Hi everyone. I'm John Haggardorne, and welcome to Found in the Footnotes.

Amazing history in 5 to 10 minute sound bites. Now ready to be discovered every Wednesday at 4 p.m. Easter time right here at 1001 Heroes.

Another gem rises to the surface and our story begins.

The Winter Olympics are on the way February 6th through February 22nd.

When we think of the Olympics, we picture speed, strength, and endurance, ice skates carving perfect

arcs, skiers flying off jumps, athletes shaving milliseconds off world records.

But here's a surprising footnote from Olympic history.

From 1912 to 1948, the Olympic Games awarded medals for art.

Painters, sculptors, composers, architects, and writers stood on Olympic podiums, right alongside runners and swimmers.

Today, as we look ahead to the Winter Olympics, let's explore the forgotten era of when art and

athletics competed for gold. The idea came straight from the founder of the modern Olympics,

Baron Pierre de

Cobartine. Cobertine believed the Olympics should reflect the ideals of ancient Greece,

where physical training and artistic expression were inseparable. To him, a complete human

being was both physically strong and culturally refined. In 1906, he proposed

adding art competitions to the games. Art inspired by sport itself. After several years of

debate, the idea finally became reality at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. From 1912 onward,

the Olympics featured the five artistic categories, architecture, literature, music, painting,

and sculpture. Just like athletic events, artists could win gold, silver, and bronze medals.

The catch? Every submission had to be sports-related.

So you might see a sculpture of a discus thrower, a symphony inspired by rowing,

a poem celebrating endurance. Stadium designs entered as architectural works.

...