IOC Congress #3

The 3rd Olympic Congress was held at the Palais des Académies in Brussels, Belgium from 9-14 June 1905. The Congress was originally scheduled for 1903 but was postponed due to logistical problems.

This Congress is also considered to have been the 6th IOC Session. The theme of the Congress was “Issues of Sports and Physical Education.” The Patron was King Leopold II of Belgium. Coubertin served as President of the Congress, but the organizing committee was chaired by Count Henri de Baillet-Latour of Belgium, who in 1925 would succeed Pierre de Coubertin as IOC President. There were 205 participants from 21 nations, including 15 IOC members.

The plenary Congress first discussed two items: 1) sports meetings between nations, and 2) the need to have unified rules in all sports. Coubertin gave a speech on these topics and his proposals were all accepted unanimously.

The Congress opened with a ceremonial address by the French writer Marcel Prévost, entitled “The mind in the school of sport.” There were six seminar papers given, which formed the basis of discussions. The papers and the debates were the following:

• Gymnastics in ancient times (G. Strehly)
• The ancient gymnasium in modern times (G. Rives)
• The international center of the Springfield YMCA (Charles Bonnamaux)
• Sailing in its various forms and in all countries (Albert Glandaz)
• The form of future competitions in equitation (Aimery Elie, Count Comminges)
• Physical exercise in the colonie (General Alfred Dodds)

There were three working groups: 1) Pedagogy, chaired by the Dutch IOC Member Baron Frederik Willem van Tuyll van Serooskerken; 2) Sport, chaired by Italian IOC Member Count Eugenio Brunetta d’Usseaux; and 3) Special Questions of Physical Education, chaired by the German IOC Member Count Egbert von der Asseburg.

The three working groups reached a number of conclusions. There were actually 63 final proposals, with 15 from Group I, 34 from Group II, and 14 from Group III. Following is a summary of the more important points:

Group I – Pedagogy

• At least 30 minutes of physical education should be done daily by all students. Children under the age of 12 should receive 45-60 minutes of gymnastics instruction daily.
• Games should be integrated into the curriculum of all schools, allowing the students freedom to choose their games.
• The commission recommended the production of an international encyclopaedia of physical education.
• No method of gymnastics could be considered superior to any other.

Group II – Sport

• Each community should build at least one stadium and one gymnasium.
• Sports organizations should hold courses for instructing trainers and coaches in rural areas.
• Public institutions should pay more attention to winter sports, especially skiing.
• Sports federations and clubs should improve their organization, although it was not mentioned how this should be accomplished.

Group III – Physical Education

• Medical faculties should hold courses in therapeutic gymnastics.
• Gymnastics should be part of the daily routine at nursing homes and prisons.
• Football (soccer) is the sport with the most educational value and should be taught to all children of all social classes.

The Congress put off discussing one topic on the agenda, which was Sports for Women. Coubertin was known not to be in favor of this, and stated, “this matter should perhaps be discussed later and at a better moment.”

At the end of the Congress, Olympic Diplomas of Merit were awarded to US President Teddy Roosevelt and well-known Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen.