"As a sign of the respect and solidarity that we are already celebrating in Beijing now I believe that to Paris and Olympism in general this would be a wonderful legacy that we would all share," Drut told the IOC Session here this week.

"Pierre de Coubertin's family seem to be in agreement with this proposal and all my friends have given their agreement."

Drut, the 1976 Olympic 110 metres hurdles gold medallist, has written to French President Emmanuel Macron to ask for consideration of the idea.

The Panthéon stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, in the centre of the Place du Panthéon, which was named after it. 

The edifice was built between 1758 and 1790, from designs by Jacques-Germain Soufflot, at the behest of King Louis XV of France.

The King intended it as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, Paris' patron saint, whose relics were to be housed in the church.

Among those buried in its necropolis are Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin, Louis Braille, Jean Jaurès and Soufflot. 

French academic and novelist Erik Orsenna also supports the campaign for Coubertin to join these giants of French history in the Panthéon.

"Even today sport and music are not given the same place as intellectual subjects," Orsenna told Paris Match.

Drut revealed his plan to the IOC at the end of the first day of the Session. 

"I wanted to share this idea with all the members of the IOC so that they can become part of this initiative and bring this message throughout the world," he explained.

IOC President Thomas Bach said the project was a "wonderful proposal" and "deserves to be successful".

"I don't know if the IOC could make any steps on this initiative which we appreciate considerably," Bach responded to Drut's initiative.

"The Panthéon is a French monument, it is an iconic building and we wish you the best of success in getting this initiative to fruition."

Coubertin was born in Paris on New Year‘s Day 1863 and it was at the city’s Sorbonne University that the decision to revive the Olympics was taken in 1894.

Coubertin collapsed and died in Geneva in 1937.

His grave is in the family tomb at the Bois de Vaud cemetery in Lausanne, close to Olympic House.

His heart was interred in a memorial stele in Ancient Olympia in 1938.

The first runner in any Olympic Torch Relay visits the memorial in an avenue known as the "Coubertin Grove".