ABSTRACT
Hiroshima remains central to any twentieth-century history of war and peace, given its status as the target for the first atom bomb in August 1945. Today, the University of Hiroshima houses a sculpture honouring Lord Philip Noel-Baker (1889–1982) as a ‘Man of Sport— Man of Peace’ (Figure 9.1). 1 He is shown breasting the tape surrounded by the five Olympic rings. The sculpture’s title captures the essence of Noel-Baker’s vision of international sport, most notably the Olympic movement, as a major force for world peace. It commemorates also the award of the 1959 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to international peace in a divided world subjected increasingly to the threat of nuclear holocaust. For Noel-Baker, politics and sport, particularly disarmament, the United Nations and Olympism, were all part of the same equation; thus, speaking in 1963 as President of UNESCO’s International Council of Sport and Physical Education (ICSPE), he asserted that ‘in the nuclear age, sport is man’s best hope’. 2
