ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the creation of the IOC environmental policy as the third dimension of the Olympic movement, sport and culture being the other two pillars of Olympism. In two short years, from 1992 to 1994, the IOC went from an organization with no environmental policy to one with a policy fully integrated into its philosophy of Olympism. The chapter deals with the circumstances which led to the creation of the IOC environmental policy statements. The local can and does win, as the creation of the IOC environmental policy demonstrates. Prior to Albertville, the IOC had no environmental policy, nor any articulate environmental guidelines for bidding or hosting sites. In Olympic Review, the official publication of the international Olympic movement, Juan Antonio Samaranch applauded the environmental efforts of the ACOJO and its return to nature Games. Notwithstanding, it was the local initiatives, negatively at Albertville, positively at Lillehammer, which resulted in the IOC environmental policy.
