From Leisure to National Pride: The "Modern Invention" of Global Sports

February 6, 2026

The 25th Winter Olympics have officially opened in Milan.

Italy is hosting the Winter Olympic Games once again after a twenty-year hiatus.

For us, it marks the return of a four-year cycle where the entire nation gets involved—spending days and nights watching the medal table and cheering for the athletes on the ice.

But have you ever stopped to wonder:

Exactly when did we start getting used to these global sporting spectacles?

And why is it that sports became so deeply intertwined with national honor and ethnic pride?

While physical activity has naturally existed in all civilizations since ancient times, people today are accustomed to tracing the Olympics back to Ancient Greece, seeking a spiritual resonance with those ancient athletes.

In reality, however, both large-scale sporting events and the very concept of "sports" as we know it today are modern inventions.

In Western languages, the word "Sport" in its modern sense is derived from the Old French word desport, meaning "leisure, physical or mental entertainment."

When this word crossed the English Channel to Britain during the Middle Ages, it gradually evolved into the modern English word "Sport."

The term then traveled back to Continental Europe in the 19th century.

Through the evolution of the word "sport" in Western languages, we can see that the birth of modern sports is closely tied to Britain.

Historians generally agree that "Sport" was born in 18th-century Britain against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution and the development of emerging capitalism.

At that time, country squires living in rural England were passionate about various pastimes, including fox hunting, cricket, and horse racing.

In the process of their entertainment, these British squires gradually established more rigorous rules for these activities and founded a series of institutions to manage trainers, stables, livestock lineages, and the organization of spectator competitions.

For instance, squires would have their most agile servants compete in races or their strongest servants compete in boxing matches.

Beyond allowing the upper class to symbolically defeat their rivals, these matches also brought in considerable income, as people from all social strata—even servants—would participate and place bets.

High stakes prompted talented competitors to sell their skills to the highest bidder, while also leading squires and landowners to recruit talent from outside their own circles of servants.

This marked the official birth of professional athletes and the sports market.

It was precisely due to this marketization and commercialization that sports training became more professional, and competition structures and rules became more standardized.

Consequently, from around 1750, a series of sporting institutions and professional events rapidly emerged across Britain.

Soon, another institution that played a vital role in the rise of British sports joined the fray: the private schools that gathered the children of the upper class—the so-called British "public schools."

In the first half of the 19th century, these public school boys, most of whom were boarders, spontaneously organized various team games.

On one hand, because the students were often undisciplined and violent, educators like Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, standardized the rules of ball games.

On the other hand, as Britain established its global economic hegemony and expanded its colonial reach, educators sought to use sports to cultivate a "conquering masculinity" and an enterprising spirit, thereby encouraging the promotion of physical education.

For a long time afterward, a profit-oriented, professionalized, and mass-market sports culture coexisted with a value-driven, amateur, and elitist sports culture in Britain—sometimes clashing, sometimes influencing one another.

Eventually, "British-style sports"—a culture with a distinct White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant temperament—took root across different continents, riding the wave of the colonial system and the power of the British Empire.

While the British were organizing sports in schools, Continental European countries, represented by France, established massive "gymnastics" systems out of a fear of "racial degeneration."

Indeed, although the word "sport" had reached the continent by then, Europeans were more accustomed to using terms like "gymnastics" or "physical training" to describe hardcore physical exercise.

The word "sport" was defined in French dictionaries at the time as "a series of pastimes, training, and simple entertainment that occupies much of the time of the wealthy and idle."

This so-called racial degeneration stemmed from the "Degeneration Theory" proposed by French psychiatrist Bénédict Morel in 1857.

This theory spread widely in the 19th century, permeating medicine and hygiene, making people of that era worry that issues caused by social living conditions—such as industrial pollution, poverty, or lack of moral education—would be passed down through heredity, endangering families and the race.

Therefore, the focus of "gymnastics systems" in Continental Europe leaned more toward hygiene, health, and military training with clear combat or defensive purposes.

Combined with concerns over racial degeneration and a series of cholera outbreaks in the 19th century, a commercial gymnastics market appeared in France in the mid-1800s.

A series of private gyms and fitness activities emerged as a result.

Initially, this was merely a marketing project and a "fashionable accessory" sustained by the increasingly sensitive hygiene needs of the urban bourgeoisie.

However, with the defeat in 1870 and the establishment of the Third Republic, the development of gymnastics began to merge with patriotism and revanchism (the politics of revenge).

Having been defeated by Prussia and losing territory, France entered a long period of military preparation, ready to seek revenge against its Prussian enemies at any time.

Consequently, a current of thought pervaded France, calling for the reform of youth education to strengthen the bodies and sharpen the wills of the young.

The same situation applied to Greece after its defeat by the Turks in 1897.

In this context, France’s originally commercial and individualistic gymnastics field began to pivot toward nationalism and collectivism.

We can catch a glimpse of this in the motto of the Union of French Gymnastics Societies founded in 1873: "Homeland, Courage, Morality."

The Union explicitly stated its purpose as "contributing to national regeneration."

Later, this institution received official recognition from the Ministry of War and became an official organ of the Republic.

By the eve of World War I, nearly 500,000 gymnasts were training in 2,400 clubs across France, with another 3,000 organizations affiliated with the shooting association.

These clubs were almost always explicitly patriotic in nature.

When browsing through historical records, one finds that their names were often things like:
La Patrie (The Homeland), La Revanche (The Revenge),
La Jeunesse Patriotique (Patriotic Youth), Honneur et Patrie (Honor and Homeland),
or Tout pour la Patrie (Everything for the Homeland).

Because gymnastics clubs emphasized discipline, respect for hierarchy and regulations, and prized hard work and solidarity, they were seen as positive forces for fostering social cohesion and inspiring patriotism, thus gaining support from the military and local governments.

However, outside the gymnastics system, "British-style sports" were also subtly influencing France.

Initially, these sports were practiced by British people doing business or vacationing in France.

They lived in Paris or owned property in coastal resorts, organizing activities such as rowing, tennis, golf, pigeon shooting, horse racing, or ice skating.

As British communities established themselves, even the first rugby clubs were formed.

In Paris, this British-style entertainment soon became popular among bourgeois youth and students.

The organizational structure of the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies, founded in 1889, perfectly reflected the social characteristics of the European sports world at the time: young, male, metropolitan, and bourgeois.

Since these sports clubs also emphasized solidarity, friendship, and physical development among members, they were considered consistent with Republican values, even if their patriotic temperament and military purpose were less intense than those of gymnastics.

Nonetheless, educational institutions and gymnastics associations at the time showed hostility or resistance toward "Sports," believing that "Gymnastics" was the superior way to train the mind and body.

Many older-generation French citizens dismissed sports as a "waste of energy," "frivolous," or a "dangerous British craze."

But given Britain's political and economic success, a reform movement pushed by staunch Anglophiles emerged.

This movement criticized the shortcomings of the French educational system while praising British education and arguing that "Sport" represented the future.

The key figure among them was the famous Pierre de Coubertin.

To this day, he remains renowned as the "Father of the Modern Olympics."

Baron Pierre de Coubertin was a representative figure of the French Third Republic nobility.

In his youth, Coubertin was deeply influenced by Anglo-Saxon culture.

Starting in 1883, he crossed the English Channel multiple times and personally tried almost all British sports, including rowing, boxing, equestrianism, and fencing.

After three years of observation, Coubertin concluded that education was the foundation of Britain's strength.

Thus, the young aristocrat hoped to use sports as a tool to reform the education of the French elite.

In the years that followed, Coubertin worked tirelessly to promote "Sports" in France.

Writing books and founding sports organizations wasn't enough; he believed that to make sports more popular, it was necessary to internationalize them.

He then focused his sights on "reviving the Olympic Games."

In fact, Coubertin was not the first person to plan a revival of the Olympics.

Since the discovery of the site of Olympia in Greece in the late 18th century, various small-scale attempts to replicate the Olympics had appeared across Europe.

For example, Paris hosted the "Republic Olympics" for three consecutive years starting in 1796.

Afterward, similar events—some named Olympics and some not—were held in other French cities, Canada, Britain, Greece, and Germany.

Coubertin himself was invited in 1890 to attend the Zappas Olympics held in Athens.

Zappas was the name of the sponsor.

This Frenchman was deeply moved after participating in the events in Athens and planting an oak tree there.

Four years later, in 1894, after one failed attempt, the 31-year-old Coubertin formally proposed the reconstruction of the Olympic Games at an international congress at the Sorbonne, which was intended to discuss the boundaries between amateurism and professionalism.

He personally persuaded delegates from several countries, including Britain and the United States.

Subsequently, representatives from 12 countries and 37 organizations solemnly voted to pass the resolution to rebuild the Olympic Games.

Coubertin hoped, on one hand, to promote sports through an international and permanent Olympic Games; on the other hand, he hoped to promote peace between nations through international sporting events.

However, from the very beginning, the Olympics were fraught with nationalism.

Coubertin's original plan was to hold the first Olympics in Paris in 1900, coinciding with the Paris World's Fair.

Others, however, feared that too long a wait would dampen enthusiasm.

Ultimately, the congress decided that the first Olympics should be held in Athens and appointed a Greek, Demetrios Vikelas, as the first president of the Olympic Committee.

Vikelas was a Greek living in Paris who knew very little about sports.

But it was a choice of the lesser of two evils because, firstly, the Olympics were a tribute to ancient Greek tradition, and secondly, Athens had already hosted four Zappas Olympics in the previous 40 years.

The Greeks were initially very eager to host—though they weren't thinking about sports and peace either.

The young Greek nation hoped to use the Olympics to boost its international status and strengthen Pan-Hellenic ambitions.

However, an economic collapse led the Greek Prime Minister to initially refuse the hosting duties.

It was only after nearly two years of difficult negotiations between Coubertin and Vikelas that the Olympics were finally able to take place.

The first Olympics were not exactly a resounding success.

A total of 321 athletes participated in nine major sports and about forty events.

While the fact that three-quarters of the participants were Greek made the first Olympics seem insufficiently international, the basic competition events, ceremonies, standards, and the principle of amateurism were established here.

That's right—until 1981, official Olympic regulations only allowed "amateur athletes" to compete.

This was because the aristocratic athletes who initially held the power were opposed to the professionalization of sports.

In fact, European athletes at the time were largely considered elite and refined individuals.

For them, an exquisite lifestyle was far more important than grueling "training."

In those days, the word "training" was usually used to describe horses.

Rather than seeking physical breakthroughs, athletes were more concerned with demonstrating moral nobility through sport.

This situation did not change until after World War I.

The second Olympics were held in Paris as Coubertin wished, with Coubertin himself serving as president.

But it wasn't very successful either, as the various events were scattered throughout the Paris World's Fair, causing them to be seen as mere side-exhibits of the expo.

While subsequent Olympics grew in international participation and fame, they were nowhere near the scale of post-war Olympics.

Then, the sixth Olympics, scheduled for 1916 in Berlin, were canceled due to World War I.

Although the Olympics were forced to stop, European nations did not stop developing their own sports.

In fact, quite the opposite.

Media journals began writing articles linking sporting skills to military capability, broadly emphasizing the benefits of sports training for military readiness.

For example, they compared flight squadrons to rugby teams and likened the skill of throwing grenades to abilities honed through sports.

Even during World War I, soldiers in various armies actively organized and participated in sports within their groups.

By 1915, as the war reached a stalemate, sports became an especially popular pastime for the troops.

This frontline sports culture not only played a major role in wartime culture but also accelerated the spread of sports among the general public, breaking the previous monopoly of the elite.

The most typical example of this was British football.

After World War I ended, sports were elevated to the status of a tool for boosting national prestige, a lever for diplomatic activity, and a reflection of international relations.

While sports had these uses before the war, they were only sporadic.

The marriage with nationalism after the war gave sporting events an entirely different character.

At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, all defeated nations were barred from participating.

The 1924 Paris Olympics continued to exclude Germany on the grounds that they "could not guarantee the safety of the German delegation."

In the face of the memories of WWI trenches, Coubertin's ideal of sporting pacifism appeared incredibly fragile.

When Italy and Germany slid toward Fascism, both countries viewed sports as a propaganda tool and a means of educating the masses.

To this end, the 1936 Berlin Olympics were completely transformed into a political stage for Hitler to showcase Nazi Germany's organizational capacity and ideological strength to the world.

For political historians, the period from 1939 to the 1970s was an era of violent upheaval.

But in the field of sports history, this period showed marked continuity.

The emergence of the Baby Boomer generation and the post-war economic transformation of various countries led to an ever-growing demand for "leisure."

Simultaneously, interest in nature and health propelled what we call the "democratization of sports" and the "massification of sports," as well as the rise of new types of activities including winter sports and outdoor sports.

More and more people began to emphasize that even without a competitive goal, sports remained attractive for their health benefits.

But on the other hand, the role of sporting events as a stage for ideological output and the display of national power remained a dominant theme during the Cold War.

In 1945, the world split into two camps with different political and economic orientations.

The weapons of this "war" were primarily diplomacy, culture, and technology, but soon sports also became a tool of the Cold War.

This was because sporting achievements were viewed as a reflection of the quality of a social model.

Meanwhile, as public attention on sporting events reached an all-time high—driven by the invention and spread of television—the sports arena became a stage reflecting domestic and international conflicts.

For example, in 1980, several Western countries led by the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics.

Four years later, the Eastern Bloc countries launched a similar boycott against the Los Angeles Olympics.

However, as members of the Western camp, countries like France, Italy, and Britain participated in both Olympics without boycotting either.

This became a very typical example of using sporting events to make subtle political statements.

Since the end of the Cold War and the shift in the global political and economic landscape of the new century, the structure of international sports has also changed.

Even though the role of sports in displaying national power and inspiring national confidence remains, the confrontation between nations and blocs has indeed softened compared to before.

Beyond traditional sporting powerhouses, new players have begun to contribute their own charm to a more balanced sports world.

Furthermore, more and more developing countries are using sports to compensate for their lack of influence in economy, politics, or technology.

From the very inception of modern sports and athletic events, they were naturally linked to national honor and ethnic pride.

As for whether this sentiment is healthy or excessive, that depends entirely on the people living in the present.

Admittedly, to this day, whenever a major sporting event occurs, it is hard to avoid questions regarding a lack of fairness, corruption, doping, and political interference.

These problems remain objective realities.

But with the push toward the universalization and globalization of large-scale sporting events, and the inclusion of new sporting forces, perhaps we are indeed a step closer today to that pure Olympic goal:

"Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together."