Olympic Hymn

For the work by Bernstein, see Olympic Hymn (Bernstein). For the work by Strauss, see Olympische Hymne.

The Olympic Hymn (Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, pronounced [oli(m)bi̯aˈkos ˈimnos]), 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.^[1]

Olympic Anthem

Olympic Hymn
Official anthem of the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee
Also known as	Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος French: Hymne Olympique
Lyrics	Kostis Palamas
Music	Spyridon Samaras, 1896
Adopted	1958

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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	Greco-Roman orthography[a]	Literal translation[2]
Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, αγνέ πατέρα του ωραίου, του μεγάλου και του αληθινού, Κατέβα, φανερώσου κι άστραψε εδώ πέρα στη δόξα της δικής σου γης και τ' ουρανού. Στο δρόμο και στο πάλεμα και στο λιθάρι Στων ευγενών αγώνων λάμψε την ορμή Και με το αμάραντο στεφάνωσε κλωνάρι 𝄆 και σιδερένιο πλάσε και άξιο το κορμί. 𝄇 Κάμποι, βουνά και θάλασσες φέγγουνε μαζί σου σαν ένας λευκοπόρφυρος μέγας ναός. 𝄆 Και τρέχει στο ναό εδώ προσκυνητής σου 𝄇 𝄆 Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, κάθε λαός. 𝄇	Archaéo Pnévma athánato, agné patéra tou oréou, tou megálou ke tou alithinoú Katéva, phanerósou ki ástrapse edó péra sti dóxa tis dikís sou gis ke t'ouranoú. Sto drómo ke sto pálema ke sto lithári Ston evgenón agónon lámpse tin ormí. Ke me to amáranto stephánose klonári 𝄆 ke siderénio pláse ke áxio to kormí. 𝄇 Kámpe, vouná ke thálasses phéngoune mazí sou san énas lefkopórfyros mégas naós 𝄆 Ke tréchi sto naó edó proskynitís sou 𝄇 𝄆 Archaéo Pnévma athánato, káthe laós. 𝄇	O Ancient Spirit immortal, pure father of the beautiful, the great and the true, Descend, appear, and sparkle over here to the glory of thine own earth and heaven. At running and at wrestling and at throwing, shine in the momentum of noble contests, and crown with the unfading branch, 𝄆 and make the body worthy and ironlike. 𝄇 Plains, mountains and seas shine with thee like a great white-purple temple. 𝄆 And thy pilgrim is running to this here temple, 𝄇 𝄆 O Ancient Spirit immortal, of every people. 𝄇
English sung 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
Note: This version, although often performed at opening/closing ceremonies, appears to enjoy far less exposure than the original. Hence its words may be determined only by listening to performances; correspondents will most probably disagree on the correct form. An alternate ending to the lyrics (used at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics) was, "Bestow on us the wondrous prize of honor, truth and love."[4]

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).^[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 the Red 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 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,  Norway	Norwegian	Sung by Sissel 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 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 in which the anthem was conducted in both languages the IOC require it be performed in.[5] 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 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.
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 the official bilingualism in Canada.[5] 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 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 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, 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,  China	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,  Norway	Norwegian	A choral version was sung in Norwegian using the same lyrics from the 1994 Winter Olympics.
2016 Summer	Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil	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,  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 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,  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 the opening ceremony by both the students of Fukushima Koriyama and Toshimagaoka Girls' high schools and by Tomotaka Okamoto at the closing 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
2026 Youth	Dakar,  Senegal
2028 Winter	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

See also

• Olympic symbols
• Anthems of international organizations

Notes

1. See Romanization of Greek § Modern Greek.