The Olympics: A Celebration of Human Excellence, Virtue, and Shared Humanity

In a world increasingly marked by division and conflict, the Olympic Games stand as a rare and powerful witness to something true, good, and beautiful: our shared humanity. Beyond medals and records, the Olympics remind us that sport can unite nations, elevate the human spirit, and draw us together around a common purpose. This vision is not accidental. The modern Olympic Games are rooted in a rich philosophical and even Catholic tradition that understands sport as a path to virtue and human flourishing.

The Catholic Roots of the Modern Olympic Vision

While the ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC until 393 AD, the modern revival of the Olympics in 1896 was shaped by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator whose vision extended far beyond athletic competition. Coubertin believed sport could educate youth, foster mutual understanding among nations, and cultivate excellence of character. Central to his thinking was the influence of Henri Didon, a French Dominican priest who saw athletics as a means of forming the whole person: body, mind, and soul.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger”: Striving Toward Human Flourishing

Didon emphasized that sport should help young people confront fear, grow in courage and perseverance, and experience joy rather than anxiety over failure. He believed competition was meant to elevate the human person and draw out their fullest potential. It was Didon who coined the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius: “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” This is an invitation to strive for excellence not only in sport, but in life itself. This vision shaped the Olympics as a global celebration of human potential, moral formation, and unity. The Olympic rings, five interlocking circles representing the continents, symbolize this interconnectedness. Every four years, athletes from across the world gather not merely to compete, but to testify that differences of nationality, culture, and language need not divide us. Instead, they can become the very context in which friendship, respect, and peace emerge. 

The Dominican Vision: Body and Soul in Harmony

This understanding of sport flows naturally from Dominican spirituality. Saint Dominic, often called the “athlete of Christ,” embodied an integration of physical discipline and spiritual devotion. His endurance, sacrifice, and prayer revealed a profound unity of body and soul. Likewise, Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that leisure, play, and games can open the heart and soul toward contemplation and intimacy with God. When rightly ordered, sport becomes a means of cultivating virtue and drawing the human person toward holiness.

Pope Leo XIV: Sport as Self-Gift and Communion

This vision was echoed powerfully in the recent teaching of Pope Leo XIV during the Jubilee of Sport. In his homily, the Pope emphasized that sport reflects the beauty of God and calls us outward, away from selfishness and toward solidarity. He reflected on the common encouragement heard in competition as an invitation to give oneself fully, not only physically, but relationally: to teammates, opponents, and the wider community. Sport, he noted, teaches us collaboration, humility, how to lose well, and how to face our limits with hope.

A Shared Humanity, Worth Celebrating

In a world often hostile and weary, the Olympics remind us of who we are and what we are made for. They call us to celebrate excellence without domination, competition without contempt, and victory without forgetting our shared dignity. At their best, the Olympic Games celebrate athletic excellence while standing as living signs of goodness, reminding us that through sport, humanity can still gather, strive together, and experience the communion for which we were created.