OLYMPIAN LEGACY PARIS

For more than two centuries, the Olympic torch has led us.
The torch of the Modern Games has burned brightly.
Olympians have come from across the world,
carrying their flags and dreams.
They believed in themselves and their teams.

Now they will come to Paris in ‘24.
The City of Light will be expecting them.
The athletes have trained long and hard.
They have been chosen from the many.
They will compete in new and ancient sports.

France has reason to be proud.
She was home to the founder of the Modern Games.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin had a clear vision.
He believed that the ancient games could be again.
He brought the arts to athletics, and the Games were reborn.

The Olympians of the Modern Games
respect and honor the heritage of competition.
When they raise a javelin,
they know it belongs to the ancient art of throwing.
They respect the javelin, once a weapon of war,
now a sport fostering camaraderie,
skill, appreciation of human strength and precision.

By John Francis Krimsky —
A tribute written to honor centuries of Olympians and to seek support for Youth Sports and the future. John Krimsky Jr. is the former Deputy Secretary-General of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and co-founder and First President of the Olympic Properties of the United States (OPUS).