©IOC Joëlle Bertoncini

Born in 1969 in Pohang (South Korea), sculptor Lee Hyungkoo has made the skeleton one of his favourite subjects. One of his most famous series, called “Animatus”, includes three-dimensional skeletons of well-known cartoon characters. It was Young Sung Park, President of the International Judo Federation and IOC member from 1995 to 2007, who commissioned the sculpture presented here. In so doing, he wished to express his gratitude to the Olympic Movement by offering this creation to the IOC.

This monumental sculpture, made of bronze painted white, represents the skeleton of a foot. The position of this foot is interesting - as if it is about to start a sprint race. To create this work, Lee Hyungkoo took inspiration from the Athenian, Pheidippides, who, after the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C., ran all the ways to his city to announce his army’s victory. This sculpture is a good illustration of the beauty of this soldier’s action and, if you take this perspective even further, of how mankind is able to rise to challenges.