It is true that the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896 were not open to women. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who revived the Games, was very much a man of his time. But since this time, the participation of women in the Olympic Movement at all levels has changed considerably: it fully represents the values of our modern society worldwide. The significant gains obtained by women in sport at all levels in the last 30 years in particular, is the result of the cooperation of the entire Olympic Movement and of innovative measures that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and numerous sports volunteers have developed to increase the number of women participating in the Olympic Games and to acquire the necessary knowledge to empower them for leadership and administrative positions.

The IOC devotes a great deal of attention to protecting the athletes, the heroes of the Olympic Games, and has undertaken the following actions:

• Creation of the IOC Athletes' Commission in 1981. This Commission delegates representatives to all the other IOC commissions; it is involved in the process to select the Olympic host city; and meets with the IOC Executive Board at least once a year to submit its recommendations.
• Studies performed by the IOC Medical Commission during the Olympic Games into traumatology and injury prevention. Research by the Medical Commission and the IFs on preventing injury and optimising performance through the analysis of movements.
• Creation in 1983 of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which became fully independent in 1993. This is an international court which handles the legal problems encountered by athletes. Its procedure is universally applicable, and is simple, quick, flexible and inexpensive.
• Creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 1999 to combat the scourge of doping in sport and protect the health of the athletes. WADA is an independent body, but the IOC paid US$25 million towards setting it up, and covers 50% of its annual budget.
• Creation of the World Olympians Association (WOA) in 1995 to promote relations between Olympic athletes all over the world and spread the Olympic values.
• Respect for the environment by requiring cities bidding to host the Olympic Games to specify the environmental protection measures they intend to take.

Photo: NOC - Vanuatu Beyond physical well-being, sport can play an important role for a safer, more prosperous and more peaceful society, through its educational values and worldwide network. Although the beneficial effects of sport for development are still not exploited to their full extent, sport can help bridge cultural and ethnic divides, create jobs and businesses, promote tolerance and non-discrimination, reinforce social integration, and advocate healthy lifestyles. Through sports development, we can achieve wider human development goals.