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International Olympic Committee
*Comité international olympique*

IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland
Formation	23 June 1894; 130 years ago (1894-06-23)
Founders	Pierre de Coubertin Demetrios Vikelas
Type	Sports federation (Association organised under the laws of the Swiss Confederation)
Headquarters	Olympic House, Lausanne, Switzerland
Membership	107 active members, 41 honorary members, 206 individual National Olympic Committees
Official language	French (reference language), English, and the host country's language when necessary
President	Thomas Bach
Vice Presidents	Ng Ser Miang John Coates Nicole Hoevertsz Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs
Director General	Christophe De Kepper
Anthem: Olympic Anthem Motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter (Latin: Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC; French: Comité international olympique, CIO) is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is the authority responsible for organising the modern (Summer, Winter, and Youth) Olympic Games.

The IOC is the governing body of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and of the worldwide Olympic Movement, the IOC's term for all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games. As of 2020, 206 NOCs officially were recognised by the IOC. Its president is Thomas Bach.

Mission

Its stated mission is to promote Olympism throughout the world and to lead the Olympic Movement:

To encourage and support the promotion of ethics and good governance in sport;
To support the education of youth through sport;
To ensure that the spirit of fair play prevails and violence is avoided;
To encourage and support the organization, development, and coordination of sport and sports competitions;
To ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games;
To cooperate with competent public or private organizations and authorities endeavouring to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace;
To take action to strengthen the unity, independence, political neutrality, and autonomy of the Olympic Movement;
To encourage and support elected representatives of athletes, working with the IOC Athletes' Commission as their official representative;
To encourage and support the promotion of women in sport in pursuit of equality between 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 operated 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.

IOC member oath

All IOC members must swear to the following:

"Honoured to be chosen as a member of the International Olympic Committee, I fully accept all the responsibilities that this office brings: I promise to serve the Olympic Movement to the best of my ability. I will respect the Olympic Charter and accept the decisions of the IOC. I will always act independently of commercial and political interests as well as of any racial or religious consideration. I will fully comply with the IOC Code of Ethics. I promise to fight against all forms of discrimination and dedicate myself in all circumstances to promote the interests of the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Movement."

History

Current IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The main entrance of the former headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne

The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president. As of February 2022, its membership consists of 105 active members and 45 honorary members. The IOC is the supreme authority of the worldwide modern Olympic Movement.

The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games (YOG), held in summer and winter every four years. The first Summer Olympics was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896; the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The first Summer YOG was in Singapore in 2010, and the first Winter YOG was in Innsbruck in 2012.

Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year. After that year, however, the IOC shifted the Winter Olympics to the even years between Summer Games to help space the planning of the two events from one another, and to improve the financial balance of the IOC, which receives a proportionally greater income in Olympic years.

Since 1995, the IOC has worked to address environmental health concerns resulting from hosting the games. In 1995, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch stated, "the International Olympic Committee is resolved to ensure that the environment becomes the third dimension of the organization of the Olympic Games, the first and second being sport and culture." Acting on this statement, in 1996 the IOC added the "environment" as a third pillar to its vision for the Olympic Games.

In 2000, the "Green Olympics" effort was developed by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games. The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics executed over 160 projects addressing the goals of improved air quality and water quality, sustainable energy, improved waste management, and environmental education. These projects included industrial plant relocation or closure, furnace replacement, introduction of new emission standards, and more strict traffic control.

In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status. The decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. In 1993, the General Assembly approved a Resolution to further solidify IOC–UN cooperation by reviving the Olympic Truce.

The IOC received approval in November 2015 to construct a new headquarters in Vidy, Lausanne. The cost of the project was estimated to stand at $156m. The IOC announced on 11 February 2019 that the "Olympic House" would be inaugurated on 23 June 2019 to coincide with its 125th anniversary. The Olympic Museum remains in Ouchy, Lausanne.

Since 2002, the IOC has been involved in several high-profile controversies including taking gifts, its DMCA take down request of the 2008 Tibetan protest videos, Russian doping scandals, and its support of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics despite China's human rights violations documented in the Xinjiang Papers.

Detailed frameworks for environmental sustainability were prepared for the 2018 Winter Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and Tokyo.

Organization

It is an association under the Swiss Civil Code (articles 60–79).

IOC Session

The IOC Session is the general meeting of the members of the IOC, held once a year in which each member has one vote. It is the IOC's supreme organ and its decisions are final.

Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members.

Among others, the powers of the Session are:

To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter.
To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President and the honorary members.
To elect the President, the vice-presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board.
To elect the host city of the Olympic Games.

Subsidiaries

Olympic Foundation (Lausanne, Switzerland)
IOC Television and Marketing Services S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland)
The Olympic Partner Programme (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Olympic Broadcasting Services S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Olympic Broadcasting Services S.L. (Madrid, Spain)
Olympic Channel Services S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Olympic Channel Services S.L. (Madrid, Spain)
Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage (Lausanne, Switzerland)
IOC Heritage Management
Olympic Studies Centre
Olympic Museum
International Programmes for Arts, Culture and Education
Olympic Solidarity (Lausanne, Switzerland)

IOC members

For more details, see List of members of the International Olympic Committee

The first IOC, at the 1896 Athens Games

For most of its existence the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members. Countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named they became IOC members in their respective countries rather than representatives of their respective countries to the IOC.

Cessation of membership

Membership ends under the following circumstances:

Resignation: any IOC member may end their membership at any time by delivering a written resignation to the President.
Non re-election: any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected.
Age limit: any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 70 or 80. Any member who joined in the 1900s ceases to be a member at age 80 and any member who joined in the 2000s ceases to be a member at age 70.
Failure to attend sessions or take active part in IOC work for two consecutive years.
Transfer of domicile or of main centre of interests to a country other than their country at the time of their election.
Members elected as active athletes cease to be a member upon ceasing to be a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission.
Presidents and individuals holding an executive or senior leadership position within NOCs, world or continental associations of NOCs, IFs or associations of IFs, or other organisations recognised by the IOC cease to be a member upon ceasing to exercise the function they were exercising at the time of their election.
Expulsion: an IOC member may be expelled by decision of the session if such member has betrayed their oath or if the Session considers that such member has neglected or knowingly jeopardised the interests of the IOC or acted in a way which is unworthy of the IOC.

Sports federations recognised by IOC

IOC recognises 82 international sports federations (IFs):

The 33 members of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).
The 7 members of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF).
The 42 members of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).

Honours

IOC awards gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top three competitors in each sporting event.

Other honours.

Pierre de Coubertin medal: athletes who demonstrate a special spirit of sportsmanship
Olympic Cup: institutions or associations with a record of merit and integrity in developing the Olympic Movement
Olympic Order: individuals for exceptionally distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement; superseded the Olympic Certificate
Olympic Laurel: individuals who promote education, culture, development, and peace through sport
Olympic town status: towns that have been particularly important for the Olympic Movement
Coaches’ Lifetime Achievement Awards

Olympic marketing

1985 German Democratic Republic stamp

During the first half of the 20th century the IOC ran on a small budget. As IOC president from 1952 to 1972, Avery Brundage rejected all attempts to link the Olympics with commercial interests. Brundage believed that corporate interests would unduly impact the IOC's decision-making. Brundage's resistance to this revenue stream left IOC organising committees to negotiate their own sponsorship contracts and use the Olympic symbols.

When Brundage retired the IOC had US$2 million in assets; eight years later coffers had swollen, to US$45 million. This was primarily due to a shift in ideology toward expansion of the Games through corporate sponsorship and the sale of television rights. When Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected IOC president in 1980 his desire was to make the IOC financially independent. Samaranch appointed Canadian IOC member Richard Pound to lead the initiative as Chairman of the "New Sources of Finance Commission".

In 1982 the IOC drafted International Sport and Leisure, a Swiss sports marketing company, to develop a global marketing programme for the Olympic Movement. ISL developed the programme, but was replaced by Meridian Management, a company partly owned by the IOC in the early 1990s. In 1989, a staff member at ISL Marketing, Michael Payne, moved to the IOC and became the organisation's first marketing director. ISL and then Meridian continued in the established role as the IOC's sales and marketing agents until 2002. In collaboration with ISL Marketing and Meridian Management, Payne made major contributions to the creation of a multibillion-dollar sponsorship marketing programme for the organisation which, along with improvements in TV marketing and improved financial management, helped to restore the IOC's financial viability.

Revenue

The Olympic Movement generates revenue through five major programmes.

Broadcast partnerships, managed by the IOC.
Commercial sponsorship, organised through the IOC's worldwide TOP programme.
Domestic sponsorship, managed by the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs).
Ticketing.
Licensing programmes within host countries.

The OCOGs have responsibility for domestic sponsorship, ticketing and licensing programmes, under the direction of the IOC. The Olympic Movement generated a total of more than US$4 billion (€2.5 billion) in revenue during the Olympic quadrennium from 2001 to 2004.

Revenue distribution

The IOC distributes some of its revenue to organisations throughout the Olympic Movement to support the staging of the Olympic Games and to promote worldwide sport development. The IOC retains approximately 10% of the Olympic marketing revenue for operational and administrative costs. For the 2013–2016 period, IOC had revenues of about US$5.0 billion, of which 73% were from broadcasting rights and 18% were from Olympic Partners. The Rio 2016 organising committee received US$1.5 billion and the Sochi 2014 organising committee received US$833 million. National Olympic committees and international federations received US$739 million each.

In July 2000, when the Los Angeles Times reported on how the IOC redistributes profits from sponsorships and broadcasting rights, historian Bob Barney stated that he had "yet to see matters of corruption in the IOC", but noted there were "matters of unaccountability". He later noted that when the spotlight is on the athletes, it has "the power to eclipse impressions of scandal or corruption", with respect to the Olympic bid process.

Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games

The IOC provides TOP programme contributions and broadcast revenue to the OCOGs to support the staging of the Olympic Games:

TOP programme revenue: the two OCOGs of each Olympic quadrennium generally share approximately 50% of TOP programme revenue and value-in-kind contributions, with approximately 30% provided to the summer OCOG and 20% provided to the winter OCOG.
Broadcast revenue: the IOC contributes 49% of the Olympic broadcast revenue for each Games to the OCOG. During the 2001–2004 Olympic quadrennium, the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee received US$443 million, €395 million in broadcast revenue from the IOC, and the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee received US$732 million, €690 million.
Domestic programme revenue: the OCOGs generate substantial revenue from the domestic marketing programmes that they manage within the host country, including domestic sponsorship, ticketing and licensing.

National Olympic Committees

For more details, see National Olympic Committee

NOCs receive financial support for training and developing their Olympic teams, Olympic athletes, and Olympic hopefuls. The IOC distributes TOP programme revenue to each NOC. The IOC also contributes Olympic broadcast revenue to Olympic Solidarity, an IOC organisation that provides financial support to NOCs with the greatest need. The continued success of the TOP programme and Olympic broadcast agreements has enabled the IOC to provide increased support for the NOCs with each Olympic quadrennium. The IOC provided approximately US$318.5 million to NOCs for the 2001–2004 quadrennium.

International Olympic Sports Federations

The IOC is the largest single revenue source for the majority of IOSFs, with contributions that assist them in developing their respective sports. The IOC provides financial support to the 28 IOSFs of Olympic summer sports and the seven IOSFs of Olympic winter sports. The continually increasing value of Olympic broadcasts has enabled the IOC to substantially increase financial support to IOSFs with each successive Games. The seven winter sports IFs shared US$85.8 million, €75 million in Salt Lake 2002 broadcast revenue.

Other organisations

The IOC contributes Olympic marketing revenue to the programmes of various recognised international sports organisations, including the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Environmental concerns

The IOC requires cities bidding to host the Olympics to provide a comprehensive strategy to protect the environment in preparation for hosting, and following the conclusion of the Games.

IOC approaches

The IOC has four major approaches to addressing environmental health concerns.

IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission focuses on how the IOC can improve the strategies and policies associated with environmental health throughout the process of hosting the Olympic Games.
Every candidate city must provide information on environmental health issues such as air quality and environmental impact assessments.
Every host city is given the option to declare "pledges" to address specific or general environmental health concerns.
Every host city must collaborate with the United Nations to work towards addressing environmental health objectives.

Venue construction

Effects on air

Host cities have concerns about traffic congestion and air pollution, both of which can compromise air quality during and after venue construction. Various air quality improvement measures are undertaken before and after each event. Traffic control is the primary method to reduce concentrations of air pollutants, including barring heavy vehicles.

Beijing Olympics

Research at the Beijing Olympic Games identified particulate matter – measured in terms of PM10 (the amount of aerodynamic diameter of particle ≤ 10 μm in a given amount of air) – as a top priority. Particulate matter, along with other airborne pollutants, cause both serious health problems, such as asthma, and damage urban ecosystems. Black carbon is released into the air from incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fluids, contributing to climate change and injuring human health. Secondary pollutants such as CO, NOx, SO2, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) are also released during construction.

For the Beijing Olympics, vehicles not meeting the Euro 1 emission standards were banned, and the odd-even rule was implemented in the Beijing administrative area. Air quality improvement measures implemented by the Beijing government included replacing coal with natural gas, suspending construction and/or imposing strict dust control on construction sites, closing or relocating the polluting industrial plants, building long subway lines, using cleaner fluid in power plants, and reducing the activity by some of the polluting factories. There, levels of primary and secondary pollutants were reduced, and good air quality was recorded during the Beijing Olympics on most days. Beijing also sprayed silver iodide in the atmosphere to induce rain to remove existing pollutants from the air.

Effects on soil

Soil contamination can occur during construction. The Sydney Olympic Games of 2000 resulted in improving a highly contaminated area known as Homebush Bay. A pre-Games study reported soil metal concentrations high enough to potentially contaminate groundwater. A remediation strategy was developed. Contaminated soil was consolidated into four containment areas within the site, which left the remaining areas available for recreational use. The site contained waste materials that then no longer posed a threat to surrounding aquifers. In the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy, soil impacts were observed. Before the Games, researchers studied four areas that the Games would likely affect: a floodplain, a highway, the motorway connecting the city to Lyon, France, and a landfill. They analysed the chemicals in these areas before and after the Games. Their findings revealed an increase in the number of metals in the topsoil post-Games, and indicated that soil was capable of buffering the effects of many but not all heavy metals. Mercury, lead, and arsenic may have been transferred into the food chain.

One promise made to Londoners for the 2012 Olympic Games was that the Olympic Park would be a "blueprint for sustainable living." However, garden allotments were temporarily relocated due to the building of the Olympic stadium. The allotments were eventually returned, however, the soil quality was damaged. Further, allotment residents were exposed to radioactive waste for five months prior to moving, during the excavation of the site for the Games. Other local residents, construction workers, and onsite archaeologists faced similar exposures and risks.

Effects on water

The Olympic Games can affect water quality in several ways, including runoff and the transfer of polluting substances from the air to water sources through rainfall. Harmful particulates come from natural substances (such as plant matter crushed by higher volumes of pedestrian and vehicle traffic) and man-made substances (such as exhaust from vehicles or industry). Contaminants from these two categories elevate amounts of toxins in street dust. Street dust reaches water sources through runoff, facilitating the transfer of toxins to environments and communities that rely on these water sources.

In 2013, researchers in Beijing found a significant relationship between the amount of PM2.5 concentrations in the air and in rainfall. Studies showed that rainfall had transferred a large portion of these pollutants from the air to water sources. Notably, this cleared the air of such particulates, substantially improving air quality at the venues.

Current IOC Executive Board

Designation	Name	Country
President	Thomas Bach	Germany
Vice Presidents	Ng Ser Miang	Singapore
	John Coates	Australia
	Nicole Hoevertsz	Aruba
	Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs	Spain
Executive Members	Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski	Philippines
	Gerardo Werthein	Argentina
	Robin E. Mitchell	Fiji
	Denis Oswald	Switzerland
	Kristin Kloster Aasen	Norway
	Emma Terho	Finland
	Nenad Lalović	Serbia
	Ivo Ferriani	Italy
	Prince Feisal Al Hussein	Jordan
	Kirsty Coventry	Zimbabwe
Director General	Christophe De Kepper	Belgium

IOC Commissions

Commission	Chairperson	Country
IOC Athletes' Commission	Emma Terho	Finland
IOC Athletes' Entourage Commission	Sergey Bubka	Ukraine
IOC Audit Committee	Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant	Belgium
IOC Communication Commission	Anant Singh	South Africa
IOC Future Host Winter Commission 2030 Winter Olympics	Octavian Morariu	Romania
IOC Future Host Summer Commission 2030 Summer Youth Olympics (YOG)	Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic	Croatia
IOC Coordination Commission Brisbane 2032	Kirsty Coventry	Zimbabwe
IOC Coordination Commission Los Angeles 2028	Nicole Hoevertsz	Aruba
IOC Coordination Commission Dakar 2026 (YOG)	Kirsty Coventry	Zimbabwe
IOC Coordination Commission Milano-Cortina 2026	Kristin Kloster Aasen	Norway
IOC Coordination Commission Paris 2024	Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant	Belgium
IOC Coordination Commission Gangwon 2024 (YOG)	Zhang Hong	China
IOC Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission	Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul	Thailand
IOC Digital and Technology Commission	Gerardo Werthein	Argentina
IOC Ethics Commission	Ban Ki-moon	South Korea
IOC Finance Commission	Ng Ser Miang	Singapore
IOC Members Election Commission	Anne, Princess Royal	United Kingdom
IOC Legal Affairs Commission	John Coates	Australia
IOC Marketing Commission	Jiri Kejval	Czech Republic
IOC Medical and Scientific Commission	Uğur Erdener	Turkey
IOC Olympic Channel Commission	Richard Carrión	Puerto Rico
IOC Olympic Education Commission	Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski	Philippines
IOC Olympic Programme Commission	Karl Stoss	Austria
IOC Olympic Solidarity Commission	Robin E. Mitchell	Fiji
IOC Olympism 365 Commission	Auvita Rapilla	Papua New Guinea
IOC Commission for Public Affairs and Social Development Through Sport	Luis Alberto Moreno	Colombia
IOC Sport and Active Society Commission	Sari Essayah	Finland
IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission	Albert II, Prince of Monaco	Monaco
IOC Women in Sport Commission	Lydia Nsekera	Burundi
IOC Communications Director	Mark Adams	United Kingdom