolis and Olympic Stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Games in 1896.
Since the revival of the modern Olympics in 1896, no Olympic sprinter has ever won by such a margin.
One flame whose symbolism has transcended from modern to ancient times is the Olympic torch, which has become a symbol for solidarity among nations, the perseverance needed of victory, and the struggle for perfection.
Between now and August, as the Athens Olympic Games refocus world attention on modern Greece, millions of outsiders will come face-to-face with that nation, with all its flaws and enchantments.
The next section is a hall of torches from every modern Olympic Games since 1936 -- a range of designs that include some that look like broom sticks (Atlanta, 1996), machetes (Sydney, 2000) and lightsabers (Tokyo, 1964).
Modern gold Olympic medals are plated with about six grams of gold, while the runners up medals are struck from pure silver.
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One of the Olympic mascots has been named Wenlock in recognition of the town's historical link to the modern games.
The modern Games could be international from the start because the British had spread standardized versions of most of the Olympic sports around the world.
But International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin -- often referred to as the "grandfather of the modern Olympics" -- still awarded 21 gold medals to the expedition.
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