Latvian Olympic Committee President Aldons Vrublevskis, centre, presented copies of the Olympic Encyclopadia opus to his IOC and ANOC counterparts, Thomas Bach and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah respectively, during the 2016 ANOC General Assembly ©EOC

The Latvian Olympic Committee (LOC) has completed the first two volumes of the Olympic Encyclopedia. 

Expected to total 12 volumes in all, the Olympic Encyclopedia is set to contain 120 years worth of information on the Olympic world for future generations.

It is the result of more than 50 years of research by a Latvian team led by Olympic historian Genadijs Macirevs.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Olympic Studies Centre has assisted the LOC’s efforts, providing information along with more than 120 National Olympic Committees (NOCs).

Information has also come from the archives of the World Union of Olympic Cities and a large number of other people and institutions.

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) contributed to financing the work.

Aldons Vrublevskis has been President of the Latvian Olympic Committee since 2004 ©Getty Images
Aldons Vrublevskis has been President of the Latvian Olympic Committee since 2004 ©Getty Images

LOC President Aldons Vrublevskis presented copies of the opus to IOC and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) counterparts, Thomas Bach and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah respectively, during the ANOC General Assembly in Qatar’s capital Doha last November.

With more than 140,000 articles, the Olympic Encyclopedia includes information on a vast range of topics, including IOC Session decisions.

It also features biographies and information on 130,000 athletes, NOCs and International Federation Presidents, much of which has never been published before.