Olympic Truce

Fresco of the Olympic Truce Wall - PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games
Latest news
Prev
Next
  • IOC President Thomas Bach and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres Beijing 2022

    UN Secretary-General underscores UN commitment to IOC and its mission

  • IOC President Thomas Bach Beijing 2022

    Beijing 2022 athletes invited to sign Olympic Truce Mural

  • UN Secretary-General António Guterres Beijing 2022

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for the Olympic Truce to be observed

  • Flags in Beijing IOC News

    IOC welcomes solemn appeal by United Nations to observe Olympic Truce during Beijing 2022

  • IOC President Thomas Bach Beijing 2022

    UN General Assembly adopts Olympic Truce for Beijing 2022, highlighting the contribution of sport to the promotion of peace and solidarity

  • IOC President Thomas Bach during a visit to the Olympic Village where he signed the Truce Mural Tokyo 2020

    Athletes invited to show commitment to building a peaceful world through sport at Tokyo 2020 by signing the Olympic Truce Mural

  • IOC President Bach lays a wreath at the Cenotaph in Hiroshima Tokyo 2020

    IOC President pays respect to Hiroshima as Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 comes into effect

  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Tokyo 2020

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls for the Olympic Truce to be observed

  • Tokyo 2020

    Solemn appeal by United Nations to observe Olympic Truce during Tokyo 2020

  • Olympic Flag IOC News

    UN General Assembly confirms new dates for the observation period of the Olympic Truce

  • President Thomas Bach IOC News

    IOC President stresses importance of unity and solidarity as UN General Assembly adopts Olympic Truce for Tokyo 2020 by consensus

  • The Olympic Village in PyeongChang unveils the Olympic Truce Mural, created by South Korean artist Jaeseok Lee PyeongChang 2018

    The Olympic Village in PyeongChang unveils the Olympic Truce Mural, created by South Korean artist Jaeseok Lee

  • IOC News

    The history of the Olympic Truce

  • IOC News

    The Olympic Truce, an idea reborn with every Olympic Games

  • IOC News

    IOC President highlights athletes' exemplary role as the UN General Assembly adopts Olympic Truce for PyeongChang 2018 by consensus

  • Truce mural RIO 2016

    A Call for Peace from the Home of Olympic Athletes

  • Refugee Olympic Team

    UN General Assembly approves Olympic Truce for Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016

  • Development through sport

    Olympic Village welcomes 2012 Truce Wall

What is "Olympic Truce"?

The tradition of the “Olympic Truce”, or “Ekecheiria”, was established in Ancient Greece in the ninth century BC through the signing of a treaty between three kings – Iphitos of Elis, Cleosthenes of Pisa and Lycurgus of Sparta – to allow safe participation in the ancient Olympic Games for all athletes and spectators from these Greek city-states, which were otherwise almost constantly engaged in conflict with each other.

Taking into account the new political reality in which sport and the Olympic Games exist, the IOC decided to revive the concept of the Olympic Truce for the Olympic Games, with a view to protecting, as far as possible, the interests of the athletes and sport in general, and to harness the power of sport to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation more broadly.

Since 1993, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly has repeatedly expressed its support for the Olympic Truce ideal and for the IOC’s mission by adopting, every two years – one year before each edition of the Olympic Games – a resolution entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal".

United Nations resolutions
United Nations General Assembly adopts, every two years – one year before each edition of the Olympic Games – a resolution.
Learn more
Reference documents
Visit the United Nations website to consult all solemn appeals of the President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General’s messages and Olympic Truce resolutions.
Learn more
back to top