(ATR) IOC President Thomas Bach says the 2018 edition of the Olympic Truce is a "deeply personal one" in a polarized world for a Games on a polarized peninsula.
Today the United Nations General Assembly passed the truce by acclamation, continuing an Olympic tradition. The truce calls for the "safe passage" of athletes and officials to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and for member states to adopt Olympic values of promoting peace.
The truce was passed by consensus in the General Assembly, including both North and South Korea. The title of the draft resolution was "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal." The full draft resolution can be found here.
"It is the dream of every athlete to compete at the Olympic Games," Bach said, appealing as an athlete not an administrator, in his speech before the GA. "With the Olympic Truce resolution, the UN General Assembly is creating the conditions for all athletes to compete in peace. Only the UN Member States can guarantee the athletes a safe passage to the Olympic Games."
PyeongChang 2018 President Hee Beom Lee presented the truce before the General Assembly, and South Korean gold medalist Kim Yu Na spoke of the "role of sport and the Olympic ideal in promoting peace".
Lee said that PyeongChang is ready to "welcome the world" for the 2018 Olympics with all construction done and the Olympic Flame touring the country. He said that Korean citizens still remember the 1988 Games as a catalyst for "promoting peace through sports by bringing the East and West together".
"I firmly believe that PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games will help spread the message of peace through one of the few languages that has the power to unite people around the world, sport," Kim Yu Na said in her speech. "Indeed PyeongChang represents the most sincere efforts to cross borders between south and north and foster a peaceful environment."
The theme of the General Assembly this year was "Focusing on People". In his speech Bach took time to speak about the "bridges" the Olympic Movement was building in an era of polarization.
In addition, the 2018 Olympics face the prospect of bringing together athletes from both North and South Korea. Two North Korean figure skaters have already qualified for the Games, but it is not known if they will compete. North Korea boycotted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. However, in 2000 and 2004 North and South Korea jointly marched into the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.
"In our fragile world that is drifting apart, the Olympic Games have the power to unite humanity in all its diversity," Bach said. "In our fragile world, polarization and mistrust are growing. In our fragile world, the Olympic Games always build bridges. They never erect walls."
Written by Aaron Bauer
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