IOL is a direct descendent of the Olympiads in linguistics organized locally in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg (then in the U.S.S.R.) and Bulgaria, for more than 40 years now.

• 国际语言学奥林匹克竞赛的前身是曾在苏联时代的莫斯科、圣彼得堡以及保加利亚举办了40逾年的“语言学奥林匹克“竞赛。