John Williams composed Olympic gold before 1984 LA Olympics

When the first torchbearers departed from New York City in May of 1984, the “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” was played live as a sendoff. American composer John Williams was commissioned to compose the piece for the Los Angeles Games, aiming to capture the spirit and significance of the event, and the composition quickly became synonymous with the Games, its notes heralding the start of competitions and ceremonies. 

It has been used in all Olympic broadcasts since, cementing its status as an enduring anthem for the Games.

“I’m not an avid sports fan and I have never been to an Olympics,” Williams told the New York Times in 1984. “But from watching Olympics competition on television, I gained a feeling that I aspired to make the theme of Fanfare. A wonderful thing about the Olympics is that young athletes strain their guts to find and produce their best efforts. The human spirit stretching to prove itself is also typical of what musicians attempt to achieve in a symphonic effort. It is difficult to describe how I feel about these athletes and their performances without sounding pretentious, but their struggle ennobles all of us. I hope I express that in this piece.” 

In 1996, NBC fused an excerpt from French-American composer Leo Arnaud’s 1958 piece, “Bugler’s Dream” with “Olympic Fanfare and Theme,” but it is Williams whose compositions are forever connected to the Olympics.

In addition to the "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," Williams composed memorable pieces including "Olympic Spirit" for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, "Summon the Heroes" for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta and "Call of the Champions" for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. In "Call of the Champions,” a chorus sings the Olympic motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which means “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”

These compositions have become integral to the Olympic experience, and the International Olympic Committee awarded John Williams its highest individual honor, the Olympic Order, in 2003. This prestigious award recognized his significant contributions to the Olympic movement through his iconic compositions.