Olympic Hymn

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Olympic Anthem
Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος
French: Hymne Olympique

Olympic Hymn
Official and Olympic anthem of Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee
Lyrics	Kostis Palamas
Music	Spyridon Samaras, 1896
Adopted	1958

The Olympic Hymn (Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, Olympiakós Ýmnos, [oli(m)ˈbiakos ˈimnos]), also known informally as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Demetrius Vikelas, who was the first President of the International Olympic Committee.

History[]

The anthem was performed for the first time for the ceremony of opening of the first edition at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, 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 the International Olympic Committee in 1958 at the 54th Session of the IOC in Tokyo, Japan. The anthem was performed in English at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and since then it has been played at each Olympic Games: during the opening ceremony when the Olympic flag is hoisted, and during the closing ceremony when the Olympic flag is lowered.^[1]

Lyrics[]

English translation (literal)[]

English version (poetic, by W. Earl Brown and Shirley Russ)[]

This version was sung in a number of Olympic Games since 1984 (1960 and 1980 Winter Olympics used different texts):

Olympian flame immortal
Whose beacon lights our way
Emblaze our hearts with the fires of hope
On this momentous day

As now we come across the world
To share these Games of old
Let all the flags of every land
In brotherhood unfold
 
Sing out each nation, voices strong
Rise up in harmony
All hail our brave Olympians
With strains of victory
 
Olympic light burn on and on
O’er seas and mountains and plains
Unite, inspire, bring honour
To these ascending games
May valour reign victorious
Along the path of golden way

As tomorrow’s new champions now come forth
Rising to the fervent spirit of the game
Let splendour pervade each noble deed
Crowned with glory and fame

And let fraternity and fellowship
Surround the soul of every nation
 
Oh flame, eternal in your firmament so bright
Illuminate us with your everlasting light
That grace and beauty and magnificence
 
Shine like the sun
Blazing above
Bestow on us your honour, truth and love^[2]

If the anthem is to be performed in English, then the English sung version is used, which has been usually in English-speaking countries. If it is to be performed in a language other than English or Greek, then the original version is translated to the language it is to be performed but in the 2008 Beijing Games, Greek was also sung instead of Chinese and in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, English was sung instead of Portuguese. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, English was sung instead of Japanese. The only Games in which lyrics of the English version were used in translation were the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Donovan Seidle, associate music director during the games, arranged the anthem, translating some of the stanzas to French in recognition of the official bilingualism in Canada.^[3][4][5]

List of performances at the Olympics[]

The anthem has been recorded and performed in many different languages, usually as a result of the hosting of either form of the Games in various countries. The IOC doesn’t require that the anthem be performed in either English or Greek. But 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 also sung instead of host country's official language, Portuguese.^[4] And in the 2020 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies in Tokyo, Japan, English was sung instead of Japanese.

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 at the opening ceremony[6] and at the closing ceremony.[7]
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.[8][9]
1976 Winter	Innsbruck,  Austria	Greek (opening) Instrumental (closing)	In the opening ceremony, the anthem was sung in Greek.[10] In the closing ceremony, an instrumental arrangement was performed.[11] 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.[12]
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.[13]
1984 Winter	Sarajevo,  Yugoslavia	Serbo-Croatian
1984 Summer	Los Angeles,  United States	English
1988 Winter	Calgary,  Canada	Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek.[14][15]
1988 Summer	Seoul,  South Korea	Korean	The anthem was performed in Korean in the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony.[16]
1992 Winter	Albertville,  France	Instrumental	The instrumental version of the anthem was played.[17]
1992 Summer	Barcelona,  Spain	Catalan, Spanish, and French (opening) Spanish and English (closing)	At the opening ceremony, Alfredo Kraus sang the anthem's first two stanzas in Catalan and the rest of the anthem in Spanish and French.[18] At the closing ceremony, Plácido Domingo sang it in both Spanish and English lyrics.[19]
1994 Winter	Lillehammer,  Norway	Norwegian	Sung at both the opening and closing ceremonies by Sissel Kyrkjebø with the Children's chorus.
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 by Jennifer Larmore and the Morehouse 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 until 2018 Winter Olympics in which the anthem was conducted in both languages preferred by the IOC.[4] At the opening ceremony, performed in Greek by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in recognition of the substantial Greek population of Australia.[20] At closing ceremony, performed in English by Australian soprano Yvonne 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 of John Psathas.[21]
2006 Winter	Turin,  Italy	Instrumental	At these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies.[22]
2008 Summer	Beijing,  China	Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek at both the opening ceremony and closing ceremony.[23]
2010 Winter	Vancouver,  Canada	English and French	This was the only Olympics that the anthem was performed in both of the official languages of the Olympics. This was done to reflect the official bilingualism in Canada.[4] Measha Brueggergosman at the opening ceremony and Ben Heppner at the closing ceremony sang the first two, the fourth, and sixth stanzas in English and the remainder in French.[3]
2010 Youth	Singapore	Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek.
2012 Youth	Innsbruck,  Austria	Instrumental	The instrumental version of the anthem was played at both opening and closing ceremonies.
2012 Summer	London,  United Kingdom	Instrumental (opening) English (closing)	Instrumental version played in the opening ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band.[24] Sung in English at the closing ceremony by the London Welsh Male Voice Choir and the London Welsh Rugby Club choir with short lyrics.[25]
2014 Winter	Sochi, Russian Federation	Russian (opening) Instrumental (closing)	Sung in Russian in the same translation as in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. It performed by Anna Netrebko with the Sretensky Monastery Male Choir at the opening ceremony. The Instrumental version which also played at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band was used at the closing ceremony.
2014 Youth	Nanjing,  China	Instrumental	The Instrumental version played at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band was used at both the opening and closing ceremonies.
2016 Youth	Lillehammer,  Norway	Norwegian	A choral version was sung in Norwegian at both opening and closing ceremonies using the same lyrics from the 1994 Winter Olympics[26]
2016 Summer	Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil	English	The anthem was sung in English at both opening ceremony and closing ceremony by the More Project Youth Choir from Niterói, a city from Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area.
2018 Winter	Pyeongchang,  South Korea	Greek (Opening) English (Closing)	The first Olympics since 2000 Summer Olympics, in Sydney, Australia, and the only Winter Olympics so far in which the anthem was performed in both of the languages preferred by the IOC. It was performed in Greek by Sumi Hwang at the opening ceremony and in English by 11-year-old Oh Yeon-joon at the closing ceremony.
2018 Youth	Buenos Aires,  Argentina	English	Performed by Luna Sujatovich at the Opening Ceremony and by Melina Moguilevsky at the Closing Ceremony.[27][28]
2020 Youth	Lausanne,   Switzerland	English and French (opening) Instrumental (closing)	A bilingual version of the anthem was sung in the opening ceremony by the children's choir "Les Petits Chanteurs de Lausanne"
2020 Summer	Tokyo,  Japan	English	Performed both in English at the opening ceremony by the students of Fukushima Koriyama High School and Toshimagaoka Girl's High School and by Tomotaka Okamoto at the closing ceremony.[29][30]
2022 Winter	Beijing,  China
2024 Youth	Gangwon,  South Korea
2024 Summer	Paris,  France
2026 Winter	Milan,  Italy
2026 Youth	Dakar,  Senegal
2028 Summer	Los Angeles,  United States
2032 Summer	Brisbane,  Australia

See also[]

• Olympic symbols

References[]

"The oldest of the modern Olympic emblems is an anthem!". Olympic News. International Olympic Committee.

External links[]

• The original score of the Olympic Hymn, transcribed at Wikisource
• Philip Barker. The Anthem – Olympism's Oldest Symbol
• English lyrics
• A collection of recordings of the Olympic Hymn in various languages