Sports - knowledge competition organized in a framework of a transnational project Coubertin Academy - Social Inclusion through Sport Values focuses on general sporting public. The competition consists of an online section, where participants record their achievements individually in a form available on www.coubertin.online. The top ten participants from the online section have an opportunity to measure their strength in direct confrontation and take part in finals consisting of running at 800 m and swimming at 100 m.
The competition symbolically begins on 9 September during the Pentathlon Pierre de Coubertin Day, organized worldwide by the International Union of Modern Pentathlon. The conclusion of the online competition is on 30 September, the day of the end of the European Week of Sport, held annually from 23 to 30 September under the auspices of the European Commission. The finals for the top ten takes place annually in mid-October.
The online section consists of three sequences: a knowledge quiz, sports results in running and swimming, and aspects of social inclusion. Participants record their achievements individually in the form available at www.coubertin.online.
The competition starts with a knowledge quiz containing 15 questions on the values of sport, the activities of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee, International Union of Modern Pentathlon and European Union. In the first sequence, participants select the correct answer from the three listed options.
Subsequently, in the second sequence, each participant puts into the form his/her best time achieved in running at 800 m and swimming at 100 m.
Finally, in the third sequence, each participant briefly describes his/her view on a concept of social inclusion through sport values. For inspiration, this sequence provides examples of good practice by other participants from abroad. The range for this sequence is between 70 and 300 characters, including spaces, which is about 10-50 words.
The online section is based on confidence and value of Fair play as general principles. Each task has its own scoring, which takes into account the age differences of participants and thus allows them equal competition.
After completing the online section, each participant will receive by e-mail correct answers of the knowledge quiz and information about their overall ranking in the competition. The top ten participants have an opportunity to take part in finals consisting of running at 800 m and swimming at 100 m. The times from direct confrontation during the finals are converted into scoring, with the aim of equal competition of participants of all ages.
The finals are scheduled to be held annually for mid-October. The overall winner with the highest number of points will receive Sport Values Award. In addition, the best representative from the School of Pierre de Coubertin in Piešťany will be awarded by Ivan Luknár Trophy, in memory of whom the transnational project Coubertin Academy – Social Inclusion through Sport Values was dedicated. All participating finalists will receive valuable prizes.
The awards ceremony will be attended by significant guests, supporters and stakeholders of the project partners, such as representatives of the European Commission, the French Embassy in Slovakia, the International Union of Modern Pentathlon, and the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.
In 2020, the dates of the online part were extended by the end of 2020. Exact dates of the finals will be determined depending on the relevant measures in 2021 on pandemic situation due to Covid-19. Participants can repeat the online part and re-enter their results should they wish to rectify them. Their updated versions will be considered. Everybody is sincerely invited to join us!
Before the official launch of the competition, relevant stakeholders tested partial sequences on a selected sample of participants from the School of Pierre de Coubertin in Piešťany during the period between 9 and 30 September 2020. Further testing comprised sport entities, including sport clubs and federations in Slovakia and Ülenurme Gymnasium from Estonia. After closure of an online part, there were data analyses of scoring system. Consequently, the competition was adapted to international standards and recently is available also in other language versions, English included.
The rectified version of the competition allows active participation of representatives from both sport and education sectors. Participants might be for instance athletes from the sport clubs, pupils, students, educators from any school etc.