Olympic Hymn


The Olympic Hymn, also known informally as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras, 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.

Lyrics

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 also sung instead of Portuguese. The only Olympic games in which lyrics of the English version were used in translation were the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. , associate music director during the games, arranged the anthem, translating some of the stanzas to French in recognition of the official bilingualism in Canada.

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.
OlympicsCityLanguage PerformedNotes
1896 SummerAthens,
Kingdom of Greece
GreekThe anthem was performed for the first time at the opening ceremony.
1960 WinterSquaw Valley,
EnglishThis was the first time that the Olympic Hymn was performed since the Athens 1896 games.
1960 SummerRome,
Italian
1964 WinterInnsbruck,
German
1964 SummerTokyo,
Instrumental
Japanese
The anthem was sung in Japanese at the closing ceremony.
1968 WinterGrenoble,
French
1968 SummerMexico City,
Spanish
1972 WinterSapporo,
Japanese
1972 SummerMunich,
InstrumentalAn instrumental arrangement was used during the opening and closing ceremonies.
1976 WinterInnsbruck,
Greek
Instrumental
In the opening ceremony, the anthem was sung in Greek. In the closing ceremony, an instrumental arrangement was performed. In both cases, instead of the third verse, the first verse was performed once again.
1976 SummerMontreal,
GreekThe anthem was sung in Greek.
1980 WinterLake Placid,
English
1980 SummerMoscow,
Russian
Greek
The anthem was sung in Russian at the opening ceremony then in Greek at the closing ceremony.
1984 WinterSarajevo,
Serbo-Croatian
1984 SummerLos Angeles,
English
1988 WinterCalgary,
GreekThe anthem was sung in Greek.
1988 SummerSeoul,
Korean
1992 WinterAlbertville,
InstrumentalThe instrumental version of the anthem was played.
1992 SummerBarcelona,
Catalan, Spanish, and French
Spanish and English
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 WinterLillehammer,
NorwegianSung at both the opening and closing ceremonies by Sissel Kyrkjebø with the Children's chorus.
1996 SummerAtlanta,
EnglishPerformed 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 WinterNagano,
JapanesePerformed by the Nagano Festival Orchestra and sung by the Nagano City Children's Chorus Group in Japanese.
2000 SummerSydney,
Greek
English
These were the first Olympics until 2018 Winter Olympics in which the anthem was conducted in both languages preferred by the IOC. 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. At closing ceremony, performed in English by Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny.
2002 WinterSalt Lake City,
EnglishSung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Opening Ceremony and by Laura Garff-Lewis at the Closing Ceremony.
2004 SummerAthens,
GreekIn Greek; sung to the arrangement of John Psathas.
2006 WinterTurin,
InstrumentalAt these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies.
2008 SummerBeijing,
GreekThe anthem was sung in Greek at both the opening ceremony and closing ceremony.
2010 WinterVancouver,
English and FrenchThis 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. 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.
2010 YouthGreekThe anthem was sung in Greek.
2012 YouthInnsbruck,
InstrumentalThe instrumental version of the anthem was played at both opening and closing ceremonies.
2012 SummerLondon,
Instrumental
English
Instrumental version played in the opening ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Sung in English at the closing ceremony by the London Welsh Male Voice Choir and the London Welsh Rugby Club choir with short lyrics.
2014 WinterSochi,
Russian Federation
Russian
Instrumental
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 YouthNanjing,
InstrumentalThe 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 YouthLillehammer,
NorwegianA choral version was sung in Norwegian at both opening and closing ceremonies using the same lyrics from the 1994 Winter Olympics
2016 SummerRio de Janeiro,
EnglishThe 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 WinterPyeongchang,
Greek
English
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 YouthBuenos Aires,
EnglishPerformed by Luna Sujatovich at the Opening Ceremony and by Melina Moguilevsky at the Closing Ceremony.
2020 YouthLausanne,
English and French
Instrumental
A bilingual version of the anthem was sung in the opening ceremony by the children's choir "Les Petits Chanteurs de Lausanne"
2020 SummerTokyo,
2022 WinterBeijing,
2022 YouthDakar,
2024 YouthGangwon,
2024 SummerParis,
2026 WinterMilan,
2028 SummerLos Angeles,