Olympic Order
Year Recipient Country
1975 Mr. Ryotaro Azuma Japan
1975 Mr. Miguel de Capriles United States
1975 Lieutenant-Colonel Rudyard Russell United Kingdom
1976 Mr. Paul Anspach Belgium
1976 Mr. Harold Austad New Zealand
1976 Mr. Albert Demaurex Switzerland
1976 Mr. Dan Ferris United States
1976 Mr. Jesse Owens United States
1976 Mr. Héctor Paysse Reyes Uruguay
1976 Mr. Walter Wülfing West Germany
1977 Colonel Sir Michael Ansell United Kingdom
1977 Mrs. Igner Frith United Kingdom
1977 Mr. Sven Låftman Sweden
1977 Mr. Anselmo López Spain
1977 Dr. Rudolf Nemetschke Austria
1977 Mr. Seiji Tabata Japan
1978 Prince Bertil Bernadotte Sweden
1978 Bâtonnier René Bondoux France
1978 Colonel Domingos de Sousa Portugal
1978 Mr. Falih Fahmi Iraq
Recipients -- Silver Olympic Order
The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement and is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. It was established in May 1975 by the International Olympic Committee as a successor to the Olympic Certificate. The Olympic Order originally had three grades (gold, silver and bronze). In 1984, at the 87th IOC Session in Sarajevo (Yugoslavia), it was decided that in future there would be no distinction between the silver and bronze order. The gold order would continue to be awarded in exceptional circumstances. Traditionally, the IOC bestows the Olympic Order upon the chief national organiser(s) at the closing ceremony of each respective Olympic Games. The insignia of the Olympic Order is in the form of a collar (or chain), in Gold, Silver or Bronze according to grade; the front of the chain depicts the five rings of the Olympic Movement, flanked on either side by kotinos emblem (olive wreath). A lapel badge, in the form of the five rings in Gold, Silver and Bronze according to grade, is presented to recipients to wear as appropriate. Nadia Comăneci is the only athlete to be awarded the Olympic Order twice (1984, 2004). She is also the youngest recipient of Olympic Order since 1984 when she was only 23 years old at the time of award.