Citius, altius, fortius
Citius, altius, fortius ( Latin , German: faster, higher, stronger ) is today's motto of the Olympic Games . Fortius, however, also means “braver, braver”.
It was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin after an idea of the French Dominican father Henri Didon , who first used this formulation at a school sports festival in Arcueil , at which Coubertin was present as the competition director. In 1894 Coubertin suggested these three words as a motto , apparently at the closing session of the founding congress of the IOC . The bulletin stated:
Mr. Bréal ended [his dinner speech] by eloquently interpreting the famous sporting motto formulated by Father Didon and accepted by the Congress; citius, fortius, altius: faster, stronger, further.
This motto was officially quoted for the first time during the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
IOC statutes
This motto appears officially for the first time in the IOC statutes of 1949. The article says:
The Olympic flag on a white background without a border has five intertwined rings in the middle: blue, yellow, black, green, red. The blue ring is on the top left and closest to the flagpole. The model used at the Games of Antwerp (1920) is the official one. These rings and the motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” constitute the Olympic emblem. This emblem is the exclusive property of the IOC. Its use for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.
"Being there is everything"
When people talk about the Olympic motto or the Olympic idea today, they often mean “everything is there”. Interestingly, this statement is in clear contrast to the classic motto. This put the competition and the will to win in the foreground, while being there is all the Olympic Games as a festival of sport and thus the event itself in the foreground.
This statement was never made, but Pierre de Coubertin said on the occasion of the dispute between British and American sprinters about victory in the 1908 400-meter run :
The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, for the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.
The important thing about the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; just as it is essential in life not to defeat but to do your best.
He quoted Bishop Ethelbert Talbot , who had said this sentence first.
Remarks
- ↑ In German usage, however, the motto was introduced as "Faster, higher, further".
- ↑ a b sport.uni-mainz.de: The Olympic motto "citius, altius, fortius" and its author Henri Didon (PDF file, 650 KB)
- ↑ “Being there is everything!” By Jürgen Schmieder (May 17, 2010), accessed on www.sueddeutsche.de on January 16, 2014
- ↑ Ethelbert Talbot: His Life and Place in Olympic History (PDF; 38 kB) on the la84foundation , accessed on November 9, 2012