INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY

International Olympic Academy serves as the leading institution for Olympic Education with the aim to promote Olympism as a way of life and integrate the Olympic Values into modern societies.

Situated next to the archaeological site a few hundred yards from the sacred site of Ancient Olympia, where the first Olympic Games were born, aims at studying, enriching and promoting Olympism and its values in relevance with current global issues of Olympic interest, in conformity with the principles laid down by the ancient Greeks and the revivers of the contemporary Olympic Movement.

Its geographical location determines its ideological identity, which is further enhanced by the choice of the same site for the erection of the commemorative stele where the heart of Pierre de Coubertin rests. The International Olympic Academy was officially inaugurated on the 16th of June 1961. During its first decade of operation, the activities of the IOA were limited to the International Session for Young Participants. However, from 1970, the IOA progressively implemented additional educational programmes in an effort to cover all the issues of the Olympic Movement.

In the beginning participants lived in tents and the lectures were delivered in an outdoor area. In parallel to the sessions, works also started for the development of the site and the building of the facilities which were completed gradually. In 2021 they were radically renovated with the financial support of the IOC and include today:

A Conference Centre (1800 m2) built in 3 levels which includes:

  • The modern and fully equipped amphitheater “Dimitrios Vikelas” of 420 seats with the provision of simultaneous translation in 8 languages
  • 6 teaching rooms
  • A library with study areas, fully equipped on Olympic and sports related issues (more than 20.000 book titles)
  • Lecturers lounge
  • Cafeteria

Sports facilities:

  • A soccer field
  • A track and field (250m.)
  • 2 basketball courts
  • 1 volleyball courts
  • 2 tennis courts
  • 1 beach volley/beach tennis/beach soccer court
  • A swimming pool (25m.)

Additional facilities:

  • The conference hall “Otto Szymiczek” of 110 seats – the Historical Archive ATHENS 2004
  • An administration wing
  • Rooms: 25 single rooms, 35 double rooms, 47 triple rooms, 6 Olympia suites, 2 accessible rooms
  • Restaurant and cafeteria
  • First aid room
  • Table tennis room
  • Wireless internet access is available all over the facilities

Τhe specially designed Coubertin Grove contains the commemorative steles of Coubertin, Ketseas and Diem while the outdoor space of the facilities also operates as an open-air sculpture museum, underlining the cultural dimension of Olympism and contributing to the further cultural education of the Academy’s participants and visitors through the messages they convey.

As IOC President, Thomas Bach characteristically said “The Academy is the bridge that connects us to our past and that carries the Olympic spirit into the future.”

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