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4 July 2004 [Note from the Editor: This update is a slightly different version from that distributed to Coubertin.com email subscribers. It excludes email addresses to prevent their automated gathering and spamming. It also excludes names and telephone numbers to protect our members' privacy. For full versions of updates you need to be a member and a subscriber.] A big welcome to all new members of the Coubertin.com Olympic Collectors' Auction service and a special thank you to all members who have participated in the auction. There are now 960 active members! Coubertin.com brings together more Olympic Collectors than any other club, society or organisation in the world. EURO 2004 Congratulations to Greece whose national team became the new European Football Champions, on 4th of July, only 40 days before the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. It was an unexpected win from a team that was extremely well organised by the German manager (aka King Otto in Greece). This is the first national team to win the European Cup with a foreign manager and the first time that Greece was not knocked out in the first round. It was also the first time that the Championship ended with the same two teams that started the tournament. Let's hope that after all the celebrations in Athens that there will be enough fireworks left to celebrate the Olympic Games. 118th WENLOCK OLYMPIAN GAMES July 9 - 12 at Much Wenlock, Shropshire, United Kingdom. Planned philatelic display by the Society of Olympic Collectors right next to the sports field. Those of you who live locally may like to join members of the Society for dinner on Saturday, July 10th. The cost is only £21 per person. For further details contact the Society of Olympic Collectors. Olympian is scheduled to participate in the Triathlon at the Games on Sunday, July 11th. Wish him luck since he is in the over-40s category and there are another 32 participants in that category out of a total of 99. It was Dr William Penny Brookes who founded the Wenlock Olympian Society in 1860 (ten years after he founded the 'Wenlock Olympian Class' of the 'Much Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society'). That was 34 years before Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee and only after he was inspired by Dr Brookes during a visit to Much Wenlock. QUADRENNIAL MEETING of the ISOH The International Society of Olympic Historians has announced that their Quadrennial Meeting will take place at Omilos Ereton in Piraeus, Greece on Sunday, August 15, 2004. All members of the ISOH are welcome. More details through their website at www.isoh.org . COLLECTORS' FAIR at ATHENS 2004 There will be an unofficial Olympic Collectors Fair inside the Zappeion in Athens during the Olympic Games. The Zappeion was the first indoor Olympic arena and it was built with the legacy of Evangelis Zappas who sponsored Olympic Games that took place in Athens in 1859, 1870 and 1875. Evangelis Zappas also paid for the refurbishment of the Panathenian Stadium which is only a short walk from the Zappeion. Those of you who will be visiting Athens during the Olympics can visit this fair at your leisure since it will be open during the Olympic Games. Those of you who are interested in booking a stand at this event to sell Olympic memorabilia can contact the organisers for further details. Both Evangelis Zappas and Dr William Penny Brookes (of Much Wenlock) were early founders of the Modern Olympic Games that preceded Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The first Olympic Games to take place in a stadium in modern times was that held in Athens in 1870 at the Panathenian stadium (26 years before the first IOC Olympic Games which was also held at the same stadium). NEW BOOKS 1. 'A Brief History of the Olympic Games' by David C. Young has just been published (June 2004) by Blackwell Publishing (ISBN 1-4051-1130-5). This is the best abridged history of the Olympic Games from ancient through to modern times ever published and is strongly recommended. No Olympic library should be without it. This book is also recommended by the Secretary-General of the International Society of Olympic Historians. 2. '1924 PARIS' and '1924 CHAMONIX': Two new books being distributed by AFCOS (Association Francaise des Collectioneurs Olympiques & Sportifs). These publications are superb and great value for money too. Published in French and English. Superbly illustrated with postcards issued during the Games. More information from AFCOS through the www.afcos.org website. VISITING ATHENS 2004 ? Wishing you a safe journey and hope that you have a fantastic and memorable time.
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