Olympic Anthem
Encyclopedia
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 Demetrius Vikelas
, a Greek Pro-European
and the first President of the International Olympic Committee
.
. 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. This happened up to the edition at the 1960 Summer Olympics
in Rome.
The Anthem by Samaras and Palamas was declared the official Olympic Anthem by the International Olympic Committee
in 1958 at the 55th Session of the IOC in Tokyo. Since 1960, it has been used at the Opening Ceremonies of each Olympic Games.
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's 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 in. The only Olympics the English sung version was translated to other languages was in Vancouver
. Dave Pierce
, the music director during those games, had his associate, Donovan Seidle, arrange the anthem, translating some of the stanzas to French.
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
by opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer Spyridon Samaras
Spyridon Samaras
Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras was a Greek composer particularly admired for his operas who was part of the generation of composers that heralded the works of Giacomo Puccini...
, with lyrics by Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
poet Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School along with Georgios Drosinis, Nikos Kampas, Ioanis Polemis.-Biography:Born in Patras, he...
. Both poet and composer were the choice of Demetrius Vikelas
Demetrius Vikelas
Demetrios Vikelas, or Bikelas was a Greek businessman and writer; he was the first president of the International Olympic Committee , from 1894 to 1896....
, a Greek Pro-European
Pro-European
Pro-European is a subjective term applied to a person who supports the idea of European unification and generally supports further 'deepening' of European integration, specifically in the context of political argument over the current and future status of the EU and its policies.-The Pro-European...
and the first President of the International Olympic Committee
Presidents of the International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is a corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees...
.
History
The anthem was performed for the first time for the ceremony of opening of the first edition at the 1896 Athens Olympic Games1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
. 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. This happened up to the edition at the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
in Rome.
The Anthem by Samaras and Palamas was declared the official Olympic Anthem by the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
in 1958 at the 55th Session of the IOC in Tokyo. Since 1960, it has been used at the Opening Ceremonies of each Olympic Games.
Lyrics
| Original Greek | Transliterated into Latin alphabet |
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| English translation (literal) | English translation (free) |
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| English sung version | |
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| 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 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984... ) was, "Bestow on us the wondrous prize of honor, truth and love." |
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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's 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 in. The only Olympics the English sung version was translated to other languages was in Vancouver
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
. Dave Pierce
Dave Pierce
Dave Pierce is a Canadian Emmy-winning songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, orchestrator...
, the music director during those games, had his associate, Donovan Seidle, arrange the anthem, translating some of the stanzas to French.
Languages in which anthem was performed
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 requires that the anthem be performed in either English or Greek.| Olympics | City | Language Performed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 Winter 1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as... |
Squaw Valley Squaw Valley Squaw Valley can refer to the following places in the United States:*Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California, a census-designated place located in Fresno County, California*Squaw Valley, Placer County, California, a community in Placer County, California... |
English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
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| 1960 Summer 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy... |
Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... |
Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
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| 1964 Winter 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964... |
Innsbruck Innsbruck - Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus... |
German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
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| 1964 Summer 1964 Summer Olympics The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's... |
Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... |
Sung in Japanese at the Closing Ceremony. |
| 1968 Winter 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated... |
Grenoble Grenoble Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère... |
French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
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| 1968 Summer 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country... |
Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
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| 1972 Winter 1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan... |
Sapporo | Japanese | |
| 1972 Summer 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972.... |
Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
Instrumental | An instrumental arrangement was used during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. |
| 1976 Winter 1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria... |
Innsbruck | German | |
| 1976 Summer 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and... |
Montreal Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... |
French | |
| 1980 Winter 1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932... |
Lake Placid Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638.... |
English | |
| 1980 Summer 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament... |
Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... |
Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... & Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
Anthem was performed in Russian at opening ceremony, but in Greek in closing ceremony. |
| 1984 Winter 1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden... |
Sarajevo Sarajevo Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.... |
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian language Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro... |
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| 1984 Summer 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984... |
Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... |
English | |
| 1988 Winter 1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy... |
Calgary Calgary Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies... |
Greek | Decision was made to have it performed in Greek. |
| 1988 Summer 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics... |
Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... |
Korean Korean language Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing... |
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| 1992 Winter 1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics... |
Albertville Albertville Albertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:... |
French | |
| 1992 Summer 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same... |
Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of... |
Spanish, Catalan Catalan language Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island... , and French |
At the opening ceremony, Alfredo Kraus Alfredo Kraus Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles... sang the first two stanzas in Catalan and the rest of the hymn in Spanish and French. At the closing ceremony, Plácido Domingo Plácido Domingo Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range... performed it entirely in Spanish. |
| 1994 Winter 1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat... |
Lillehammer Lillehammer is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was... |
Norwegian Norwegian language Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language... |
Performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies by Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø , also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano.Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Sissel's musical style runs the gamut from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and operatic arias... |
| 1996 Summer 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.... |
Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in... |
English | |
| 1998 Winter 1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice... |
Nagano Nagano, Nagano , the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū.As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146... |
Japanese | Performed by Nagano Festival Orchestra and sung by Nagano City Chidren's Chorus Group in Japanese. |
| 2000 Summer 2000 Summer Olympics The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia... |
Sydney | English & Greek | This was the only Olympics in which the anthem was performed in both of the languages the IOC requires the anthem to be performed in. At the opening ceremony 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics was described by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch as the most beautiful ceremony the world has ever seen. Held on the evening of Friday 15 September 2000, the Opening Ceremony represented everything Australian, from sea creatures and flora/fauna... , the hymn was recorded and performed in Greek by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Archbishop of Australia... with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney... in recognition of the substantial Greek population of Australia. At the closing ceremony, it was performed in English. |
| 2002 Winter 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout... |
Salt Lake City | English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
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| 2004 Summer 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team... |
Athens | Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
The rendition that was performed was arranged by John Psathas John Psathas John Psathas is a New Zealand composer, son of Greek immigrant parents.He has works in the repertoire of such high profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker and the New Juilliard Ensemble, and is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers... . |
| 2006 Winter 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter... |
Torino Turin Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat... |
Instrumental/Abbreviated version | At these Olympics, an abbreviated version was performed at both the opening 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics was held on February 10, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.... and closing ceremonies 2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony The Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on February 26, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.-Program:... . |
| 2008 Summer 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events... |
Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... |
Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
Decision was made to have it performed in Greek at both the opening 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time on August 8, 2008, as 8 is considered to be a lucky number. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture... and closing ceremon 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time on August 24, 2008... ies. |
| 2010 Winter 2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University... |
Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... |
English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... & French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
This was the only Olympics that the anthem was performed in both of the official languages of the Olympics. This was done to reflect Canada's languages. Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards... at the opening ceremony 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on February 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first Olympic opening ceremony to be held indoors... and Ben Heppner Ben Heppner Ben Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek... at the closing ceremony 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony The Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on February 28, 2010, beginning at 5:30 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada... sang the first two, the fourth, and sixth stanzas in English and the remainder in French. |
| 2010 Summer Youth 2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in the city-state of Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010, in the XXIX Olympiad. They were the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, a major... |
Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... |
Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
Sung in Greek with French and English lyrics shown on screen as the Anthem was performed. |