Faster, Higher, Stronger-Together in Olympics motto makeover
Should he retain the 100m freestyle title, Kyle Chalmers will have to add some ink to his right forearm. The Australian tattooed “Citius, Altius, Fortius” after winning gold in Rio. If he wins in Tokyo, he would need to add “Communiter” (or Communis) because the Olympic motto has been given an upgrade.
On Tuesday, the motto that would translate as “Faster, Higher, Stronger” had “Together” hyphenated to it. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) went with Communiter as Latin for together, but several international news agencies used the word Communis.
“We have to adapt the motto to our times. The collaborative effort is bringing faster and better results…,” said Thomas Bach, president of IOC, in Tokyo. “This is a milestone in our development and sends a clear signal. We want to put special focus on solidarity.”
Citius, Altius, Fortius has been the motto of the modern Olympics since the IOC was created in 1894. It was coined by Henri Didon, a friend of Pierre de Coubertin, the IOC’s French founder. “These three words represent a programme of moral beauty. The aesthetics of sport are intangible,” Coubertin said at the time.
Didon was a French preacher and educator who promoted youth sports with de Coubertin. He first coined the instantly recognisable motto in 1891, when he and Coubertin organised a youth sporting event in France.
Talking togetherness could seem at odds at a Games where isolation is part of the protocol, where fans are barred — as are hugs, high-fives and handshakes — athletes discouraged from hitting bars that open after 8pm, and the whole thing is being held in a city that is in a state of emergency.
