(Front, L-R) IOC Vice President Nicole Hoevertsz, IOC Vice President John Coats, IOC President Thomas Bach, IOC Vice President Ser Miang Ng, IOC Executive Board member Kirsty Coventry and (Rear, L-R) IOC Executive Board members Nenad Lalovic, Emma Terho, Kristin Kloster and Gerardo Wertheinpose pose with a photograph of the first IOC members at the hall where the IOC was founded at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, July 19, 2024. /Xinhua
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach paid a visit to the Sorbonne University, where French nobleman Pierre de Coubertin founded the IOC and Modern Olympic Movement 130 years ago, as the first step in reviving the Games.
Baron de Coubertin established the IOC in 1894, and two years later, the first revived Olympics were symbolically held in Athens to honor the event's roots in Ancient Greece, before the second edition took place in Paris in 1900.
IOC President Thomas Bach (L) and IOC Vice President Ser Miang Ng visit the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, July 19, 2024. /Xinhua
For this year's Games, de Coubertin's legacy is being evoked through competitions like the "Pentathlon of the Arts" at the Palace of Versailles, and similar initiatives at the French National Sports Museum in Nice.
Around 1,000 towns and cities in the host country are also taking part in the Cultural Olympiad, which promotes cultural events with an Olympic theme.