On the International Day of Peace, IOC President Thomas Bach wrote that the Olympic Movement’s mission to unite the world in peaceful competition is more important than ever.
“There is a new world order in the making,” Bach wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday on Olympics.com. “We can already see today that this new world order will be more divisive than the one we are striving for.”
Bach noted support for the Olympic communities in Ukraine, as well as Afghanistan, Yemen “and so many other places affected by wars and conflicts around the world.”
“The Olympic Games cannot prevent wars and conflicts,” he wrote. “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.”
In closing, Bach shared the recently amended Olympic motto -- adding the word “Together” after “Faster, Higher, Stronger” -- and repeated the appeal he made to global political leaders during the Winter Olympics last February: Give peace a chance.
“Millions of people around the world are longing for peace,” Bach wrote. “Together with all these people of goodwill, we want to make our modest contribution to peace by unifying the entire world in peaceful competition.”
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