The Olympic Oath is a ceremonial promise made by one athlete, judge/official, and one Coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. One athlete recited the Oath on behalf of every athlete/coach and officials. The first Olympic oath of the modern Olympics was written by the founder of IOC, Pierre de Coubertin. The Oath has gone through various modifications over time to reflect the changing nature of sports competitions.
Source: Te whanau
History
The inspiration for an Oath came from the Ancient Olympic Games where the athletes swore an Oath beside the statue of Zeus. The Olympic Oath was added into the protocol in 1906 by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) President and founder, Pierre de Coubertin.
Eventually, the first Olympic Oath was taken at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics by Belgian fencer Victor Boin.
“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“.
Later, in 1961, there were several changes made to the oath. Particularly, ‘swear’ was replaced by ‘promise’ and ‘honor of our country’ by ‘honor of our teams’. It was done to eliminate Nationalism at the Games.
Moreover, in 1970, the IOC proclaimed that a judge from the host nation would also take the oath. Therefore, since 1972, a judge has also recited the oath along with the athlete at the opening ceremony. The first judge’s oath was taken by Heinz Pollay at the 1970 Munich Summer Olympics.
All athletes up till the 1980 Olympics, swore the oath by holding their country’s flag. However, since the 1984 Games, all athletes have sworn the oath on the Olympic Flag to eliminate nationalism from the oath ceremony.
At the 1988 Games, the oath was taken for the first time by two people, when Hur Jae and Shon Mi-Na took the oath in unison
Notably, the Munich Games also saw Heidi Schüller, the first female athlete to take the oath at the Summer Games. In 2010, the IOC identified that young athletes are inspired by their coaches therefore, the Coaches Oath was added to the Olympics protocol.
Language of the Olympic Oath
The Olympic Oath is usually said in the language of the host country. However, in the 1994 Winter Olympics both, the athlete’s and officials’ oaths were said in English.
Unified Oath
In 1999, the IOC established the World Anti-Doping Agency(WADA) to battle against doping. Therefore, the official’s oath was amended to include references to doping and drugs.
Eventually, with effect from the 2018 Winter Olympics, all three oaths were unified into one, led by an athlete to save time during the ceremony.
Each representative including the athlete, official, and coach says their part:
“In the name of all the athletes”,
“In the name of all the judges” or
“In the name of all the coaches and officials”
The athlete then completes the following oath.
“We promise to take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules and in the spirit of fair play. We all commit ourselves to sport without doping and cheating. We do this, for the glory of sport, for the honour of our teams and in respect for the Fundamental Principles of Olympism.”
