Olympic Oath

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Olympic Oath is taken by one athlete and one judge at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games. It was spoken in Greek at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and in Italian at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The athlete, from the team of the organizing country, holds a corner of the Olympic Flag while reciting the oath:

In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.^[1]

The judge, also from the host nation, likewise holds a corner of the flag but takes a slightly different oath:

In the name of all the judges and officials, I promise that we shall officiate in these Olympic Games with complete impartiality, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them in the true spirit of sportsmanship.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Speakers 3 See also 4 References

[edit] History

A call for an oath was announced as early as 1906 by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president and founder Pierre de Coubertin in the Revue Olympique (Olympic Review in (French)).^[2] This was done in an effort to ensure fairness and impartiality.^[2]

The Olympic Oath was first taken at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp by a fencer/water polo player. The first judge's oath was taken at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.

Victor Boin's oath in 1920 was

We swear. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honour of our country and for the glory of sport.^[2]

In 1961, "swear" was replaced by "promise" and "the honour of our countries" by "the honour of our teams" in an obvious effort to eliminate nationalism at the Olympic Games.^[2] The part concerning doping was added at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Speakers

The athletes and judges that have delivered the Olympic Oath are listed below.

Olympic Oath

Olympics	Athlete	Judge (Official)
1920 Summer Olympics	Victor Boin[3]	-
1924 Winter Olympics	Camille Mandrillon[4]	-
1924 Summer Olympics	Georges André[5]	-
1928 Winter Olympics	Hans Eidenbenz[6]	-
1928 Summer Olympics	Harry Dénis[7]	-
1932 Winter Olympics	Jack Shea[8]	-
1932 Summer Olympics	George Calnan[9]	-
1936 Winter Olympics	Willy Bogner, Sr.[10]	-
1936 Summer Olympics	Rudolf Ismayr[11]	-
1948 Winter Olympics	Bibi Torriani[12]	-
1948 Summer Olympics	Donald Finlay[13]	-
1952 Winter Olympics	Torbjørn Falkanger[14]	-
1952 Summer Olympics	Heikki Savolainen[15]	-
1956 Winter Olympics	Giuliana Minuzzo[16]	-
1956 Summer Olympics	John Landy (Melbourne) Henri Saint Cyr (Stockholm)[17]	-
1960 Winter Olympics	Carol Heiss[18]	-
1960 Summer Olympics	Adolfo Consolini[19]	-
1964 Winter Olympics	Paul Aste[20]	-
1964 Summer Olympics	Takashi Ono[21]	-
1968 Winter Olympics	Léo Lacroix[22]	-
1968 Summer Olympics	Pablo Garrido[23]	-
1972 Winter Olympics	Keiichi Suzuki[24]	Fumio Asaki[24]
1972 Summer Olympics	Heidi Schüller[25]	Heinz Pollay[25]
1976 Winter Olympics	Werner Delle Karth[26]	Willy Köstinger[26]
1976 Summer Olympics	Pierre St.-Jean[27]	Maurice Fauget[27]
1980 Winter Olympics	Eric Heiden[28]	Terry McDermott[28]
1980 Summer Olympics	Nikolai Andrianov[29]	Alexander Medved[29]
1984 Winter Olympics	Bojan Križaj[30]	Dragan Perovic[30]
1984 Summer Olympics	Edwin Moses[31]	Sharon Weber[31]
1988 Winter Olympics	Pierre Harvey[32]	Suzanna Morrow-Francis[32]
1988 Summer Olympics	Hur Jae Shon Mi-Na[33]	Lee Hak-Rae[33]
1992 Winter Olympics	Surya Bonaly[34]	Pierre Bornat[34]
1992 Summer Olympics	Luis Doreste Blanco[35]	Eugeni Asensio[35]
1994 Winter Olympics	Vegard Ulvang[36]	Kari Karing[36]
1996 Summer Olympics	Teresa Edwards[37]	Hobie Billingsley[37]
1998 Winter Olympics	Kenji Ogiwara[38]	Junko Hiramatsu[38]
2000 Summer Olympics	Rechelle Hawkes[39]	Peter Kerr[39]
2002 Winter Olympics	Jimmy Shea[40]	Allen Church[40]
2004 Summer Olympics	Zoi Dimoschaki[41]	Lazaros Voreadis[41]
2006 Winter Olympics	Giorgio Rocca[42]	Fabio Bianchetti[42]
2008 Summer Olympics	Zhang Yining	Huang Liping

[edit] See also

• Olympic symbols

[edit] References