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Olympic Hymn

Official anthem for the Olympic Games

Field	Value
title	Olympic Hymn
transcription	Olympic Anthem
alt_title
alt_title_2
image	Olympic Hymn title.jpg
prefix	Official
country	the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee
author	Kostis Palamas
composer	Spyridon Samaras
music_date	1896
adopted	1958

The Olympic Hymn (, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with Demotic Greek 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. The hymn was also sung during the Olympic flame lighting ceremony before the national anthems were sung.

The Olympic Hymn was also used, along with the Olympic flag, to represent the Unified Team of former Soviet states at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Lyrics

Greek original

Greek script	Latin script	IPA transcription	Literal translation
el	Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, αγνέ πατέρα	el-latn	Archaeo Pneuma athanato, agne patera	{{IPA	wrap=none	[aɾˈçe.o ˈpnev.ma‿aˈθa.na.to aɣˈne paˈte.ɾa ]	O Ancient Spirit immortal, pure father

English version

: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 honor :To these ascending games

:May valor 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 honor, truth and love

List of performances at the Olympics

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).

Olympics	City	Language performed	Notes
1896 Summer	Athens,
Kingdom of 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,
Italian
1964 Winter	Innsbruck,
German
1964 Summer	Tokyo,
Japan	Japanese	The anthem was sung in Japanese.
1968 Winter	Grenoble,
French
1968 Summer	Mexico City,
Spanish
1972 Winter	Sapporo,
Japan	Japanese
1972 Summer	Munich,
Instrumental	An instrumental arrangement was used during the opening and closing ceremonies.
1976 Winter	Innsbruck,
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,
Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek.
1980 Winter	Lake Placid,
English
1980 Summer	Moscow,
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 the Red Army Choir and Bolshoi Theater Chorus.
1984 Winter	Sarajevo,
Serbo-Croatian
1984 Summer	Los Angeles,
English
1988 Winter	Calgary,
Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek.
1988 Summer	Seoul,
Korean	The anthem was performed in Korean.
1992 Winter	Albertville,
Instrumental	The anthem was performed instrumentally.
1992 Summer	Barcelona,
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. At the closing ceremony, Plácido Domingo sang it in both Spanish and English lyrics.
1994 Winter	Lillehammer,
Norwegian	Sung by Sissel Kyrkjebø with the children's choir.
1996 Summer	Atlanta,
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,
Greek (opening)	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. At closing ceremony, performed in English by Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny.
2002 Winter	Salt Lake City,
English	Sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Opening Ceremony and by Laura Garff-Lewis at the Closing Ceremony.
2004 Summer	Athens,
Greek	In Greek; sung to the arrangement of John Psathas.
2006 Winter	Turin,
Instrumental	At these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed instrumentally.
2008 Summer	Beijing,
Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek by the children's choir.
2010 Winter	Vancouver,
English and French	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.
2010 Youth		Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek.
2012 Youth	Innsbruck,
Instrumental	The anthem was performed instrumentally.
2012 Summer	London,
Instrumental (opening)
English (closing)	Performed instrumentally in the opening ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. During the closing ceremony, it was performed in English by the London Welsh Male Voice and Rugby Club choirs.
2014 Winter	Sochi,
RUS Russia	Russian (opening)
Instrumental (closing)	Sung in Russian in the same translation as in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, by Anna Netrebko with the Sretensky Monastery Men's 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,
Instrumental	Performed instrumentally (at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band) at both the opening and closing ceremonies.
2016 Youth	Lillehammer,
Norwegian	A choral version was sung in Norwegian using the same lyrics from the 1994 Winter Olympics.
2016 Summer	Rio de Janeiro,
English	The anthem was sung in English by the More Project Youth Choir from Niterói, a city from the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area.
2018 Winter	Pyeongchang,
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 by Hwang Su-mi at the opening ceremony and in English by then 11-year-old Oh Yeon-joon at the closing ceremony.
2018 Youth	Buenos Aires,
English	title=Buenos Aires 2018: Closing Ceremony	url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1071183/buenos-aires-2018-closing-ceremony	access-date=11 November 2018	agency=insidethegames	date=18 October 2018}}
2020 Youth	Lausanne,
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,
English	Sung in English at the opening ceremony by both the students of Fukushima Koriyama and Toshimagaoka Girls' high schools and by Tomotaka Okamoto at the closing ceremony.
2022 Winter	Beijing,
Greek	The anthem was sung in Greek by 40 children from Malanhua'er Children's Choir from Hebei Province.
2024 Youth	Gangwon,
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,
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,
2026 Youth	Dakar,
2028 Winter	Dolomites–Valtellina,
2028 Summer	Los Angeles,
2030 Winter	French Alps,
2032 Summer	Brisbane,
2034 Winter	Salt Lake City,

Notes

References

(12 January 2022). "The oldest of the modern Olympic emblems is an anthem!". International Olympic Committee.
"Olympic Anthem - Official Olympic Games Hymn, Music & Lyrics".
"Olympic Anthem Symbolism". [[LA84 Foundation]].
"Games of the XXIII Olympiad, Opening Ceremonies, July 28, 1984".
Lederman, Marsha. (17 February 2010). "More French in Closing Ceremonies, Executive Producer Says". [[The Globe and Mail]].
Garcia, Maira. (February 10, 2018). "Who Were the Singers at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics?". The New York Times.
(18 October 2018). "Buenos Aires 2018: Closing Ceremony".
(8 August 2021). "Recapping the Olympics closing ceremony: Bidding farewell to Summer Games in Tokyo". [[USA Today]].

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