The International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) was created on Jun 23 , 1894 , and the first Olympic Games of the modern era opened in Athens on Apr 6 , 1896 . Until today , De Coubertin is considered by many to be the “ Father of the Modern Olympics ”. He was also the founder of the IOC and was its second President .

He is remembered by this , the most famous of all his quotes :

“ The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win , but to take part ; the important thing in life is not triumph , but the struggle ; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well .”

Four years after Athens , De Coubertin brought the second Olympiad to his homeland , and in 1900 , Paris hosted its first Olympics .

The 1900 Paris edition of the Olympic Games may have been the second to be organised , but it was the first to allow female athletes to compete . This was a monumental step in Olympic history , with women participating in sports like tennis , golf , and croquet . These Games also featured unusual events such as live pigeon shooting and underwater swimming , which have never been repeated in subsequent Olympic Games .

The year 1924 marked the second occasion that the Games were held in Paris . These Games have been immortalised in the film , “ Chariots of Fire ”, which tells the story of British runners Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams . Liddell ’ s refusal to race on a Sunday due to

THOTSPOT

BY DR KENNETH PEREIRA

Dr Kenneth Pereira is the Founder and Managing Director of Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad .

his religious beliefs and his subsequent gold in the 400 metres remains one of the most inspirational Olympic stories .

Paris in 1924 also provided the stage for Johnny Weissmuller , the American swimmer . He won three gold medals in swimming and a bronze in water polo but mostly found fame playing Tarzan on the silver screen in later years . It was also in Paris in 1924 that the Olympic motto was introduced , “ Citius , Altius , Fortius ” ( Faster , Higher , Stronger ).

These golden memories highlight some of the significant contributions of Paris to the legacy of the Games , from breaking new ground in gender inclusion to inspiring stories of athletic achievement .

THE LONG ROAD

One hundred years after hosting its last Olympics , Paris successfully concluded the journey to hosting the 2024 Games . The process started with an unsuccessful bid for the 1992 Olympics ( that eventually went to Barcelona ). Further efforts were made for the 2008 and 2012 Games , but these were awarded to Beijing and London respectively . After several failed attempts , it is somewhat ironic that Paris was only awarded the 2024 Olympics in 2017 after multiple bidders withdrew their bids for various reasons .

Every Olympiad held in Paris has been special in its own way . However , the positioning for Paris 2024 was even more unique because of the efforts made by the organisers to ensure carbon neutrality and the promotion of the sustainability theme .

The genesis of this idea emerged from another significant event that took place in France . In 2015 , the United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP 21 was held in Paris , and this event was memorable because 196 parties entered into “ The Paris Agreement ” ( a legally binding international treaty on climate change ). With Paris being the

site of the negotiations and declaration of the Paris Agreement , it was only natural that the 2024 Paris Olympics were going to ‘ go green ’ as well .

SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

If De Coubertin is the Father of the Modern Olympic movement , then perhaps the President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee , Tony Estanguet , may be credited with making sustainability a central pillar , integrating it into all aspects of planning and execution for the Games . Working with his committee , he set ambitious targets , the most significant being the reduction of carbon emissions by 50 per cent compared to a baseline of the average of the London ( 2012 ) and Rio ( 2016 ) Games .

The setting of a pre-Games-defined carbon impact reduction target and the development of a proactive emissions mitigation strategy were novel ideas implemented for the Paris 2024 Games . His proactive emissions mitigation method entailed the adoption of an ARO ( Avoid , Reduce and only then Offset ) approach .

This methodology was seen as a radical departure from strategies invoked in other large-scale sports events . Before Paris 2024 , the convention was to undertake a post-event assessment of the carbon footprint of large-scale events and then invest in emissionoffsetting activities .

The total carbon footprint of the London 2012 Olympics was estimated to be around 3.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent , whilst that of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics accounted for approximately 3.6 million metric tons of CO2 . These figures accounted for all emissions associated with the Games , including construction , transportation , and energy use . From the onset , Estanguet ’ s target was to deliver the 2024 Paris Olympics utilising a carbon budget that was half the average of the