Members of the organizing committee for the Olympic Games come to tears during each lighting of the Olympic torch in Olympia, Greece, according to Isidoros Kouvelos, president of Greece’s Olympic Committee. The start of every Olympic Games begins with this lighting and passing of the torch from the site of ancient Olympia to the host city.

“The games must go on,” said Kouvelos, echoing statements made by the International Olympic Committee president during the 1972 Munich games.

Kouvelos came to Annenberg Hall on Friday to give the first lecture of the Olympic Ideals Series, co-hosted by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy and the Consulate General of Greece in Los Angeles. In his lecture, Kouvelos discussed the Olympic ideal from the revival of the Games in 1896 to today.

L.A. will host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games; among its venues are Galen Center, which will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics, as well as Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will host track and field. Organizers launched the Olympic Ideals Series in anticipation of the 2028 games, which are less than 1,000 days away.

“The road to the 2028 Olympics is no longer long,” Kouvelos said. “The Olympic Games are returning to the city of creative expression, and we are sure that it will once again surprise us positively.”

The 2028 Olympics will be the third time the games take place in L.A.; the City of Angels also hosted the games in 1932 and 1984.

Yannis Yortsos, dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering, said in introducing the lecture that since the revival of the Games in 1896, USC alumni have won more medals than any other United States university.

“The spirit of Olympicism exists [at USC] in a big way,” Yortsos said. “We value it and we treasure it. That’s something that is unique for a place like the University of Southern California.”

Yortsos defined the Olympic spirit as the pursuit of excellence and the Olympics as an opportunity for international cooperation toward peace.

Kouvelos, who was once an athlete, talked about what he referred to as the “Olympic Ideal,” an extension of thought from ancient Greek philosophers that emphasizes strengthening oneself mentally and physically.

“Olympism as a philosophy is wholly connected to the Greek ideal of harmonious development of body and spirit. That is, as Plato and Aristotle [have] said, ‘healthy mind in a healthy body,’” Kouvelos said.

During the talk, Kouvelos referenced the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, who he said recognized the importance of Olympism for future generations. The Games first began in 776 BC and ran until Roman Emperor Theodosius I abolished the Games in 336 AD. They remained inert until the International Olympic Committee was formed in 1894.

“When once asked what Olympism is for, [Coubertin] replied, ‘It is the religion of energy, the cultivation of intense will, developed through the practice of manly sports, based on proper hygiene and public-spiritedness, surrounded with art and thought,’” Kouvelos said.

In attendance was Katerina Zacharia, professor of classics at Loyola Marymount University, who will lecture on the Olympic Games next week. Zacharia said she was happy that the values presented during the lecture were of solidarity and peace in a highly divided world.

“We need to [educate] people to become citizens of the world and care for others,” Zacharia said. “This is the Panhellenic spirit in the ancient Greek games, of stopping wars and having truce so that you can transcend yourself and offer the best of your ability to the greater good.”

Mary McCabe, a senior majoring in global studies with a minor in global diplomacy, said she is looking forward to the 2028 games and is planning on volunteering, as Kouvelos suggested to the audience.

“I’m really excited about the fact that they’re coming to L.A., and so when I heard about this event, I was excited about the opportunity to learn more about what USC and L.A. [are] gonna do,” McCabe said. “The Olympics are a really interesting opportunity, combining a lot of different aspects of both international and local government.”

During the opening ceremony, the Olympic torch is passed from nation to nation, which Kouvelos said represents the values of Olympism passing from Greece to the host country.

“What [does] the light of Olympia really mean? It means that the values are here with you,” he said. “You have to be part of it, learn of it, and [have it] be part of your life. Not only if you are in sports, but [in] whatever business you do.”

Clarification: A previous version of this article quoted Katerina Zacharia as saying “We need to entertain people to become citizens of the world and care for others.”  The article was updated Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. to clarify she meant “educate.”