Feed MRSS-S edith_wharton_a, english.elpais.com en-us https://english.elpais.com Wed, 07 Aug 2024 13:36:43 GMT https://english.elpais.com/sports/olympic-games/2024-08-07/the-eccentric-struggle-of-32-writers-to-win-olympic-gold-at-the-paris-1924-games.html Wed, 07 Aug 2024 13:36:43 GMT https://english.elpais.com/sports/olympic-games/2024-08-07/the-eccentric-struggle-of-32-writers-to-win-olympic-gold-at-the-paris-1924-games.html Paco Cerdà A new essay reconstructs the literary competition of the VIII Olympiad, which brought together Nobel Prize winners on the jury and participants such as Robert Graves and Henry de Montherlant to praise sporting heroism A new essay reconstructs the literary competition of the VIII Olympiad, which brought together Nobel Prize winners on the jury and participants such as Robert Graves and Henry de Montherlant to praise sporting heroism París 2024 Pierre de Coubertin Edith Wharton Robert Graves Paul Valery Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Benito Mussolini Central Press (Getty Images) The eccentric struggle of 32 writers to win Olympic gold at the Paris 1924 Games From left to right, in the second row, Baron de Coubertin, Edward VIII (then still Prince of Wales) and the former French athlete Justinien de Clary, during the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. From left to right, in the second row, Baron de Coubertin, Edward VIII (then still Prince of Wales) and the former French athlete Justinien de Clary, during the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. <p>Every hero needs a poet. It has always been thus: in classical antiquity and also a century ago, at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, the VIII modern Olympiad. It is there that <a href="https://english.elpais.com/sports/olympic-games/2024-07-20/the-unknown-story-of-the-first-olympic-hero-an-unexpected-victory-and-a-sad-and-premature-end.html">Baron Pierre de Coubertin</a>, the soul and mastermind of the Olympic revival, decided to bring writers closer to a new religion called sport. That is why he created an Olympic discipline whose medals were worth as much as those awarded in athletics, wrestling, cycling, or swimming: literature.</p><p><a href="https://english.elpais.com/sports/olympic-games/2024-08-07/the-eccentric-struggle-of-32-writers-to-win-olympic-gold-at-the-paris-1924-games.html" target="_blank">Seguir leyendo</a></p>