The Athletes' Oath

The Olympic Oath is a solemn promise taken during the Opening Ceremony. It is taken by one athlete and one judge from the home (host) nation, on behalf of all the competitors and all the judges. Since 1984 the oath has been taken while holding a corner of the Olympic flag (before that, the national flag of the host nation was used) - a deliberate shift from a national symbol to an international one, underlining that the promise is made to the whole Olympic community, not to any one country.

What the oath promises, and how it has changed

The oath was first taken by an athlete in 1920, at a time when amateurism was the defining issue in Olympic sport, so it was originally mainly a declaration that all the athletes competing were amateurs, not professionals. As being an amateur stopped being a general requirement for competing, the wording was revised over the years, and in 2000 a specific reference to doping was added, reflecting how the biggest threat to fair competition had shifted from professionalism to performance-enhancing drugs. The current oath reads:

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams."

Who takes it, and when

The oath was first taken in 1920 at Antwerp, Belgium, by the Belgian fencer Victor Boin, on behalf of all the athletes who participated. It has since been extended beyond athletes: the officials' (judges') oath was introduced in 1972, and a coach's oath was added in 2010, so today three separate representatives - an athlete, a judge and a coach - each take their own version of the pledge at the Opening Ceremony. The oath is usually spoken in the language of the host country, with the speaker chosen by the host NOC, often from among the most respected or decorated sportspersons of that nation. …