(SEPT 22) The theme of this
year’s International Day of Peace: “End Racism. Build Peace.”
carries with it particular resonance for the IOC and the Olympic
Movement.
The fundamental idea behind the Olympic Games is to unite the
entire world in peaceful competition. Peace is at the very heart
of this mission.
At the Olympic Games, the athletes embody this peace mission
when they set aside the differences that divide the world. They
compete fiercely against each other for the highest prize, while
living peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic
Village. This makes the Olympic Games a powerful symbol of
peace.
But peace is about much more than setting aside differences. It
is about creating a better world where everyone is able to
flourish, in which people are treated equally, and where racism
and all forms of discrimination have no place.
Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games to make a
contribution to peace through sport. He said: “We shall not have
peace until the prejudices that now separate the different races
are outlived.”
Non-discrimination is therefore in the DNA of the IOC and the
Olympic Games. At the Games, everyone is equal, irrespective of
race, social background, gender, sexual orientation or political
belief. The principle of non-discrimination is enshrined in the
Olympic Charter. The athletes bring this principle to life
during the Olympic Games, inspiring billions of people around
the world.
When it comes to building lasting peace, non-discrimination
alone is not enough. It is not enough just to respect each other
– we need to go a step further and support one another. We have
to stand together in solidarity. There is no peace without
solidarity.
Solidarity is at the heart of the Olympic Games. This is why the
IOC redistributes 90 per cent of all its revenue to support the
athletes and the development of sport around the world.
Driven by our commitment to solidarity, the IOC created the
first ever Refugee Olympic Team for the Olympic Games Rio 2016
and another for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. For the first time
in Olympic history, refugee athletes competed side by side with
the teams from all other National Olympic Committees, sending a
message of hope and inclusion to all refugees in the world. As
they have no national team to belong to, no flag to march
behind, no anthem to be played and no home to call their own, we
welcomed the refugee athletes to the Olympic Games with the
Olympic flag and the Olympic anthem. We gave them a home in the
Olympic Village. The Olympic message of this emotional moment
was: you are our fellow human beings and you are an enrichment
to our Olympic community.
Today, we are standing together in solidarity with the Ukrainian
Olympic community. What applies to Ukraine also applies to other
members of our Olympic community. We are a global organisation.
This is why we are supporting the Olympic communities in
Afghanistan, Yemen and so many other places affected by wars and
conflicts around the world.
These solidarity efforts are also at the heart of our commitment
to build better understanding among people. In this way, the IOC
has been building bridges through sport and opening the door to
better understanding, peace and reconciliation. This has been
true in recent years in many conflict situations, like North and
South Korea, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Kosovo, Israel,
Palestine, Iran and many others.
At a time when humanity is facing so many existential crises
simultaneously, our mission of peace and solidarity is more
important than ever.
The Olympic Games cannot prevent wars and conflicts. They cannot
address all the political and social challenges in our world.
But they can set an example for a world where everyone respects
the same rules and one another.
There is a new world order in the making. We can already see
today that this new world order will be more divisive than the
one we are striving for.
This unfortunate trend is diametrically opposed to our Olympic
mission to unite the world in peaceful competition. We know that
in these divisive and confrontational times, we are not alone in
looking for a common bond of humanity. Millions of people around
the world are longing for peace. Together with all these people
of goodwill, we want to make our modest contribution to peace by
unifying the entire world in peaceful competition.
To commit ourselves even further to this unifying peace mission,
we recently amended our Olympic motto to: Faster, Higher,
Stronger – Together.
The word “together” highlights the fact that to overcome
challenges – whether as individuals, as a community or as
humankind – we need to stand together.
On this International Day of Peace, and in this Olympic spirit
of solidarity and peace, I strongly reiterate the appeal to all
political leaders around the world that I made at the Olympic
Winter Games Beijing 2022, in front of a global audience of
hundreds of millions: Give peace a chance.
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