Five great reasons to visit The Olympic Museum in Lausanne

The Olympic Museum’s vast permanent exhibition is a sight to behold and you could easily spend an entire day exploring its 3,000 square metres, which many visitors do. The exhibition is spread over three floors, each covering a different theme: the Olympic World, Olympic Games and Olympic Spirit. The journey takes place through 1,500 objects and seven hours of audiovisual material that visitors can interact with, including ‘Inside the Race’, a 180° surround sound film that examines the Olympic mindset.

A new temporary exhibition allows visitors to immerse themselves in Japanese pop culture, in preparation for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games. The ‘Tokyo 2020: Sport X Manga’ exhibition (on display until November 21, 2021) delves into the relationship between manga and sport across Japan, as well as highlighting new sports making their debut in the upcoming Games and looking at competition venues, including the Tokyo National Stadium. There’s also a wide digital programme alongside the in-person experience, including virtual exhibition tours and an augmented reality app.

Stories at The Museum are told not just through multimedia installations, but also through a wide range of invaluable items that trace Olympic history and key moments from Olympic Games across the years. The Museum boasts an impressive collection, so while you’re exploring, look for the first Olympic flag from 1913, torches from every edition of the Games since 1936, medals dating all the way back to 1896, the Sydney 2000 podium and the London 2012 Olympic Truce Wall: a monument used as a collective agreement for nations to allow Olympic athletes safe travel to and from the event.

The Olympic Games aren’t just about outstanding sporting achievements. Each event encompasses local culture, history, design, art, architecture and much more, and this is reflected in The Olympic Museum’s content. You’ll learn how the Games act as a catalyst for similarly outstanding non-sporting achievements around the globe, including showstopping art inspired by sport from world-class artists, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney – and don’t miss Niki de Saint Phalle’s eye-catching alfresco sculpture, ‘Footballers’.

Yep, you read that correctly. Anyone under the age of 16 doesn’t need to pay an entry fee to visit The Olympic Museum, as long as they’re accompanied by an adult. Pretty handy if you’re visiting with kids and a great way to kick-start the sporting passions of potential future Olympians. Add to that various group rates for sports clubs and families and special offers for anyone with a Swiss Museum Pass, Swiss Travel Pass and Lausanne Transport Card (plus other special offers published on the Museum website), and you’ve got even more reasons to visit.

Now that we’ve given you some sporting inspiration, get on your marks, get set and GO... straight to Lausanne’s Olympic Museum to start exploring. The Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9am-6pm. For more information on The Museum and all of its exhibitions, visit: www.olympic.org/museum.