“Friendship made on the field of sport is the true gold of the competition,” said U.S.A. Olympic gold medalist Jessie Owens. This quote perfectly sums up some of the beautiful and inspiring things I learned about at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
On Sunday, July 28, the rest of the Manship Olympics team and I headed from Lyon, France to Lausanne, Switzerland for a day trip. Sitting on Lake Geneva, Lausanne is home to the official Olympics museum. Not only was the country of Switzerland and Lake Geneva breathtaking but the Olympics Museum was everything I could’ve imagined and more. From the history of the games of the past to the symbolism of the games of the present, my classmates and I got to see and learn what makes every Olympics so special.
With our tour guide, we started at the beginning: Ancient Olympia. The Olympic games started in order to bring people together and to praise their shared god, Zeus. There were very few games at first, but the same sense of victory and pride lived on even back then. Most of the events were running events. They also didn’t have medals back then, but the victors of the games got rewarded a wreath along with fame and wealth when they got back to their village.
One of the most interesting things I learned in this portion of the tour was not about the athletes but about women in ancient Greece. Very few women got to attend the ancient Olympic games, but the ones who did had to be unmarried. This was because the victors of the games could choose a bride from the audience. Eventually, the ancient Olympic games were brought to a halt by a Roman emperor because of its sole praise of the Greek god Zeus; however, it was the origin of the games we love to this day.
Next, we headed to the section of the tour where we learned about the creation of the modern Olympic games. Frenchman and Paris native Pierre de Coubertin was the visionary of the modern Olympic games. When seeing the impact that the unveiling of the Eiffel Tower had on people, Coubertin wanted to bring people together in the same way but through sport. In 1894, he created the first IOC committee, and two years later, Greece held the first modern Olympic games. Coubertin was not only the father of the Olympic games that we have grown up with, but he also created the Olympic flag. No matter what language you speak or where you’re from the Olympic rings are universally recognizable and represent the five continents coming together. In addition, with the six different colors of the rings, Coubertin wanted every country in the world to be able to look at the flag and be able to spot its own colors.
I could talk for pages about what we learned yesterday at the Olympics museum, from the wall of every torch used in the Olympics to the uniforms of significant Olympic athletes, our tour was an informative, enlightening experience. But most of all, the museum gave me and my classmates an insight into how much thought has gone into the games we’re attending and the games of the past. Everything in the Olympics has a meaning, from the torch to the mascot to the opening ceremonies. Overall, the Olympics aim to achieve one goal, to bring the world together. This has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m so proud that I get to experience it with my school and my friends.
Au revior and see you in Paris!!
Emma Grace Lambert
