The Olympic Oath is taken by an athlete and a judge at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.
The athlete, from team of the organising country, holds a corner of the Olympic Flag while speaking the oath:
- In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs.
- In the name of all the judges and officials, I promise that we shall officiate in these Olympic Games with complete impartiality, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them in the true spirit of sportsmanship.
History
The Olympic Oath, written by Pierre de Coubertin was first taken by an athlete at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. The first judge's oath was taken at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
The text of the oath has slightly changed over the years. Victor Boin's oath in 1920 was
- We swear that we will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honor of our country and for the glory of sport.
The athletes and judges that have taken the Olympic Oath are listed below. As the equestrian events in 1956 were held in Stockholm, there were two speakers of the Olympic Oath in that year.
Speakers
Olympics | Athlete | Judge |
1920 Summer Olympics | Victor Boin | - |
1924 Winter Olympics | Camille Mandrilon | - |
1924 Summer Olympics | Georges André | - |
1928 Winter Olympics | Hans Eidenbenz | - |
1928 Summer Olympics | Henri Dénis | - |
1932 Winter Olympics | Jack Shea | - |
1932 Summer Olympics | George Calnan | - |
1936 Winter Olympics | Wilhelm Bogner | - |
1936 Summer Olympics | Rudolf Ismayr | - |
1948 Winter Olympics | Bibi Torriani | - |
1948 Summer Olympics | Don Finlay | - |
1952 Winter Olympics | Torbjorn Falkanger | - |
1952 Summer Olympics | Heikki Savolainen | - |
1956 Winter Olympics | Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo | - |
1956 Summer Olympics | John Landy | - |
Henri Saint Cyr | - | |
1960 Winter Olympics | Carol Heiss | - |
1960 Summer Olympics | Adolfo Consolini | - |
1964 Winter Olympics | Paul Aste | - |
1964 Summer Olympics | Takashio Ono | - |
1968 Winter Olympics | Leo Lacroix | - |
1968 Summer Olympics | Pablo Garrido | - |
1972 Winter Olympics | Keiichi Suzuki | Fumio Asaki |
1972 Summer Olympics | Heidi Schüller | Heinz Pollay |
1976 Winter Olympics | Werner Delle-Karth | Willy Köstinger |
1976 Summer Olympics | Pierre St.-Jean | Maurice Fauget |
1980 Winter Olympics | Eric Heiden | Terry McDermott |
1980 Summer Olympics | Nikolay Andrianov | Aleksandr Medved |
1984 Winter Olympics | Bojan Krizaj | Dragan Perovic |
1984 Summer Olympics | Edwin Moses | Sharon Weber |
1988 Winter Olympics | Pierre Harvey | Suzanna Morrow-Francis |
1988 Summer Olympics | Hur Jae | Lee Hak-Rae |
1992 Winter Olympics | Surya Bonaly | Pierre Bornat |
1992 Summer Olympics | Luis Doreste Blanco | Eugeni Asensio |
1994 Winter Olympics | Vegard Ulvang | Kari Karing |
1996 Summer Olympics | Teresa Edwards | Hobie Billingsly |
1998 Winter Olympics | Kenji Ogiwara | Junko Hiramatsu |
2000 Summer Olympics | Rechelle Hawkes | Peter Kerr |
2002 Winter Olympics | Jimmy Shea | Allen Church |