The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditionally, the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

bestows the Olympic Order upon the chief national organiser(s) at the closing ceremony of each respective

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

History

The Olympic Order was established in May 1975 by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

as a successor to the

Olympic Diploma of Merit The Olympic Diploma of Merit was an award given by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to recognise outstanding services to sports or a notable contribution to the Olympic Games. By 1974, the last time the awards were granted, just 58 peop ...

. The Olympic Order originally had three grades (

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

). In 1984, at the 87th IOC Session in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

(

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

), it was decided that in future there would be no distinction between the silver and bronze order. The gold order would continue to be awarded to heads of state and for exceptional circumstances.

Design

The insignia of the Olympic Order is in the form of a ''collar'' (or

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

), in Gold, Silver or Bronze according to grade; the front of the chain depicts the five rings of the

Olympic Movement The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, flanked on either side by ''kotinos'' emblem (

olive wreath The olive wreath, also known as ''kotinos'' ( el, κότινος), was the prize for the winner at the ancient Olympic Games. It was a branch of the wild olive tree ''Kallistefanos Elea'' (also referred to as ''Elaia Kallistephanos'') that grew ...

). A lapel badge, in the form of miniature five rings and ''kotinos'' in Gold, Silver and Bronze according to grade, is presented to recipients to wear as appropriate.

Recipients

The following is a list of recipients of the Olympic Order. Some no longer have their orders, as they have been withdrawn.

Gold Olympic Order

Silver Olympic Order

Bronze Olympic Order

Recipients with missing data

Following is the list of recipients of Olympic Order with some missing data like year of award, country and colour of award.

Trivia

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...

became one of the youngest recipients of the Olympic Order in 1984 when she was only 23 years old at the time of her award. She is also one of the two only athletes to be awarded the Olympic Order twice (1984, 2004), the other one being the Brazilian

Carlos Arthur Nuzman Carlos Arthur Nuzman (born 17 March 1942) is a Brazilian lawyer and former volleyball player, having competed professionally from 1957 to 1972 and represented the Brazil men's national volleyball team, national team between 1962 and 1968. Nuzman ...

References

External links

List of recipients of the Olympic Order
at ''Olympedia.org'' {{Portal bar, Olympics Awards established in 1975 International Olympic Committee International orders, decorations, and medals

Order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Sports trophies and awards