| Olympic Hymn | |
 | |
Official anthem of theOlympic Games and theInternational Olympic Committee | |
| Also known as | Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος (Greek) Hymne Olympique (French) |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | Kostis Palamas |
| Music | Spyridon Samaras, 1896 |
| Adopted | 1958 |
TheOlympic Hymn (Greek:Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος,pronounced[oli(m)bi̯aˈkosˈimnos]), also known as theOlympic Anthem, is achoralcantata by opera composerSpyridon Samaras (1861–1917), withDemotic Greek lyrics byGreek poetKostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the GreekDemetrius Vikelas, who was the firstPresident of the International Olympic Committee.[1]
The anthem was performed for the first time for the ceremony of opening of the first edition at the1896 Summer Olympics inAthens, Greece. In the following years, every hosting nation commissioned to various musicians the composition of a specific Olympic hymn for their own edition of the games.
The anthem by Samaras and Palamas was declared the official Olympic Anthem by theInternational Olympic Committee in 1958 at the54th Session of the IOC inTokyo, Japan.[2] The anthem was performed inEnglish at the1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and since then it has been played at eachOlympic Games: during theopening ceremony when theOlympic flag is hoisted, and during theclosing ceremony when theOlympic flag is lowered.[3] The hymn was also sung during theOlympic flame lighting ceremony before the national anthems were sung.
The Olympic Hymn was also used, along with theOlympic flag, to represent theUnified Team of former Soviet states at the1992 Winter Olympics and the1992 Summer Olympics.
| Greek script | Latin script | IPAtranscription[a] | Literal translation[2] |
|---|---|---|---|
Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, αγνέ πατέρα | Archaeo Pneuma athanato, agne patera | [aɾˈçe.o ˈpnev.ma‿aˈθa.na.to | aɣˈne paˈte.ɾa |] | O Ancient Spirit immortal, pure father |
Before 2016, the anthem had been recorded and performed in many different languages, usually as a result of the hosting of either form of the Games in various countries. However, in the 2008 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, in Beijing, China, Greek was sung instead of the host country's official language, Mandarin. Also in the 2016 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, English was sung instead of host country's official language, Brazilian Portuguese. Since 2018, the IOC requires that the anthem be performed in either English, Greek or instrumentally (although this is optional depending on the organizer of an Olympics).[5][6]
| Olympics | City | Language performed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 Summer | Athens, Greece | Greek | The anthem was performed for the first time at the opening ceremony. |
| 1960 Winter | Squaw Valley, United States | English | This was the first time that the Olympic Hymn was performed since the Athens 1896 games. |
| 1960 Summer | Rome, Italy | Italian | |
| 1964 Winter | Innsbruck, Austria | German[citation needed] | |
| 1964 Summer | Tokyo, Japan | Japanese | The anthem was sung in Japanese. |
| 1968 Winter | Grenoble, France | French[citation needed] | |
| 1968 Summer | Mexico City, Mexico | Spanish | |
| 1972 Winter | Sapporo,Japan | Japanese | |
| 1972 Summer | Munich, West Germany | Instrumental | An instrumental arrangement was used during the opening and closing ceremonies. |
| 1976 Winter | Innsbruck, Austria | Greek (opening) Instrumental (closing) | In the opening ceremony, the anthem was sung in Greek. In the closing ceremony, an instrumental arrangement was used. In both cases, instead of the third verse, the first verse was performed once again. |
| 1976 Summer | Montreal, Canada | Greek | The anthem was sung in Greek. |
| 1980 Winter | Lake Placid, United States | English | |
| 1980 Summer | Moscow, Soviet Union | Russian (opening) Greek (closing) | The anthem was sung in Russian at the opening ceremony then in Greek at the closing ceremony. The anthem was performed by theRed Army Choir and Bolshoi Theater Chorus. |
| 1984 Winter | Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | Serbo-Croatian | |
| 1984 Summer | Los Angeles, United States | English | |
| 1988 Winter | Calgary, Canada | Greek | The anthem was sung in Greek. |
| 1988 Summer | Seoul, Republic of Korea | Korean | The anthem was performed in Korean. |
| 1992 Winter | Albertville, France | Instrumental | The anthem was performed instrumentally. |
| 1992 Summer | Barcelona, Spain | Catalan, Spanish, and French (opening) Spanish and English (closing) | At the opening ceremony,Alfredo Kraus sang the anthem's first twostanzas in Catalan and the rest of the anthem in Spanish and French. At the closing ceremony,Plácido Domingo sang it in both Spanish and English lyrics. |
| 1994 Winter | Lillehammer, Norway | Norwegian | Sung bySissel Kyrkjebø with the children's choir. |
| 1996 Summer | Atlanta, United States | English | Performed at the Opening Ceremony by the 300 voices of the Centennial Olympic Choir with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and at the Closing Ceremony byJennifer Larmore and theMorehouse College Glee Club with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. |
| 1998 Winter | Nagano,Japan | Japanese | Performed by the Nagano Festival Orchestra and sung by the Nagano City Children's Chorus Group in Japanese. |
| 2000 Summer | Sydney, Australia | Greek (opening) English (closing) | These were the first Olympics in which the anthem was conducted in both languages the IOC require it be performed in.[5] At theopening ceremony, performed in Greek by the Millennium Choir of theGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia with theSydney Symphony Orchestra in recognition of the substantialGreek population of Australia. At closing ceremony, performed in English by Australian sopranoYvonne Kenny. |
| 2002 Winter | Salt Lake City, United States | English | Sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Opening Ceremony and by Laura Garff-Lewis at the Closing Ceremony. |
| 2004 Summer | Athens, Greece | Greek | In Greek; sung to the arrangement ofJohn Psathas. |
| 2006 Winter | Turin, Italy | Instrumental | At these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed instrumentally. |
| 2008 Summer | Beijing, China | Greek | The anthem was sung in Greek by the children's choir. |
| 2010 Winter | Vancouver, Canada | English and French | These were the first Olympics that the anthem was performed in both of its official languages. This was done to reflect theofficial bilingualism in Canada.[5]Measha Brueggergosman at theopening ceremony andBen Heppner at theclosing ceremony sang the first two, the fourth, and sixth stanzas in English and the remainder in French. |
| 2010 Youth |  Singapore | Greek | The anthem was sung in Greek. |
| 2012 Youth | Innsbruck, Austria | Instrumental | The anthem was performed instrumentally. |
| 2012 Summer | London, United Kingdom | Instrumental (opening) English (closing) | Performed instrumentally in theopening ceremony by theLondon Symphony Orchestra and theGrimethorpe Colliery Band. During theclosing ceremony, it was performed in English by the London Welsh Male Voice and Rugby Club choirs. |
| 2014 Winter | Sochi, Russia | Russian (opening) Instrumental (closing) | Sung in Russian in the same translation as in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, byAnna Netrebko with theSretensky Monastery Men's Choir at the opening ceremony. The Instrumental version which also played at theLondon 2012 Opening Ceremony by theLondon Symphony Orchestra and theGrimethorpe Colliery Band was used at theclosing ceremony. |
| 2014 Youth | Nanjing, China | Instrumental | Performed instrumentally (at theLondon 2012 Opening Ceremony by theLondon Symphony Orchestra and theGrimethorpe Colliery Band) at both the opening and closing ceremonies. |
| 2016 Youth | Lillehammer, Norway | Norwegian | A choral version was sung in Norwegian using the same lyrics from the1994 Winter Olympics. |
| 2016 Summer | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | English | The anthem was sung in English by the More Project Youth Choir fromNiterói, a city from theRio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area. |
| 2018 Winter | Pyeongchang, South Korea | Greek (Opening) English (Closing) | The only Winter Olympics so far in which the anthem was performed in both of the languages the IOC requires it be performed in. It was performed in Greek byHwang Su-mi at theopening ceremony and in English by then 11-year-old Oh Yeon-joon at the closing ceremony. |
| 2018 Youth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | English | Performed by Luna Sujatovich and Melina Moguilevsky respectively at the opening and closing ceremonies.[7] |
| 2020 Youth | Lausanne, Switzerland | English and French (opening) Instrumental (closing) | A bilingual version was sung at the opening ceremony by the children's choir "Les Petits Chanteurs de Lausanne". These were the second Olympics (first Youth Olympics) that the anthem was performed in both of its official languages. |
| 2020 Summer | Tokyo, Japan | English | Sung in English at theopening ceremony by both the students ofFukushima Koriyama andToshimagaoka Girls' high schools and byTomotaka Okamoto at theclosing ceremony.[8] |
| 2022 Winter | Beijing, China | Greek | The anthem was sung in Greek by 40 children from Malanhua'er Children's Choir from Hebei Province. |
| 2024 Youth | Gangwon, South Korea | English | Performed by the Gangneung Junior Choir at the opening and closing ceremony, with 5 alumni of the original choir at the closing ceremony. |
| 2024 Summer | Paris, France | Greek (opening) English (closing) | The second Summer Olympics in which the anthem was conducted in both languages the IOC require it be performed in. Performed in Greek by the Radio France Choir and the Maîtrise de Radio France at the opening ceremony, and in English by the Maîtrise de Fontainebleau at the closing ceremony. |
| 2026 Winter | Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | English | |
| 2026 Youth | Dakar, Senegal | ||
| 2028 Youth | Dolomites–Valtellina, Italy | ||
| 2028 Summer | Los Angeles, United States | ||
| 2030 Winter | French Alps, France | ||
| 2032 Summer | Brisbane, Australia | ||
| 2034 Winter | Salt Lake City, United States |
The International Olympic Committee requires that the anthem be performed only in Greek or English.
| International | |
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| Other | |
