It is somewhat sobering to realise that for me, this came exactly 40 years ago.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) had selected four of us to go to Olympia to participate in the 1983 Session of the International Olympic Academy (IOA).

Before departing for Olympia itself, there was an Opening Ceremony on the Hill of Pnyx high above Athens.

The Parthenon, cast in gold by the setting sun, provided the backdrop as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch spoke to the 174 participants drawn from 77 National Olympic Committees.

"During these two weeks of communal life which you are about to experience you will discover, I hope, what makes the Olympic Movement such a special and universal force that it has become the biggest social movement of our time," Samaranch said.

It had been decreed that the theme of discussions was to be "Olympism in the face of violence and fair play".

The topic seemed somewhat incongruous amongst the peaceful surroundings of Olympia, with the plains of Arcadia stretching away in distance.

Olympia was and remains a small village where little has changed in recent years, despite the threat from wildfires in the summer of 2021.

The road to the IOA leads out of the village to a bridge across the Kladeos river, where there is scarcely even a trickle of water during the summer.

The IOA itself nestles on the hillside beneath Mount Kronos, a short distance from the ancient stadium.

Another path through the trees led to a small grove with the monument to Pierre de Coubertin.

It is here that the first runner in any Olympic Torch Relay heads to pay homage to the man who did so much to revive the Olympics for the modern era.

There are also two smaller tablets to pay tribute to Ioannis Ketseas of Greece and Carl Diem of Germany, who together founded the IOA in 1961.

In those early sessions, the participants lived in tents and food was brought up from the village.

By 1983, all of us slept in basic but comfortable dormitories.

The programme consisted of lectures in morning and late afternoon but left plenty of time for using the sports facilities on offer.

At each lecture, a table was reserved for the IOA "Ephoria", a small management committee.

The IOA President was Nikolaos Nissiotis, an IOC member and university professor with a shock of white hair.

Alongside him was Academy Dean Otto Symiczek, a former athletics coach and father of Marton Simitsek, later chief executive of Athens 2004.

"Within a short time after its foundation, the IOA was widely accepted as the spiritual centre of Olympism, a centre of great radiance," Symiczek insisted.

The lectures included a contribution from IOC Director Monique Berlioux, who swam for France at the 1948 Olympics.

What had not yet become clear was the extent to which her relations with Samaranch had soured - within two years she had left the IOC.

At the same time, the Los Angeles 1984 Organising Committee Torch Relay organiser Dick Sergeant had arrived to discuss the arrangements with officials in Olympia.

It later emerged that discussions had been tense because Olympia's Mayor Spyros Fotinos had been angered by plans to charge Torch Bearers to participate in the domestic relay across the United States.

We didn't know it at the time, but there was to be no traditional Relay across Greece to Athens before the Flame set out for the US.

During our time in Olympia, the skies above were invariably clear blue, except one afternoon when a storm struck from the hills.

It was the kind of rain that would have ended play for the day at Wimbledon or Lord’s.

Our hosts advised us to be patient and lo, sure enough in a few minutes, the skies had cleared and everything was as it had been before and if anything even hotter and sunnier.

Though the Olympics were familiar through television books and newspapers, there was still a frisson of excitement to watch as the five rings of the Olympic Flag fluttered to the masthead.

It was also the first opportunity for many of us to mingle with sporting champions and there were plenty to choose from in 1983.

There was Bulgaria’s Svetla Otzetova who had won gold at the Montreal 1976 Games.

"We all came to Olympia to learn from each other as real friends," Otzetova said.

"Here, we have one aim to live Olympism without the competition, we all came to Olympia to learn from each other as real friends."

The flags of all those participating were flown throughout the fortnight that it felt like an Olympic Village.

From the same Montreal 1976 Olympics, there was Romanian gymnast Anca Grigoras, a team mate of Nadia Comaneci who had won team silver.

"We did not think about medals, but how to do our routines better," she reflected.

There was also Jean Borotra, one of the "Four Musketeers" from France, who dominated men's tennis in the mid 1920s. 

I seem to remember that when he arrived, Borotra was greeted by a standing ovation.

A double Wimbledon singles champion, he was there as President of the International Fair Play Committee and spoke on the need to maintain fair play.

"Sports often becomes a merciless battle where victory is sought at any price," Borotra warned.

The IOA presented many opportunities for discussions on a terrace set above the seemingly never-ending playing fields.

India's Rhanjit Bhatia had run for India in the 5,000m and marathon at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

"They have meant a unique experience; one through which I learned to sort out my priorities in later life," he said.

"Participation gave me an identity and also a sense of purpose." 

Bhatia later became a sports journalist and wrote for Athletics Weekly amongst others.

He revealed that he never received his own copy of the magazine on time because his postman, clearly an athletics fan, intercepted it to read first.

All the participants at the IOA were encouraged to try out Greek dancing.

One night, your correspondent attempted to perform the Syrtaki, with less than exemplary results.

Many of the onlookers, including IOA President Nissiotis, were convulsed with laughter.

All too quickly, it was time to strike out for home via Athens.

"I feel an urgent need, to appeal to you to become servants of Olympism in the struggle against violence in your own environments and back in your own countries," Nissiotis said as the cavalcade of coaches departed.

"My only hope is that our thoughts may bridge all the geographic distances which separate us, as from now on, we shall all belong to the one Olympic family, citizens of Olympia scattered throughout the world."

Although at that moment, a return seemed unlikely, I’ve been fortunate to go back to Olympia on many occasions.

Next year, the lighting of the Flame for Paris 2024 presents another opportunity to do so and I can hardly wait.

A while back, the present IOC President Thomas Bach described the IOA in Olympia as "magical and spiritual" at a ceremony to mark its reopening after renovation work.

I know exactly what he meant.