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135-725: The founder of the modern Olympic Games, French educator Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin wrote that sport and colonialism were "natural companions", terming sport "a vigorous instrument of the disciplining" of colonized people, and viewed it as a calming force in the French colonial empire . Critics have claimed that the Olympics have engaged in or caused: erroneous anthropological and colonial knowledge production; erasure; commodification and appropriation of indigenous ceremonies and symbolism; theft and inappropriate display of indigenous objects; further encroachment on and support of

270-593: A Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee boycott "if the situation in Tibet continues to worsen". Masahisa Tsujitani, a Japanese craftsman who makes shots used by many Olympic athletes, announced 14 April he refuses to allow his wares to be used at the games to protest China's treatment of protesters in Tibet. During the Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece on 24 March 2008, three Reporters Without Borders journalists breached

405-506: A philosophy , speaks "in truisms of equity, anti-discrimination, mutual recognition and respect, tolerance and solidarity". But she and other critics argue that in reality Olympism serves as an apologetic for a movement that is actually "deeply politicized and xenophobic". O'Bonsawin also argues that in encouraging Olympic participants to "cast aside everyday lived experiences ... shaped by such factors as race, gender, sexuality, religion, culture, ideology, and class" Olympism itself erases

540-426: A Ferris wheel, and anthropology exhibits. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition is known for its many Anthropology Days displays of "exotic peoples" to, "reaffirm notions of racial superiority while simultaneously challenging many popular stereotypes." Native American people were put on display to demonstrate their possibility for "progress." Anthropology Days architect W. J. McGee designed his events to illustrate

675-730: A Great Falls Tribute headline stated in the June 27th 1904. Immediately following the girls' championship success, seven of the school's graduates were promised all-paid-for educations at Vassar College from the Christian Philanthropist Charles H. Madison. His generosity, however, seemed short lived when he instead decided to tour the team in "vaudeville" fashion to make money for his work with rescue missions. The team became quickly disillusioned and returned home in December. The team played for one more year after

810-406: A Priest in that Church must sign." In other words, that they may not wholly believe it but hold to it for historical reasons. Questions have also been raised about the veracity of Coubertin's account of his role in the planning of the 1896 Athens Games. Reportedly, Coubertin played little role in planning, despite entreaties by Vikelas. Young suggests that the story about Coubertin's having sketched

945-647: A background role as Greek authorities took the lead in logistical organization of the Games in Greece itself, offering technical advice such as a sketch of a design of a velodrome to be used in cycling competitions. He also took the lead in planning the program of events, although to his disappointment, polo , football , and boxing were not included in 1896. The Greek organizing committee had been informed that four foreign football teams had entered, however none of them showed up in Athens, and despite Greek preparations for

1080-521: A cordon of 1,000 police at the ancient Olympia stadium and interrupted the speech of Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Games committee. One protester tried to snatch the microphone as another unrolled a black flag showing the Olympic rings as handcuffs. Nearly 50 Tibetan exiles in India began a global torch relay 25 March 2008 with a symbolic "Olympic" flame that ended in Tibet on 8 August 2008, the day of

1215-798: A degree in law and public affairs from the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Sciences Po). It was at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris that he came up with the idea of reviving the Olympic Games. The Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy and the Pierre de Coubertin Medal are named in his honour. Pierre de Frédy was born in Paris on 1 January 1863, into an aristocratic family. He

1350-430: A football tournament it was cancelled during the Games. The Greek authorities were also frustrated that he could not provide an exact estimate of the number of attendees more than a year in advance. In France, Coubertin's efforts to elicit interest in the Games among athletes and the press met difficulty, largely because the participation of German athletes angered French nationalists who begrudged Germany their victory in

1485-483: A general sense. This disappointing result was the prelude to several challenges he would face in organizing his international conference. To develop support for the conference, he began to play down its role in reviving Olympic Games and instead promoted it as a conference on amateurism in sport which, he thought, was slowly being eroded by betting and sponsorships. This led to later suggestions that participants were convinced to attend under false pretenses. Little interest

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1620-526: A mingling of classes, which he did not support. Unfortunately for Coubertin, his efforts to incorporate more physical education into French schools failed. The failure of this endeavor, however, was closely followed by the development of a new idea, the revival of the ancient Olympic Games , the creation of a festival of international athleticism. He was the referee of the first-ever French championship rugby union final on 20 March 1892 , between Racing Club de France and Stade Français . Thomas Arnold,

1755-581: A philosophy of the Olympic Games. While he certainly intended the Games to be a forum for competition between amateur athletes, his conception of amateurism was complex. By 1894, the year the Congress was held, he publicly criticized the type of amateur competition embodied in English rowing contests, arguing that its specific exclusion of working-class athletes was wrong. While he believed that athletes should not be paid to be such, he did think that compensation

1890-693: A reprisals for the assault on torch-bearers through Paris, France. French retailer Carrefour was boycotted, and there were flag burning protests outside some stores. Foreign media, particularly CNN , was criticised by state media outlet China Daily for its reporting of the Tibetan riots. The media reported that the attitudes of Han Chinese citizens towards non-Chinese and Chinese minorities in China noticeably worsened. In late April, Chinese Internet censors, who had previously permitted posts critical of non-Chinese, began blocking words such as "Carrefour", in what

2025-582: A tuberculosis crisis, and malnourishment in the community". The Lubicon Cree focused their boycott on a specific Olympic event: The Spirit Sings exhibit at the Glenbow Museum , part of the official cultural programming of the Games. They protested this exhibit on several grounds, including that almost half of its funding came from Shell Oil Canada —the very company drilling for oil on their unceded land. The exhibit consisted of indigenous Canadian artifacts, art and objects gathered from collections around

2160-554: Is clear that his romanticized vision of the ancient Olympic Games was fundamentally different from that described in the historical record. For example, Coubertin's idea that participation is more important than winning ("L'important c'est de participer") is at odds with the ideals of the Greeks. Coubertin's assertion that the games were the impetus for peace was also an exaggeration; the peace which he spoke of only existed to allow athletes to travel safely to Olympia, and neither prevented

2295-664: Is currently banned by FIFA , and Japan was sanctioned by Asian Football Confederation after Japanese football fans flew it at an AFC Champions League in 2017. In September 2019, the South Korean parliamentary committee for sports asked the organizers of 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to ban the Rising Sun Flag, and the Chinese Civil Association for Claiming Compensation from Japan sent a letter to

2430-743: Is deliberately trying to buy its way around its terrible human rights record by creating a media spin behind the Four Host First Nations". Calling the FHFN a "cheap and shallow scheme", he points out that in 2007 Canada was one of only four countries to vote against the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples . The 2010 Winter Games were met with massive protest locally and internationally. In October 2007, 1500 indigenous delegates at

2565-462: The 1889 Paris Exposition , world's fairs – with their inclusion of human zoos – and the Olympics were a logical fit at this time, as they "were both linked to an underlying cultural logic that gave them a natural affinity". Taking this natural fit to the next level, two key figures at the 1904 World's Fair – William John McGee and James Edward Sullivan – devised an event that would bring anthropology and sport together: Anthropology Days. W. J. McGee

2700-684: The 2012 Summer Olympic torch relay in Northern Ireland , Irish republican supporters had disputed the event in Northern Ireland to protest against the British intervention in Northern Ireland. During the events of the relay, the police and the military had arrested several suspected IRA members. On 2 May 2012, on the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano , an advertising film depicting

2835-503: The 2024 Summer Olympics . Drut stated that he had support from de Coubertin's family as well as French Academy member Érik Orsenna and had written to French President Emmanuel Macron . In response, IOC President Thomas Bach commented that he thought it was a "wonderful proposal" and "deserves to be successful", however, he doubted "the IOC could make any steps on this initiative which we appreciate considerably", yet wished him on behalf of

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2970-521: The Catholic Church , classicism, and nobility, which reflected those things he thought most important. In a later semi-fictional autobiographical piece called Le Roman d'un rallié , Coubertin describes his relationship with both his mother and his father as having been somewhat strained during his childhood and adolescence. His memoirs elaborated further, describing as a pivotal moment his disappointment upon meeting Henri, Count of Chambord , whom

3105-668: The Fort Shaw Indian School girls basketball team, did compete in other athletic events at the LPE). Contests included "baseball throwing, shot put, running, broad jumping, weight lifting, pole climbing, and tugs-of-war before a crowd of approximately ten thousand". The 1976 Summer Olympics have been criticized for a lack of consultation and the spectacular display of indigenous people in the closing ceremony. Sport scholar Christine O'Bonsawin explains how "Montreal organizers strategically included indigenous people and imagery in

3240-605: The Imperial Japanese military during World War II , as well as its current usage by racist hate groups in Japan, such as Zaitokukai . The flag, often compared to Nazi swastika , is associated with war crimes and atrocities committed under the Japanese Empire, as well as contemporary Japan's far-right nationalist attempts to revise , deny , and romanticise its imperialistic past. The controversial flag

3375-847: The International Olympic Committee in order to ban the flag. During the bidding process of the Olympics, many Tibetan protesters had criticized the IOC for allowing China to host the 2022 Olympics due to policies against Tibetans. In the aftermath of the 2019 leak of the Xinjiang papers and the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests , calls were made for a boycott of the 2022 games. Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin ( French: [ʃaʁl pjɛʁ də fʁedi baʁɔ̃ də kubɛʁtɛ̃] ; born Pierre de Frédy ; 1 January 1863 – 2 September 1937), also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin ,

3510-589: The Lil'wat , Musqueam , Squamish , and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations from the Vancouver and Whistler areas, the FHFN was created to ensure that "their cultures and traditions are respected and showcased throughout the planning, staging, and hosting of the 2010 Winter Games". But former Neskonlith chief Arthur Manuel has argued that the FHFN was created to "divide and rule over indigenous peoples in Canada" and that "Canada

3645-635: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition (also known as the St. Louis World's Fair), and were the first modern Olympic Games to be held in North America . Since the 1889 Paris Exposition , human zoos , as a key feature of world's fairs, functioned as demonstrations of anthropological notions of race , progress, and civilization. These goals were followed also at the 1904 World's Fair. Fourteen hundred indigenous people from Southeast Asia,

3780-629: The Lubicon Lake Indian Nation , a small community in northern Alberta. Their reasons centered around what they considered the illegal sale of their unceded lands to oil companies—unceded because they had been left out of the 1899 and 1900 treaties and the federal government was still not willing to negotiate a treaty. While corporations extracted resources from their lands, the Lubicon Cree were experiencing "a 93% decline in their annual trapping income, high rates of alcoholism,

3915-734: The Olympic flame is lit in Olympia, the first torchbearer brings it to light the marble altar in the Coubertin Grove. The flame then goes onto Athens, and subsequently the host city. Pierre de Coubertin was the last person to possess his family name. In the words of his biographer John MacAloon, "The last of his lineage, Pierre de Coubertin was the only member of it whose fame would outlive him." A number of scholars have criticized Coubertin's legacy. David C. Young believes that Coubertin's assertion that ancient Olympic athletes were amateurs

4050-567: The 19th and 20th centuries with the primary purpose of assimilating Native American children and teenagers into mainstream Euro-American culture. Richard Henry Pratt opened the first Indian Boarding school, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School , basing the curriculum and structure on his years of military background. Pratt's goal was to "kill the Indian and save the man." The strict assimilation policies at

4185-609: The 2010 games. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to build new resorts and expand existing ones in order to attract and accommodate tourists, Olympic athletes and trainers. One such development was the Sea-to-Sky highway expansion for which the Eagle Ridge Bluffs in North Vancouver (on Squamish territory) were to be destroyed. Harriet Nahanee , a 71-year-old Pacheedaht elder who had married into

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4320-604: The 400 athletic events were referred to as "Olympian," and the opening ceremony was held in May with dignitaries in attendance, though the official Olympic program did not begin until July 1. Also, as previously noted, one of the original intentions of Anthropology Days was to create publicity for the official Olympic events. Anthropology Days took place on August 11 and 12, 1904, with about 100 paid indigenous men (no women participated in Anthropology Days, though some, notably

4455-768: The Circassian nation. They demanded the Sochi 2014 Olympics be cancelled or moved unless Russia would apologize for what the Circassians regarded to be a genocide . Some Circassian groups have not expressed outright opposition to the Olympics but argue that symbols of Circassian history and culture should be included in the format, as Australia, the United States, and Canada did with their indigenous populations in 2000 , 2002 , and 2010 respectively. The games are viewed to be particularly offensive because they include

4590-583: The DTES in Vancouver, at least a third of them are of indigenous ancestry, compared to 1.9% representation of indigenous women in the general population of Vancouver. Indigenous people have also raised concerns about the marketing and branding of the 2010 Winter Games, starting with the selection of the official Games logo, which was based on the Inuit symbol of the inuksuk , and given the name "Ilanaaq", which translates to "friend". Several indigenous leaders criticized

4725-517: The First Nations and the Pacific region in the design of the logo ... I can't help but notice the remarkable resemblance it has to Pac-Man." Former Nunavut Commissioner Peter Irniq also criticized the design: "Inuit never build inuksuit with head, legs and arms"; and the process: "[Irniq] says every inukshuk has a meaning and a reason why it was built in a certain location. He says building

4860-610: The Fort Shaw Girls' championship title disproved theories of Anglo-European athletic superiority, something that the anthropologists studying the fair would never have admitted. The basketball exhibition ended with a best of three competition between the Fort Shaw seven member team faced off against the Missouri All-Stars, alumnae of Central High in St. Louis. After an entire summer playing exhibition games at

4995-683: The Fort Shaw Government Industrial Indian Boarding School by the Department of the Interior after a government school in northeastern Montana burned down. It opened its doors on December 27 of that year with 52 students. By the turn of the century the school had over 300 students, ages five to eighteen, with thirty employees. Typically, academic classes were taught in the morning with more vocational courses, like cooking and sewing, in

5130-679: The Franco-Prussian War. Germany also threatened not to participate after rumors spread that Coubertin had sworn to keep Germany out, but following a letter to the Kaiser denying the accusation, the German National Olympic Committee decided to attend. Coubertin himself was frustrated by the Greeks, who increasingly ignored him in their planning and who wanted to continue to hold the Games in Athens every four years, against de Coubertin's wishes. The conflict

5265-487: The Games might have modern implications, giving the Olympics a role in promoting peace. This role was reinforced in Coubertin's mind by the tendency of athletic competition to promote understanding across cultures, thereby lessening the dangers of war. In addition, he saw the games as important in advocating his philosophical ideal for athletic competition: that the competition itself, the struggle to overcome one's opponent,

5400-582: The Games. However, Uyghur activists accused the Chinese of fabricating terror plots to crack down on the people of the region and prevent them airing legitimate grievances. Some foreign observers were also skeptical, questioning if China was inflating a terror threat to justify a clampdown on dissidents before the Olympics. In the run-up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, during which world attention

5535-681: The Greek government to seek its support in the endeavour. While Brookes' contribution to the revival of the Olympic Games was recognized in Britain at the time, Coubertin in his later writings largely neglected to mention the role the Englishman played in their development. He did mention the roles of Evangelis Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas, but drew a distinction between their founding of athletic Olympics and his own role in

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5670-520: The IOC "the best of success in getting this initiative to fruition." Drut announced that he had written to Macron "to propose the creation of a study commission for this project." After his death, and according to his wish, his heart was taken to Olympia to rest in the memorial stele erected in his honor by the Greek government in 1937. The stele is located in the Coubertin Grove of the International Olympic Academy . When

5805-592: The Intercontinental Indigenous Gathering in Sonora, Mexico passed a resolution stating: "We reject the 2010 Winter Olympics on sacred and stolen territory of Turtle Island – Vancouver, Canada." This launched a global boycott of the 2010 Games with indigenous protests of the 2010 Winter Games rallying under the slogan, "No Olympics on stolen Native land." In an interview with Democracy Now! , commentator and artist Gord Hill explains how

5940-531: The Lubicon boycott of The Spirit Sings resulted in the formation of a task force that eventually released a ground-breaking report that continues to influence how museum professionals approach working with indigenous communities. In addition to the boycott of The Spirit Sings , the torch relay run was targeted by protesters for its sponsorship by Petro-Canada , which was "invading indigenous territories (including Lubicon lands) across Canada". Indigenous objection

6075-505: The Model Indian School twice a week, the anticipation was high for the games. Fort Shaw won the first game 24-2. The St. Louis team failed to show up for the second game and forfeited. However, the team asked to continue the competition and Fort Shaw agreed. At the end of the second game the score stood 17 to 6, winning the Fort Shaw girls the title as the basketball champions of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. On August 25

6210-531: The Montreal Olympic Games' closing ceremony employed indigenous symbolism without consultation with local First Nations. Hundreds of performers were enlisted to perform a "tribal" dance that was choreographed by a non-indigenous choreographer, to a musical score ("La Danse Sauvage") created by a non-indigenous composer. Only 200 of the 450 performers were indigenous, with the other 250 being non-indigenous people costumed and painted in " redface "—it

6345-619: The Olympian Class " at the Gaskell recreation ground at Much Wenlock , Shropshire. Along with the Liverpool Athletic Club, who began holding their own Olympic Festival in the 1860s, Brookes created a National Olympian Association which aimed to encourage such local competition in cities across Britain. These efforts were largely ignored by the British sporting establishment. Brookes also maintained communication with

6480-490: The Olympic Games, specifically the use of heats to narrow participants and the banning of prize money in most contests. Following the Congress, the institutions created there began to be formalized into the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president. The work of the IOC increasingly focused on the planning of the 1896 Athens Games, and de Coubertin played

6615-483: The Olympics in May, at the headquarters of the exiled government. The international journalist group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) advocated boycott to express concerns over violations of free speech and human rights in China . It hoped that international pressure could effect the release of prisoners of conscience and the upholding of promises made to the IOC regarding improvements in human rights. In March 2008, Taiwan's president-elect Ma Ying-jeou threatened

6750-525: The Olympics a much more prominent role in the meeting. The congress was held on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. Once there, participants divided the congress into two commissions, one on amateurism and the other on reviving the Olympics. A Greek participant, Demetrios Vikelas , was appointed to head the commission on the Olympics, and would later become the first President of the International Olympic Committee. Along with Coubertin, C. Herbert of Britain's Amateur Athletic Association and W.M. Sloane of

6885-487: The Olympics in his own country. Despite the initial success, the Olympic movement faced hard times, as the 1900 Games (in De Coubertin's own Paris) and 1904 Games were both overshadowed by World's Fairs in the same cities, and received little attention. Further to this, the Paris Games were organized by the organizing committee of the Exposition Universelle , who disagreed with de Coubertin's ideas and subsequently fired him, nor were they called Olympics at that time, while

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7020-488: The Pacific Islands, East Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America and North America were displayed in anthropological exhibits that showed them in their natural habitats. Another 1,600 indigenous people displayed their culture in other areas of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (LPE), including on the fairgrounds and at the Model School, where American Indian boarding schools students demonstrated their successful assimilation . According to theorist Susan Brownell , since

7155-407: The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs , described the inclusion as "illegal", and accused the Tokyo Organising Committee of "politicising" the Games. The Japanese government's refusal to ban the controversial Rising Sun Flag in the Olympic sites has been criticized as going against the Olympic spirit , as the flag is offensive to East and Southeast Asian peoples due to its historical usage by

7290-507: The Squamish First Nation, participated in a blockade to prevent this destruction. She was arrested along with 23 other protesters and imprisoned. Nahanee's already fragile health deteriorated while in prison and she died shortly after her release on February 24, 2007. The 2010 Winter Games have also been criticized for being held in a city, province and country where so many indigenous people are living in desperate social conditions, particularly in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES), which, at

7425-431: The St. Louis Games were predominantly American. The 1906 Summer Olympics revived the momentum, and the Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world's foremost sports competition. Coubertin created the modern pentathlon for the 1912 Olympics , and subsequently stepped down from his IOC presidency after the 1924 Olympics in Paris, which proved much more successful than the first attempt in that city in 1900. He

7560-453: The Summer Games' opening ceremonies in Beijing. Although the torch was heavily guarded by local police and Chinese security agents wearing blue track suits, protesters attempting to stop the relay or take the torch were a significant problem along the route. Disruption of the torch relay and foreign condemnation of China resulted in a backlash of nationalism and anti-foreigner sentiment in China. French goods and businesses were threatened with

7695-431: The United States helped lead the efforts of the commission. In its report, the commission proposed that the Olympic Games be held every four years and that the program for the Games be one of modern rather than ancient sports. They also set the date and location for the first modern Olympic Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and the second, the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Coubertin had originally opposed

7830-409: The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) for not consulting with indigenous groups on the selection of the emblem, and for choosing one that did not reflect the local First Nations of the host city. President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Chief Stewart Phillip said: "The First Nations community at large is disappointed with the selection ... The decision-makers have decided not to reflect

7965-464: The afternoons. The Blackfoot tribe saw the greatest representation at the Fort Shaw school. The school lost government funding on April 17, 1910 as a result of a growing support for the abolishment of non-reservation schools in Congress and growing integration of public schools. The site was ceded to the U.S. government. The Fort Shaw school had boys' basketball, football, and track teams that competed against regional high schools and colleges from

8100-431: The annals of both sides of his family included nobles of various stations, military leaders and associates of kings and princes of France. His father Charles was a staunch royalist and accomplished artist whose paintings were displayed and given prizes at the Parisian salon , at least in those years when he was not absent in protest of the rise to power of Louis Napoleon . His paintings often centered on themes related to

8235-429: The association had expanded to 62 societies with 7,000 members. That November, at the annual meeting of the USFSA, Coubertin first publicly suggested the idea of reviving the Olympics. His speech met general applause, but little commitment to the Olympic ideal he was advocating for, perhaps because sporting associations and their members tended to focus on their area of expertise and had little identity as sportspeople in

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8370-402: The boys. It was also the only sport girls were allowed to participate in. When the team was started, none of the girls had played basketball before, although they had played shinney and double ball (two related Indian field games). Girls at the Fort Shaw school played by the boys' rules: full-court, 20-minute halves with no breaks rules. The games were generally low-scoring, partially due to

8505-427: The captain of Argentina's hockey team , Fernando Zylberberg , training in Stanley, Falkland Islands , was broadcast in Argentina under the slogan "To compete on British soil, we train on Argentine soil." While it was claimed by several major Argentine newspapers that the film had not been commissioned by the Argentine government, with it being produced by the local office of the Young & Rubicam advertising agency,

8640-415: The choice of Greece, as he had concerns about the ability of a weakened Greek state to host the competition, but was convinced by Vikelas to support the idea. The commission's proposals were accepted unanimously by the congress, and the modern Olympic movement was officially born. The proposals of the other commission, on amateurism, were more contentious, but this commission also set important precedents for

8775-413: The closing ceremony at a time when Canadian indigenous and government relations were operating under heightened tensions". She is referring to then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's 1969 Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (also called the White Paper ), which was perceived by some Canadian indigenous people as a further attempt at assimilation. O'Bonsawin describes how amid these tensions

8910-437: The competition. Further, Young asserts that the effort to limit international competition to amateur athletes, which Coubertin was a part of, was in fact part of efforts to give the upper classes greater control over athletic competition, removing such control from the working classes. Coubertin may have played a role in such a movement, but his defenders argue that he did so unconscious of any class repercussions. However, it

9045-517: The creation and development of a national association to coordinate athletics in France, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA). In 1889, French athletics associations had grouped together for the first time and Coubertin founded a monthly magazine La Revue Athletique , the first French periodical devoted exclusively to athletics and modelled on The Athlete , an English journal established around 1862. Formed by seven sporting societies with approximately 800 members, by 1892

9180-405: The creation of an international contest. However, Coubertin together with A. Mercatis, a close friend of Konstantinos, encouraged the Greek government to utilise part of Konstantinos' legacy to fund the 1896 Athens Olympic Games separately and in addition to the legacy of Evangelis Zappas that Konstantinos had been executor of. Moreover, George Averoff was invited by the Greek government to fund

9315-443: The curriculum of French schools would become an ongoing pursuit and passion of Coubertin's. Coubertin is thought to have exaggerated the importance of sport to Thomas Arnold, whom he viewed as "one of the founders of athletic chivalry". The character-reforming influence of sport with which Coubertin was so impressed is more likely to have originated in the novel Tom Brown's School Days (published in 1857) rather than exclusively in

9450-479: The date of the 150th anniversary of what they consider a genocide. It has thus been a rallying cry for Circassian nationalists . In particular, there is much ire over the use of a hill called "Red Hill". In 1864, a group of Circassians apparently tried to return home but were attacked and a battle ensued, ending in their massacre, and attaining the name "Red Hill" (for the blood spilled). There were skiing and snowboarding events planned to be held on this hill. During

9585-436: The elder Coubertin believed to be the rightful king . Coubertin grew up in a time of profound change in France: defeat in the Franco-Prussian War , the Paris Commune , and the establishment of the Third Republic but while these events were the setting of his childhood, his school experiences were just as formative. In October 1874, his parents enrolled him in a new Jesuit school called Externat de la rue de Vienne , which

9720-460: The equipment of two Japanese journalists sent to cover the story. Four days later a bombing in Kuqa killed at least two people. Again building on lessons learned from previous Olympic Games held in Canada, the 2010 Winter Games saw an unprecedented level of involvement by and collaboration with indigenous people, namely in the form of the Four Host First Nations (FHFN). Composed of representatives from

9855-446: The evolution of humans from "savagery" to "barbarism" to "civilization." The displays were also ways for the imperialist countries who presented them to justify their subjugation of indigenous people worldwide. The Model Indian School , home to 150 students during the fair, was located on "Indian Hill" at the fair next to the fair's own reservation where traditional housing was set up and ancient crafts were created in order to compare

9990-537: The example set by the Athenian idea of the gymnasium , a training facility that simultaneously encouraged physical and intellectual development. He saw in these gymnasia what he called a triple unity between old and young, between disciplines, and between different types of people, meaning between those whose work was theoretical and those whose work was practical. Coubertin advocated for these concepts, this triple unity, to be incorporated into schools. While Coubertin

10125-414: The following five years organizing an international meeting of athletes and sports enthusiasts that might make it happen. In response to a newspaper appeal, Brookes wrote to Coubertin in 1890, and the two began an exchange of letters on education and sport. Although he was too old to attend the 1894 Congress, Brookes would continue to support Coubertin's efforts, most importantly by using his connections with

10260-699: The front in World War I . Coubertin died of a heart attack in Geneva, Switzerland, on 2 September 1937 and was buried in Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery in Lausanne. Marie died in 1963. At the 139th IOC Session around the 2022 Winter Olympics , French IOC member and Olympic gold medalist Guy Drut , informed the IOC of his proposal to have de Coubertin's remains reinterred at the Panthéon in time for

10395-421: The girls for programs they performed at the 1904 fair. Fern Evans was the music teacher at Fort Shaw who organized the music program that they performed at the fair to fund their travel and games. Lillie B. Crawford was tasked with training the team in recitation performances also for funding their games and travels. The school's season record was 9 wins and 2 losses. It was a year of growing recognition for

10530-536: The girls won the silver and gold cup for women's basketball at the fair. Despite being signed up to play only in the women's basketball bracket, the team won in the general competition, something which was conveniently omitted from Spalding's Athletic Almanac . With their heads held high from their victory and with their new title, they returned home to Montana. The team continued to play basketball and were, "Willing to Play Against Any Girls' Team in Existence" as

10665-496: The government and sporting advocates in Greece, seeking a revival of the Olympic Games internationally under the auspices of the Greek government. There, the philanthropist cousins Evangelos and Konstantinos Zappas had used their wealth to fund Olympics within Greece, and paid for the restoration of the Panathinaiko Stadium that was later used during the 1896 Summer Olympics . The efforts of Brookes to encourage

10800-416: The head master of Rugby School, was an important influence on Coubertin's thoughts about education, but his meetings with William Penny Brookes also influenced his thinking about athletic competition to some extent. A trained physician, Brookes believed that the best way to prevent illness was through physical exercise. In 1850, he had initiated a local athletic competition that he referred to as " Meetings of

10935-486: The high number of deaths among students. Medical research at the time cited that physical activity in general and outdoor activity more specifically were the best practices to combat disease. Also common in American society at the time, sport was assumed to help build moral character by instilling hard-work, discipline, and sportsmanship, especially in boys. Pratt also believed that athletic teams of Indians would show

11070-545: The ideas of Arnold himself. Nonetheless, Coubertin was an enthusiast in need of a cause and he found it in England and in Thomas Arnold. "Thomas Arnold, the leader and classic model of English educators," wrote Coubertin, "gave the precise formula for the role of athletics in education. The cause was quickly won. Playing fields sprang up all over England". He visited other English schools to see for himself. He described

11205-565: The inter-religious Scouting organization aka Éclaireurs Français (EF) in France, which later merged to form the Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France . In 1895, Pierre de Coubertin married Marie Rothan, the daughter of family friends. Their son Jacques (1896–1952) became sick after being in the sun too long when he was a little child. Their daughter Renée (1902–1968) suffered emotional disturbances and never married. Marie and Pierre tried to console themselves with two nephews, but they were killed at

11340-465: The internationalization of these games came to naught in his own lifetime before his death in 1895. However, Brookes did organize a national Olympic Games in London, at Crystal Palace , in 1866 and this was the first Olympics to resemble an Olympic Games to be held outside of Greece but while others had created Olympic contests within their countries, and broached the idea of international competition, it

11475-444: The mind and body in equilibrium, it also prevented the time being wasted in other ways. First developed by the ancient Greeks, it was an approach to education that he felt the rest of the world had forgotten and to whose revival he was to dedicate the rest of his life. As a historian and a thinker on education, Coubertin romanticized ancient Greece . Thus, when he began to develop his theory of physical education, he naturally looked to

11610-477: The objects were sacred and not intended for public display", including a Mohawk False Face mask . O'Bonsawin discusses how the Glenbow Museum committed a "second and more disgraceful wave of thievery" by returning the artifacts to the collections and museums who had loaned them, and refusing to assist indigenous groups in getting these items repatriated back to their communities. The discourse generated by

11745-562: The opening ceremony, NBC analyst Joshua Cooper Ramo noted that Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945, and then added, "But every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural and technological and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation." In The Korea Times , Jung Min-ho called the comment "incorrect and insensitive," writing that "Tens of thousands of Koreans and non-Koreans alike have criticized Ramo and NBC Sports on their social media, urging them to correct this misinformation and apologize." Koreans still feel

11880-546: The outbreak of wars nor ended ongoing ones. Scholars have critiqued the idea that athletic competition might lead to greater understanding between cultures and, therefore, to peace. Christopher Hill claims that modern participants in the Olympic movement may defend this particular belief, "in a spirit similar to that in which the Church of England remains attached to the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion , which

12015-551: The pain of all those years under the Japanese occupation. In response to this backlash, NBC issued an on-air apology and Ramo was fired from his job at NBC the next day. Russian and South Korean officials took issue with a map of the torch relay on the Games' official website, which depicted the disputed Liancourt Rocks (territory claimed by Japan but governed by South Korea) and Kuril Islands (territory claimed by Japan and Russia) as part of Japan. Maria Zakharova , spokeswoman of

12150-560: The poem under the pseudonym of Georges Hohrod and M. Eschbach which were the names of villages close to his wife's place of birth. Following Francisco Amoros ' ideas, De Coubertin developed a new type of utilitarian sport: "les débrouillards" (the "resourceful men") from 1900. The first débrouillards season was organized in 1905/1906, and the program was wide: running, jumping, throwing, climbing, swimming, sword fighting, boxing, shooting, walking, horse riding, rowing, and cycling. (source: FFEPGV archives) In 1911, Pierre de Coubertin founded

12285-436: The province was expected to spend $ 1.5 billion on the Games, and the federal government, $ 2.5 billion. The high incidence of violence against indigenous women is telling of Canada's treatment of indigenous peoples: 500 First Nations women are missing from across Canada, and 76 of them are from British Columbia, where the Games were being hosted. It has been estimated that of the 69 women on the official list of those missing from

12420-495: The realities of marginalized peoples. To address this erasure and the disparity between Olympism ideals and Games practice, O'Bonsawin recommends that the IOC restructure their bid evaluation process so that they can determine whether bidding countries respect the human rights and needs of marginalized peoples. Instrumental to this restructuring would be the inclusion of external consultation and evaluation. The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, were held in conjunction with

12555-418: The results in a book, L'Education en Angleterre , which was published in Paris in 1888. The hero of his book is Thomas Arnold, and on his second visit in 1886, Coubertin reflected on Arnold's influence in the chapel at Rugby School. What Coubertin saw on the playing fields of the English schools he visited was how "organised sport can create moral and social strength". Not only did organized games help to set

12690-523: The rights to it were purchased by the Office of the President for national broadcast. An IOC statement said "the games should not be part of a political platform", while Argentine Olympic Committee President Gerardo Werthein stated that "the Olympic Games cannot be used to make political gestures". Zylberberg stated that he had been unaware that the film would be used as a political advert. He subsequently

12825-630: The same time period." Kat Norris of the Indigenous Action Group further explains why this is of particular concern to First Nations people, who, as of 2007, constituted 30% of homeless people in the DTES: "The brutal history of residential schools coupled with present day racism and discrimination has meant that 'a high percentage of our people rely on services in the downtown eastside of Vancouver ... Many of these services are facing funding cuts. ' " Those funding cuts were occurring while

12960-505: The school in 1908. As superintendent, he expanded the school's athletic program because he believed it would help the student's self-esteem as it had helped him while playing baseball at the University of Kansas . He was the one to introduce competitive basketball to Fort Shaw as well as in surrounding schools so the team would have competition. Sadie Malley became the assistant coach in the team's second season. She had been teaching at

13095-405: The school since 1899. She had been Josephine Langely's substitute in coaching the team before they became competitive and Campbell took over. It was under her insistence that the team not play by the "girls' rules" (half-court). Lizzie Wirth, the sister of player Nettie Wirth, joined the team during their second season to serve as a chaperone and choreographed exercises and drills meant to prepare

13230-422: The schools often prevented students from visiting their families and returning to familiar language and customs. Upon arrival, students were forced to give up any "tribal" clothing and were given new Christian names. The Fort Shaw Indian School was modeled after Pratt's Carlisle school. Athletics were an important aspect of the boarding schools across the country and were fundamental for assimilation. Football

13365-503: The schools opening. Originally Fort Shaw girls were only offered a "physical culture class," but by 1897 basketball was introduced to the Fort Shaw girls by student and "Indian Assistant" Josephine Langley. Langley was introduced to the sport after a semester at the Carlisle Boarding School and was supported by superintendent Frederick Campbell in establishing basketball as an indoor sport for students to play during

13500-410: The second refurbishment of the Panathinaiko Stadium that had already been fully funded by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier. Coubertin's advocacy for the games centered on a number of ideals about sport. He believed that the early ancient Olympics encouraged competition among amateur rather than professional athletes, and saw value in that. The ancient practice of a sacred truce in association with

13635-660: The slogan refers to the lack of treaties in British Columbia: "It's illegal, and it's actually immoral, because they were bound by their own laws to make treaties before they settled on any land or any business took place on sovereign indigenous land." The business referred to includes massive real estate developments as explained in a Dominion article: Vast areas of unceded land that Indigenous communities depend on for hunting, fishing and general survival are at risk. Rivers, mountains and old-growth forests are being replaced by tourist resorts and highway expansions spurred by

13770-516: The state to North Dakota and Minnesota before heading to St. Louis for the fair. As the superintendent, Campbell had been asked by the fair to send students to the school. He recommended the basketball team but ultimately left the choice to participate up to the players. Informally known the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held from April 30 to December 1, 1904. The 657 acre fairground provided entertainment through performances, circuses, battle reenactments,

13905-428: The strict rigors of a Jesuit education. As an aristocrat, Coubertin had a number of career paths from which to choose, including potentially prominent roles in the military or politics but he chose instead to pursue a career as an intellectual, studying and later writing on a broad range of topics, including education, history, literature and sociology. The subject which he seems to have been most deeply interested in

14040-445: The structures should not be taken lightly." Criticism was also directed at the fact that the logo designers were not Inuit or even First Nations. Some Inuit, in criticizing the adoption of "Ilanaaq", explicitly made the connection between cultural appropriation and commodificaton, "arguing that it dishonoured the traditional functions of inuksuk and risked turning them into commodities that could be sold for tourist consumption". During

14175-419: The students to those on the reservation. The Model Indian School was strategically placed between the "realistic" huts of the most "savage" human exhibits and the green fields of the modern athletic complex, demonstrating the evolutionary scale in a visual and physical nature. The girls' presence and decorum at the fair helped show fair-goers that Indians were not "savages." Historian Nancy Parezo notes that

14310-467: The team as well as the sport in general. For their second season, the team was unable to defend their title as unofficial state champions. Possible reasons include trouble scheduling games or reluctance from other teams to play them. Campbell instead schedules exhibition games around the state. At these games, the athletes performed mandolin concerts, literary recitations, and calisthenics in order to pay for food and lodging. They eventually traveled outside

14445-436: The theft of indigenous lands; and neglect or intensification of poor social conditions for indigenous peoples. The founder of the modern Olympic Games, French educator Pierre de Coubertin wrote that sport and colonialism were "natural companions". He called sports "a vigorous instrument of the disciplining" of colonized people, and viewed it as a calming force in the French colonial empire . O'Bonsawin writes that Olympism, as

14580-427: The time length of the game, running the clock while retrieving the ball and conducting center court tip-offs after every basket. The players' cumbersome uniforms and the slightly bigger ball than the one used today also contributed to the low scores. Frederick C. Campbell became the school's second superintendent in 1898. For years he doubled as superintendent and coach when the team started in 1902. He resigned from

14715-566: The time of the Vancouver Games bid, was home to the largest off-reserve Aboriginal population in Vancouver. According to the International Indigenous Youth Network in 2007, pre-Olympic real estate development was causing increased homelessness in the DTES: "512 low-income housing units were lost between June 2003 and June 2005 and almost 300 low-income housing units have been lost to rent increases in

14850-590: The use of the Tibetan antelope (chiru) as the Fuwa Yingying. The Tibetan People's Movement has also demanded representation of Tibet with its own national flag. American film actor Richard Gere , chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet called for a boycott to put pressure on China to make Tibet independent. There were also plans by Tibetans in exile to hold their own version of

14985-518: The velodrome were untrue, and that he had in fact given an interview in which he suggested he did not want Germans to participate. Coubertin later denied this. Coubertin also spoke against women's sports and the Women's World Games : "Impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and we are not afraid to add: incorrect, such would be in our opinion this female half-Olympiad." Fort Shaw Indian School The Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team

15120-495: The white community that Native Americans were more than "savages" and capable of being good sportsmen with whites in their own games. Abandoned by the United States Army on 1 July 1891, Fort Shaw (located in north central Montana ) was originally built between Fort Benton and Helena to protect the settlers from Indian attacks. In 1892, nearly 5,000 acres of the fort and its surrounding land were re-purposed as

15255-400: The winter. The dance hall of the Fort Shaw military establishment was converted into a court and in 1902, a girls team was started with a team of seven girls who played together for the next three years. The reception to the girls' basketball team was just as enthusiastic as for the boys because in most Native American cultures, girls were encouraged to play sports with the same intensity as

15390-611: The world. Of this, Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak said: "[The] irony of using a display of North American Indian artifacts to attract people to the Winter Olympics being organized by interests who are still actively seeking to destroy Indian people seems painfully obvious." The Lubicon Cree claimed that the 665 artifacts in the exhibit had originally been stolen—expatriated from indigenous communities and displayed in Europe for public consumption and curiosity. Additionally "many of

15525-644: Was Coubertin whose work would lead to the establishment of the International Olympic Committee and the organization of the first modern Olympic Games. In 1888, Coubertin founded the Comité pour la Propagation des Exercises Physiques more well known as the Comité Jules Simon . Coubertin's earliest reference to the modern notion of Olympic Games criticizes the idea. The idea for reviving the Olympic Games as an international competition came to Coubertin in 1889, apparently independently of Brookes, and he spent

15660-482: Was a French educator and historian, co-founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and its second president . He is known as the father of the modern Olympic Games . He was particularly active in promoting the introduction of sport in French schools. Born into a French aristocratic family, Coubertin became an academic and studied a broad range of topics, most notably education and history. He graduated with

15795-596: Was certainly a romantic, and while his idealized vision of ancient Greece would lead him later to the idea of reviving the Olympic Games, his advocacy for physical education was also based on practical concerns. He believed that men who received physical education would be better prepared to fight in wars, and better able to win conflicts like the Franco-Prussian War , in which France had been humiliated. He also saw sport as democratic, in that sports competition crossed class lines, although it did so without causing

15930-673: Was drawn by pro-Tibet protests along the Olympic torch relay , Uyghur separatist groups staged protests in several countries. According to the Chinese government, a suicide bombing attempt on a China Southern Airlines flight in Xinjiang was thwarted in March 2008. Four days before the Beijing Olympics, 16 Chinese police officers were killed and 16 injured in an attack in Kashgar by local merchants. Chinese police injured and damaged

16065-531: Was education, and his study focused in particular on physical education and the role of sport in schooling. In 1883, at the age of twenty, he visited England for the first time, and studied the program of physical education instituted under Thomas Arnold at the Rugby School . Coubertin credited these methods with leading to the expansion of British power during the 19th century and advocated their use in French institutions. The inclusion of physical education in

16200-531: Was expressed by those he spoke to during trips to the United States in 1893 and London in 1894, and an attempt to involve the Germans angered French gymnasts who did not want the Germans invited at all. Despite these challenges, the USFSA continued its planning for the games, adopting in its first program for the meeting eight articles to address, only one of which had to do with the Olympics. A later program would give

16335-464: Was in order for the time when athletes were competing and would otherwise have been earning money. Following the establishment of a definition for an amateur athlete at the 1894 Congress, he would continue to argue that this definition should be amended as necessary, and as late as 1909 would argue that the Olympic movement should develop its definition of amateurism gradually. Along with the development of an Olympic philosophy, Coubertin invested time in

16470-408: Was incorrect. The issue is the subject of scholarly debate. Young and others argue that the athletes of the ancient Games were professional, while opponents led by Pleket argue that the earliest Olympic athletes were in fact amateur, and that the Games only became professionalized after about 480 BC. Coubertin agreed with this latter view, and saw this professionalization as undercutting the morality of

16605-603: Was made up of seven Native American students from various tribes who attended the Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School in Fort Shaw , Montana , United States . They became World Champions at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (more commonly known as the St. Louis World Fair) by defeating basketball teams from across the United States and world. American Indian Boarding schools , otherwise known as Indian Residential Schools, were established in

16740-414: Was more important than winning. Coubertin expressed this ideal thus: L'important dans la vie ce n'est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l'essentiel ce n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais de s'être bien battu. The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. As Coubertin prepared for his Congress, he continued to develop

16875-481: Was not confined to the Lubicon Cree since "protestors were present along the relay route in every province except Prince Edward Island ". Of these protests, former Olympiques Calgary Olympics (OCO) chairperson later wrote: "There was no room for defiance or confrontation ..." Some pro-Tibetan independence groups, such as Students for a Free Tibet , initiated a campaign against the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics to protest for Tibetan independence, It also objected to

17010-512: Was not selected for the Argentine hockey squad. Circassian organisations have also spoken out against the 2014 Olympics, arguing that the Games will take place on land that had been inhabited by them since the beginning of recorded history by their ancestors until 1864, when the resolution of the Russian–Circassian War was stated to have caused the disappearance (variously by death or deportation) of 1.5 million Circassians, or 90–94% of

17145-478: Was popular at the Carlisle Industrial school and they became well known for their football and other athletic programs. Most historians agree that the primary purpose of athletic teams at Indian boarding schools was to promote physical health. Diseases and poor health were constant points of concern for the Indian boarding schools, a fact that became well known after the 1928 Meriam Report exposed

17280-540: Was resolved after he suggested to the King of Greece that he hold pan-Hellenic games in between Olympiads, an idea which the King accepted, although Coubertin would receive some angry correspondence even after the compromise was reached and the King did not mention him at all during the banquet held in honor of foreign athletes during the 1896 Games. Coubertin took over the IOC presidency when Demetrios Vikelas stepped down after

17415-535: Was seen as an attempt to calm tensions before the games. In 2008, the Chinese government announced that several terrorist plots by Uyghur separatists to disrupt the 2008 Olympic Games involving kidnapping athletes, journalists and tourists were foiled. The security ministry said 35 arrests were made in recent weeks and explosives had been seized in Xinjiang province. It said 10 others were held when police smashed another plot based in Xinjiang back in January to disrupt

17550-411: Was significant protest from indigenous people against the use and appropriation of indigenous imagery in the 1988 Winter Games. This imagery included "indigenous sounds, sights, and images [and] a massive teepee" in the opening ceremony, and medals depicting "winter sporting equipment protruding from a ceremonial headdress". The 1988 Winter Games were also the subject of an international boycott called by

17685-500: Was still under construction for his first five years there. While many of the school's attendees were day students, Coubertin boarded at the school under the supervision of a Jesuit priest, which his parents hoped would instill him with a strong moral and religious education. There, he was among the top three students in his class, and was an officer of the school's elite academy made up of its best and brightest. This suggests that despite his rebelliousness at home, Coubertin adapted well to

17820-510: Was succeeded as president, in 1925, by Belgian Henri de Baillet-Latour . Years later Coubertin came out of retirement to lend his prestige to assisting Berlin to land the 1936 games . In exchange, Germany nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize . The 1935 winner, however, was the anti-Nazi Carl von Ossietzky . Coubertin won the gold medal for literature at the 1912 Summer Olympics for his poem "Ode to Sport". Coubertin entered

17955-486: Was the fourth child of Baron Charles Louis de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin and Marie–Marcelle Gigault de Crisenoy. Family tradition held that the Frédy name had first arrived in France in the early 15th century, and the first recorded title of nobility granted to the family was given by Louis XI to an ancestor, also named Pierre de Frédy, in 1477 but other branches of his family tree delved even further into French history, and

18090-536: Was the head of the Department of Anthropology at the LPE and the founding president of the new American Anthropological Association . While Anthropology Days were not officially part of the Olympics program, they were closely associated with each other at the time, and in history—Brownell notes that even today historians still debate as to which of the LPE events were the "real" Olympic Games. Additionally, almost all of

18225-622: Was these non-indigenous performers who led the indigenous people into the stadium. O'Bonsawin notes that particularly problematic about this approach to including indigenous "participation" is that it became a model for future Canadian Olympic Games. The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta reflected some lessons learned from criticism of the 1976 games, but according to critics, they still perpetuated legacies of erasure, cultural and land theft, and appropriation committed by past Games and Canadian governmental bodies. O'Bonsawin writes that there

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