Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together: The Olympic Motto and Its New Word

The Original Three Words and Their Origins

The Olympic motto's original three words — Citius, Altius, Fortius — were proposed by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, and were first used at the 1896 Athens Olympics. De Coubertin attributed the phrase to Dominican friar Henri Didon, who had used it as a motto for a Paris sports association in the early 1890s. Didon was a friend of de Coubertin's and had spoken at events the future IOC president organized, and the Latin phrase suited de Coubertin's vision of athletics as a pursuit that elevated human beings through the continuous striving for improvement.

The phrase's elegance is in its simplicity. "Faster" addresses speed and reaction. "Higher" addresses the upward reach of human physical capability. "Stronger" addresses power and endurance. Together they capture the fundamental aspiration of athletic competition: to push beyond previous limits, to measure what human beings can do and then try to exceed it.

The Latin formulation was important. Latin, as the historical language of scholarship and the Catholic Church, carried authority and timelessness. A motto in Latin suggested that the Olympic movement was connected to deep civilizational values rather than merely to contemporary sports administration — an impression de Coubertin worked consistently to cultivate.

125 Years Unchanged, Then a New Word

For 125 years, from 1896 to 2021, the Olympic motto remained unchanged as "Citius, Altius, Fortius." Then, at the 137th IOC Session in Tokyo on July 20, 2021 — one day before the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony — the IOC voted to add the word "Communis" (Together) to the motto, making it "Citius, Altius, Fortius — Communis."

The addition was proposed by IOC President Thomas Bach and reflected a deliberate philosophical expansion of what the Olympics were intended to represent. The Tokyo Games were being held in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, without spectators and under extraordinary logistical constraints. The theme of solidarity and collective resilience was particularly resonant in that moment.

The IOC's rationale for "Together" extended beyond the pandemic context, however. The modern Olympics has increasingly emphasized values beyond pure athletic competition — sustainability, peace-building, inclusion of refugee athletes, and the promotion of human dignity alongside sporting excellence. "Faster, Higher, Stronger" addresses what individuals can achieve; "Together" addresses what humanity can achieve collectively through the shared institution of the Games.

Reception and Debate

The addition of "Communis" to the motto was not universally welcomed. Some athletes, coaches, and sports traditionalists felt that the addition diluted the original motto's directness and competitive purity, turning a crisp athletic aspiration into something that sounded more like a corporate values statement. The argument that "Faster, Higher, Stronger" was perfect in its compression and did not need modification had genuine weight.

Others welcomed the addition as an honest acknowledgment that the Olympics is not simply about individual athletic records but about the unprecedented gathering of peoples from every nation. The argument was that the motto had always been incomplete — it addressed the athletic achievement without recognizing the collective human project that makes the Olympic Games possible.

Latin in the Modern Era

The retention of Latin for the motto, including the new addition, is itself a deliberate choice. Latin is no longer spoken as a living language and is not the primary language of any Olympic nation, which gives it a kind of neutrality: it belongs to everyone and to no one. A motto in English would privilege anglophone nations; a motto in French (the IOC's other official language) would privilege francophone ones. Latin sits above the competition of living languages and connects the modern Games to the classical civilization that inspired their revival.

"Citius, Altius, Fortius — Communis" will appear on Olympic materials and be invoked at Olympic ceremonies for as long as the movement continues in its current form — a phrase whose four words contain the entire philosophy of what the Olympics is supposed to be.