The Olympic Motto

The motto of the Olympic Games is "Citius - Altius - Fortius", Latin for "Faster - Higher - Stronger." It expresses the aspirations of the Olympic Movement - the constant urge to do better, to reach higher and to grow stronger, in sport and in life.

Origin

The motto was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin on the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894. Coubertin borrowed it from his friend Henri Didon, a Dominican priest, educator and keen athletics enthusiast, who had coined the phrase a few years earlier for the pupils of a Paris college to inspire them at a school sports meet. Coubertin, recognising how perfectly it captured the spirit he wanted for the revived Games, adopted it as the Olympic motto. It was first announced officially in 1924 at the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

What each word means

• Citius ("Faster") - the pursuit of speed and quickness, physically and in the pace of improvement.
• Altius ("Higher") - the pursuit of height and elevation, both literally, as in jumping and vaulting events, and as a metaphor for raising one's aspirations.
• Fortius ("Stronger") - the pursuit of strength and power, of both body and character.

Read together, the three words describe not a single result but a direction of constant striving - the motto does not say an athlete must be the fastest, highest or strongest, only that they should always aim to become more so than before. …