International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is the guardian of the Olympic Games and the leader of the Olympic Movement.

A truly global organisation, it acts as a catalyst for collaboration between all Olympic stakeholders, including the athletes, the National Olympic Committees, the International Federations, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, the Worldwide Olympic Partners and Olympic broadcast partners. It also collaborates with public and private authorities including the United Nations and other international organisations.

The vision of the International Olympic Committee is to Build a Better World through Sport.

IOC Principles
The IOC is at the very heart of world sport, supporting every Olympic Movement stakeholder, promoting Olympism worldwide, and overseeing the regular celebration of the Olympic Games.

The IOC is also committed to promoting sport in society, strengthening the integrity of sport and supporting clean athletes and other sports organisations.

IOC Mission
The mission of the IOC is to promote Olympism throughout the world and to lead the Olympic Movement. The IOC’s role is:

to encourage and support the promotion of ethics and good governance in sport as well as education of youth through sport and to dedicate its efforts to ensuring that, in sport, the spirit of fair play prevails and violence is banned;
to encourage and support the organisation, development and coordination of sport and sports competitions;
to ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games;
to cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavour to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace;
to take action to strengthen the unity of the Olympic Movement, to protect its independence, to maintain and promote its political neutrality and to preserve the autonomy of sport;
to act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement;
to encourage and support elected representatives of athletes within the Olympic Movement, with the IOC Athletes’ Commission acting as their supreme representative on all Olympic Games and related matters; 17 Olympic Charter In force as from 17 July 2020
to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women;
to protect clean athletes and the integrity of sport, by leading the fight against doping, and by taking action against all forms of manipulation of competitions and related corruption;
to encourage and support measures relating to the medical care and health of athletes;
to oppose any political or commercial abuse of sport and athletes;
to encourage and support the efforts of sports organisations and public authorities to provide for the social and professional future of athletes;
to encourage and support the development of sport for all;
to encourage and support a responsible concern for environmental issues, to promote sustainable development in sport and to require that the Olympic Games are held accordingly;
to promote a positive legacy from the Olympic Games to the host cities, regions and countries;
to encourage and support initiatives blending sport with culture and education;
to encourage and support the activities of the International Olympic Academy (“IOA”) and other institutions which dedicate themselves to Olympic education;
to promote safe sport and the protection of athletes from all forms of harassment and abuse.

Olympic values
The three values of Olympism are excellence, friendship and respect. They constitute the foundation on which the Olympic Movement builds its activities to promote sport, culture and education with a view to building a better world.

The original values of Olympism as expressed in the Olympic Charter were to “encourage effort”, “preserve human dignity” and “develop harmony”.

Over time, they have evolved and are now expressed in more contemporary terms as:

Striving for excellence and encouraging people to be the best they can be.
Celebrating friendship, which is quite unique to the Olympic Games – an event that brings people together every few years.
Demonstrating respect in many different manners: respect towards yourself, the rules, your opponents, the environment, the public, etc.

This is the idea of setting your rivalries aside. There is more that unites us than divides us.

Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.