Every four years, the best athletes from countries around the world come together in the spirit of peace and friendship to compete in the Olympic Games.

With the lighting of the Olympic flame the games begin and the Olympic spirit kept alive. That flame has been brought many thousands of miles by relay runners all the way from Olympia, in Western Greece, where the ceremony began 2700 years ago. This simple ceremony, and the lighting of the torch, is the spark that renews the Olympic flame wherever the games are played.

The Games symbolized the early Greeks’ ideal of man’s unity, their vision of peace, and of human perfection.

The Olympic began as a religious ceremony. The first Games in recorded history took place in the year 776 BC. This was the time of the Western Zhou period in China. All the Greek city-states participated. States at war with each other would end hostilities for the duration of the Games.

The Olympic motto is universally accepted as “Swifter, Higher, Stronger”. One athlete from the games host country takes an oath at the opening ceremony on behalf of all the competing athletes: “In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.”

In ancient times, winners were crowed with wreaths of the sacred olive. Their names were proclaimed throughout the Greek city-states. Things have not changed much in this regard. Today, first place winners are awarded gold medals, second place winners, silver, and third place gets the bronze. And as in ancient times, Olympic stars become internationally famous. Let us hope that this living experience of peace and friendship between all the peoples of the world that began in Olympia, in ancient Greece, will continue for many centuries to come.