Agencies
Paris
Olympic athletes made a call for peace on Monday at the inauguration of the Olympic Truce mural for the Paris Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC refugee team wore scarfs and hold flags with the slogan "Give peace a chance” at the event in the Olympic village.
"You are the peace ambassadors of our time,” IOC president Thomas Bach told the athletes.
"You, the Olympic athletes, will show us how our world would be, if we all lived in the same Olympic spirit of peaceful co-existence.
"You will compete fiercely against each other. At the same time, you are living peacefully together under one roof, here in the Olympic Village. You are respecting the same rules and most importantly you are respecting each other. In this way, you are sending a resounding message of peace from Paris to the world.
"May this call inspire all the political leaders of the world to take action for peace.”
The Olympic Truce mural has bee present in athletes’ villages since the 2006 Winter Games in Turin and has been signed by thousands of
athletes.
The Olympic Truce was originally in place for the Games in ancient Greece to allow safe passage for athletes and spectators.
It was re-established in the 1990s, with a first United Nations endorsed Olympic Truce in 1993 under the name "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal.”
The truce for the Paris Games and Paralympics was adopted last November.
"When our founder, Pierre de Coubertin, revived the Olympic Games 130 years ago – right here in Paris – he saw it as a way to promote peace among all nations and people of the world. He was a true ambassador for peace. Today, you – the Olympic athletes – you are the peace ambassadors of our time,” Bach said.
At the same time, the Paris 2024 Olympic Truce Mural was inaugurated in the presence of the IOC President; the Paris 2024 Organising Committee President, Tony Estanguet; Masomah Ali Zada, Chef de Mission for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024; Emma Terho, Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission (AC); and the entire Executive Board of the IOC. Together with the athletes representing all five continents, they signed the Olympic Truce Mural.
"In this Village, there is a symbol within the symbol: it’s the Olympic Truce Mural,” said President Tony Estanguet.
"It is the place of gathering and encounters, the place of sharing and peace. It reminds us of the message as humble as it is crucial: the Games cannot change everything, but they can carry something very strong, with the strength of example. An example for peace, solidarity, progress. An example we value and need more than ever in those troubled times”.
"We are representing the stories of over 120 million forcibly displaced people across the world. This team knows only too well the importance of peace.
"The athletes have told me their stories. They know from their own experience what it is like to flee from your home, to have your safety taken from you and have no choice left but to flee because of the ever-increasing number of wars and violence,” Masomah Ali Zada said.
"In my experiences with the Refugee Olympic Team, I have been encouraged by what I see. The team embodies what is possible – it brings people together from different countries, languages and cultures. Yet we are here, in one team, under a unified flag, the Olympic flag, representing peace and respect. Together.”
She concluded: "So today, I am proud to be here with the President of the IOC and the President of Paris 2024 and invite all athletes of the Olympic Games to join us in this call for peace, so that we may extend our message from the Olympic Games to the world and achieve peace once and for all.”