It is clear that the concept of the Olympic Games is far from a simple sports competition.

The unfinished symphony

Pierre de Coubertin withdrew from the IOC and the Olympic Movement in 1925 to devote himself to his pedagogical work, which he termed his "unfinished symphony".

At the age of 69, in 1931, he published his "Olympic Memoirs" in which he emphasized the intellectual and philosophical nature of his enterprise and his wish to "place the role of the IOC, right from the start, very much above that of a simple sports association".

Pierre de Coubertin suddenly died of a heart attack on 2 September, 1937, in a park in Geneva , and thus his "symphony" remained unfinished.

The city of Lausanne had decided to award him honorary citizenship of the city, but he died just prior to the ceremony.

In accordance with Pierre de Coubertin's last wishes, he was buried in Lausanne and his heart was placed inside a stele erected to his memory at Olympia .

（2）《体育颂》：（Pierre de Coubertin）

啊,体育,

天神的欢娱,生命的动力。

你淬然降临在灰蒙蒙的林间空地,

受难者激动不已。

你像是容光焕发的使者,

向暮年人微笑致意。

你像高山之巅出现的晨曦。

照亮了昏暗的大地。

啊,体育,你就是美丽!

你塑造的人体变得高尚还是卑鄙,

要看它是被可耻的欲望引向堕落;

还是由健康的力量悉心培育。

没有匀称协调,便谈不上什么美丽。

你的作用无与伦比,

可使三者和谐统一;

可使人体运动富有节律;

使动作变得优美,

柔中会有刚毅。

啊,体育,你就是正义!

你体现了社会生活中追求不到的公平合理。

任何人不可超过速度一分一秒,

逾越高度一分一厘。

取得成功的关键,

只能是体力与精神融为一体。

啊,体育,你就是勇气!

肌肉用力的全部含义是敢于搏击。

若不为此,敏捷、强健有何用?

肌肉发达有何益?

我们所说的勇气,

不是冒险家押上全部赌注似的蛮干,

而是经过慎重的深思熟虑。

啊,体青,你就是荣誉!

荣誉的赢得要公正无私,

反之便毫无意义。

有人耍弄见不得人的诡计,

以此达到欺骗同伴的目的,.

他内心深处却受着耻辱的绞缢。

有朝一日被人识破,就会落得名声扫地。

啊,体育,你就是乐趣!

想起你,内心充满欢喜,

血液循环加剧,思路更加开阔,

条理愈加清晰。

你可使忧伤的人散心解闷,

你可使欢乐的人生活更加甜蜜。

啊,体育,你就是培育人类的沃地。

你通过最直接的途径,

增强民族体质矫正畸形躯体,

防病患于未然

使运动员得到启迪:

希望后代长得茁壮有力,

继往开来,夺取桂冠的胜利。

啊,体育,你就是进步!

为人类的日新月异,

身体和精神的改变要同时抓起，

你规定良好的生活习惯,

要求人们对过度行为引起警惕。

你告诫人们遵守规则,

发挥人类最大能力,

而又无损健康的肌体。

啊，体育，你就是和平，

你在各民族间建立愉快的联系。

你在有节制、有组织、有技艺的体 力较量中产生,

放全世界的青年学会相互尊重和学习,

使不同民族特质成为高尚而和平竞赛的动力。