Olympic Hymn

The Olympic Hymn (Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, pronounced ), 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.

Olympic Anthem
Olympic Hymn
Olympic Hymn

Official anthem of the Olympic Games and the International Olympic Committee
Also known asGreek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος
French: Hymne Olympique
LyricsKostis Palamas
MusicSpyridon Samaras, 1896
Adopted1958
Audio sample
The Olympic Hymn Instrumental

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

Greek original Greco-Roman orthography Literal translation

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. 𝄇

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 & 2022 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 and in the 2020 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies in Tokyo, Japan, English was also sung instead of Japanese.

Olympics City Language performed Notes
1896 Summer Athens,
Olympic Hymn  Greece
Greek The anthem was performed for the first time at the opening ceremony.
1960 Winter Squaw Valley,
Olympic Hymn  United States
English This was the first time that the Olympic Hymn was performed since the Athens 1896 games.
1960 Summer Rome,
Olympic Hymn  Italy
Italian
1964 Winter Innsbruck,
Olympic Hymn  Austria
German[citation needed]
1964 Summer Tokyo,
Olympic Hymn  Japan
Japanese The anthem was sung in Japanese at the opening and closing ceremonies.
1968 Winter Grenoble,
Olympic Hymn  France
French[citation needed]
1968 Summer Mexico City,
Olympic Hymn  Mexico
Spanish
1972 Winter Sapporo,
Olympic Hymn  Japan
Japanese
1972 Summer Munich,
Olympic Hymn  West Germany
Instrumental An instrumental arrangement was used during the opening and closing ceremonies.
1976 Winter Innsbruck,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Canada
Greek The anthem was sung in Greek.
1980 Winter Lake Placid,
Olympic Hymn  United States
English
1980 Summer Moscow,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Yugoslavia
Serbo-Croatian
1984 Summer Los Angeles,
Olympic Hymn  United States
English
1988 Winter Calgary,
Olympic Hymn  Canada
Greek The anthem was sung in Greek.
1988 Summer Seoul,
Olympic Hymn  Republic of Korea
Korean The anthem was performed in Korean in the opening and closing ceremony.
1992 Winter Albertville,
Olympic Hymn  France
Instrumental The instrumental version of the anthem was used.
1992 Summer Barcelona,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Norway
Norwegian Sung at both the opening and closing ceremonies by Sissel Kyrkjebø with the Children's chorus.
1996 Summer Atlanta,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Japan
Japanese Performed by the Nagano Festival Orchestra and sung by the Nagano City Children's Chorus Group in Japanese.
2000 Summer Sydney,
Olympic Hymn  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. 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,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Greece
Greek In Greek; sung to the arrangement of John Psathas.
2006 Winter Turin,
Olympic Hymn  Italy
Instrumental At these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies.
2008 Summer Beijing,
Olympic Hymn  China
Greek The anthem was sung in Greek at both the opening and closing ceremonies by the children's choir.
2010 Winter Vancouver,
Olympic Hymn  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. 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 Olympic Hymn  Singapore Greek The anthem was sung in Greek.
2012 Youth Innsbruck,
Olympic Hymn  Austria
Instrumental The instrumental version of the anthem was used at both opening and closing ceremonies.
2012 Summer London,
Olympic Hymn  United Kingdom
Instrumental (opening)
English (closing)
Instrumental version played in the opening ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
2014 Winter Sochi,
Olympic Hymn  Russian Federation
Russian (opening)
Instrumental (closing)
Sung in Russian in the same translation as in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. It was 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,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Norway
Norwegian A choral version was sung in Norwegian at both opening and closing ceremonies using the same lyrics from the 1994 Winter Olympics
2016 Summer Rio de Janeiro,
Olympic Hymn  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 the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area.
2018 Winter Pyeongchang,
Olympic Hymn  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,
Olympic Hymn  Argentina
English Performed by Luna Sujatovich at the Opening Ceremony and by Melina Moguilevsky at the Closing Ceremony.
2020 Youth Lausanne,
Olympic Hymn  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"
2020 Summer Tokyo,
Olympic Hymn  Japan
English Sung in English at the opening ceremony by both the students of Fukushima Koriyama High School and Toshimagaoka Girl's High School and by Tomotaka Okamoto at the closing ceremony.
2022 Winter Beijing,
Olympic Hymn  China
Greek The anthem was sung in Greek at both the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony by 40 Children from Malanhua'er Children's Choir from Hebei Province.
2024 Youth Gangwon,
Olympic Hymn  South Korea
English Performed by the Gangneung Junior Choir at the opening and closing ceremony, and by 5 alumni of the original choir at the closing ceremony.
2024 Summer Paris,
Olympic Hymn  France
Greek Performed by Joyce DiDonato at the flame lighting ceremony.
2026 Winter MilanCortina d'Ampezzo,
Olympic Hymn  Italy
2026 Youth Dakar,
Olympic Hymn  Senegal
2028 Summer Los Angeles,
Olympic Hymn  United States
2032 Summer Brisbane,
Olympic Hymn  Australia

See also

Notes

References

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