IOC Executive Board supports Olympic motto proposal

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) today met virtually and discussed, among other topics, a proposal made by IOC President Thomas Bach to add the word “together” after a hyphen to the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger”.

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IOC Executive Board supports Olympic motto proposal

The idea to start this discussion was proposed to the 137th IOC Session last month after President Bach’s re-election. The suggestion for the motto in different languages would be:

  • Latin: “citius, altius, fortius – communis“
  • English: “faster, higher, stronger – together”
  • French: “plus vite, plus haut, plus fort – ensemble“
  • German: “schneller, höher, stärker – gemeinsam“.

The proposal has already received a great deal of support, including from the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee.

The EB endorsed the idea, and the IOC Members will now be asked for their comments. Depending on the outcome of this consultation, a proposal for a change of the Olympic Charter may be put forward to the IOC Session in Tokyo in three months from now.

Changes of nationality

During its meeting today, the IOC EB accepted two applications for a change of nationality:

• Mr Youssif Hemida - Wrestling - from the USA to Egypt
• Mr Khetik Tsabolov (Hetik Cabalov, as per the new Serbian passport) - Wrestling - from Russia to Serbia.

The EB granted the requested exemption to the three-year waiting period following approval by the International Federation and the respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and thus confirmed the eligibility of the athletes to represent the country of the applicant NOCs at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, subject to qualification.

International Weightlifting Federation

The EB was updated today on the latest actions taken by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Executive Board with regard to the preparations for the upcoming IWF Constitutional Congress and the ongoing consultation process around the draft Constitution finalised by the Reform and Governance Commission in February 2021. The IOC EB recognises the importance of a thorough engagement led by the IWF with its member federations and the weightlifting community at large, in order to ensure the approval of a constitution that meets the highest standards of good governance. This process, along with the final findings of the ongoing anti-doping investigations led by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Testing Agency (ITA), will continue to be closely monitored by the IOC EB.