The Olympics reach for the Moon

Many people don’t know that the Olympic Games have always had a special relationship with the Moon. This connection has inspired Sanctuary on the Moon to launch an amazing project for the Paris 2024 Games, with the goal to win...silver!

The fervor was at its peak. Spectators attending the religious ceremony craned their necks not to miss a thing. This was the scene of the first Olympic Games held in ancient Greece. Some 40,000 spectators from the Greek diaspora around the world traveled to the sanctuary of Olympia in southwestern Greece for the five-day competition and reunion held every four years. 

On the third day of this Hellenic gathering the athletic events were held, culminating in a ritual sacrifice made to Zeus, the supreme god honored by the great competition. This dramatic sacrifice, known as the Hecatomb (the origin of the word we now use), was the pinnacle of the event. It required the slaughter of 100 oxen, whose carcasses were then used to feed the athletes. But who determined when this ritual was to take place? The Moon, of course! Tradition dictates that this third day must coincide with the first full Moon following the summer solstice.

History proves that this silvery celestial body has been entwined with the world's oldest sporting competition from its very origins. The Sanctuary on the Moon project celebrates this alliance while affirming the Games’ universal character. How? The Phrygians, mascots of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, were attired in astronaut suits! On July 20, these entirely original mascots will be revealed, marking the 55th anniversary of the first human step on the Moon.

What's more, Sanctuary on the Moon will deposit these mascots on the Moon's surface, as part of the knowledge to be preserved. The Olympic motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together” will also be part of the journey in order to pass on to future generations, or perhaps even other life forms, the impact of sport on humanity and its ability to change people’s lives as a universal value.