De Coubertin, as he is commonly known was born in an aristocratic family. His father and mother were Charles Louis de Fredy and Agathe-Gabrielle de Mirville respectively and he is the third born in the family. British and American colleges and its universities inspired him so much that he thought of improving his education. He considered sports to be an integral part of any education system as it contributes to the personal development of the young. He had a special liking for the game of Rugby became the first referee ever in the French Championship Rugby finals in the year 1892 which was played between Stade Francais and Racing Club de France.
De Coubertin toyed with the idea of bringing into reality an International sports event with a special effort to promote athletics. The Ancient Olympics was slowly catching up interest. So he set to bring alive the Olympic Games.
As this was no ordinary task, an International Congress meeting was held in June 1894 in Paris wherein he put in his proposal of reviving the Olympic Games. The congress led to the forming of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and de Coubertin was elected the first general secretary. It was also decided that the first Olympics would take place in Greece in the cit of Athens. Further the committee also decided that this event would be held once in every four years.
The first Olympics in Athens proved to be a great success and De Coubertin became the next president of the International Olympic Committee after Demetrius Vikelas. Although the general response was good, the roads were not easy until and after the 1906 Summer Olympics. Olympics stated getting its due recognition. De Coubertin for the first time introduced pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics. 1924 Olympics were very successful much beyond what it was when hosted in the same city of Paris in the year 1900. De Coubertin decided to step down from the chair of president and Henri de Baillet-Latour succeeded him. De Coubertin still remained as Honorary Presided of the International Olympic Committee until 1937 when he died in Geneva, Switzerland. He was buried at the seat of the IOC ie at Lausanne and his heart alone near the ruins of Olympia.
De Coubertin was also instrumental in finding two scouting groups. These units merged later to form Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France.
To name a few recipients of the ‘Pierre de Coubertin’ medal are Eugenio Monti for his sportsmanship in the winter Olympics of 1964, Lutz Long who was posthumously awarded for his sportsmanship in Summer 1936, Raymond Gafner, Lawrence Lemieux, Vanderlei de Lima, Emil Zatopek, Tana Umaga, Spencer Eccles, Karl Heinz Klee, Fran Jonas etc.