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Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and the most recent Games were held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for organising the Games and for overseeing the host city's preparations. The tradition of awarding medals began in 1904; in each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals for second place, and bronze medals for third place. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympic Games, which are regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi-sport international event in the world.

The Summer Olympics have increased in scope from a 42-event competition programme in 1896 with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 different nations, to 339 events in 2021 with 11,420 competitors (almost half of whom were women) from 206 nations. The Games have been held in nineteen different countries over five continents: four times in the United States (1904, 1932, 1984, and 1996); three times in Great Britain (1908, 1948, and 2012); twice each in Greece (1896 and 2004), France (1900 and 1924), Germany (1936 and 1972), Australia (1956 and 2000), and Japan (1964 and 2020); and once each in Sweden (1912), Belgium (1920), the Netherlands (1928), Finland (1952), Italy (1960), Mexico (1968), Canada (1976), the Soviet Union (1980), South Korea (1988), Spain (1992), China (2008), and Brazil (2016).

London was the first city to host the Summer Olympic Games three times. As of 2022, Paris, Los Angeles, Athens and Tokyo have each hosted twice; Paris will host for the third time in 2024, followed by Los Angeles which will host the Games in 2028.[1] Only five countries have participated in every Summer Olympic Games: Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. Australia, France and Great Britain have won at least a medal at every edition of the Games, with Great Britain as the only one to win gold each time. The United States leads the all-time medal count at the Summer Olympics, and has topped the medal table on 18 separate occasions—followed by the USSR (six times), and France, Great Britain, Germany, China, and the ex-Soviet 'Unified Team' (once each).

Hosting

 
Map of Summer Olympic Games locations – countries that have hosted one Summer Olympics are shaded green, while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue.

The United States hosted the Summer Olympic Games four times: the 1904 Games were held in St. Louis, Missouri; the 1932 and 1984 Games were both held in Los Angeles, California, and the 1996 Games were held in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2028 Games in Los Angeles will mark the fifth occasion on which the Summer Games have been hosted by the U.S.

In 2012, Great Britain hosted its third Summer Olympic Games in London, which became the first city ever to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times. The cities of Los Angeles, Paris, and Athens (excluding 1906) have each hosted two Summer Olympic Games. In 2024, France will host its third Summer Olympic Games in its capital, making Paris the second city ever to have hosted three Summer Olympics. And in 2028, Los Angeles will in turn become the third city ever to have hosted the Games three times.

Australia, France, Germany, Greece and Japan all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice (with France and Australia planned to host in 2024 and 2032, respectively, taking both countries to three each). Tokyo, Japan, hosted the 2020 Games and became the first city outside the predominantly English-speaking and European nations to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice, having already hosted the Games in 1964;[2] it is also the largest city ever to have hosted, having grown considerably since 1964. The other countries to have hosted the Summer Olympics are Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Soviet Union, Spain, and Sweden, with each of these countries having hosted the Summer Games on one occasion.

Asia has hosted the Summer Olympics four times: in Tokyo (1964 and 2020), Seoul (1988), and Beijing (2008).

The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were the first Summer Olympics to be held in South America and the first that was held completely during the local "winter" season. The only two countries in the Southern Hemisphere to have hosted the Summer Olympics have been Australia (1956, 2000, and upcoming 2032) and Brazil (2016), with Africa having yet to host any Summer Olympics.

Stockholm, Sweden, has hosted events at two Summer Olympics, having been sole host of the 1912 Games, and hosting the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics (which they are credited as jointly hosting with Melbourne, Australia).[3] Amsterdam, Netherlands, has also hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having been sole host of the 1928 Games and previously hosting two of the sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Hong Kong provided the venues for the equestrian events, which took place in Sha Tin and Kwu Tung.

History

Early years

 
The opening ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games in the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894 when Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, sought to promote international understanding through sporting competition. The first edition of The Olympic Games was held in Athens in 1896 and attracted just 245 competitors, of whom more than 200 were Greek, and only 14 countries were represented. Nevertheless, no international events of this magnitude had been organised before. Female athletes were not allowed to compete, though one woman, Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course on her own, saying "If the committee doesn't let me compete I will go after them regardless".[4]

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the modern era. About 100,000 people attended for the opening of the games. The athletes came from 14 nations, with most coming from Greece. Although Greece had the most athletes, the U.S. finished with the most champions. 11 Americans placed first in their events vs. the 10 from Greece.[5] Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games. It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organised by Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, on 23 June 1894. The IOC was also established during this congress.

Despite many obstacles and setbacks, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. Panathinaiko Stadium, the first big stadium in the modern world, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.[6] The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis, a water carrier. He won in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds, setting off wild celebrations at the stadium. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four gold medals.

Greek officials and the public were enthusiastic about the experience of hosting an Olympic Games. This feeling was shared by many of the athletes, who even demanded that Athens be the permanent Olympic host city. The IOC intended for subsequent Games to be rotated to various host cities around the world. The second Olympics was held in Paris.[7]

Four years later the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris attracted more than four times as many athletes, including 20 women, who were allowed to officially compete for the first time, in croquet, golf, sailing, and tennis. The Games were integrated with the Paris World's Fair and lasted over five months. It has been disputed which exact events were Olympic, as some events were for professionals, some had restricted eligibility, and others lacked international competitors.

 
Dorando Pietri finishes the modern marathon in 1908 at the current distance.

Tensions caused by the Russo–Japanese War and the difficulty of getting to St. Louis may have contributed to the fact that very few top-ranked athletes from outside the US and Canada took part in the 1904 Games.[8]

The "Second International Olympic Games in Athens", as they were called at the time, were held in 1906.[9] The IOC does not currently recognise these games as being official Olympic Games, although many historians do and credit the 1906 games with preventing the demise of the Olympics. The 1906 Athens games were the first of an alternating series of games to be held in Athens in even non-Olympic years, but the series failed to materialise. The games were more successful than the 1900 and 1904 games, with over 850 athletes competing, and contributed positively to the success of future games.

The 1908 London Games saw numbers rise again, as well as the first running of the marathon over its now-standard distance of 42.195  km (26 miles 385 yards). The first Olympic Marathon in 1896 (a male-only race) was raced at a distance of 40  km (24 miles 85 yards). The new marathon distance was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family. Thus the marathon had been 40 km (24.9 mi) for the first games in 1896, but was subsequently varied by up to 2 km (1.2 mi) due to local conditions such as street and stadium layout. At the six Olympic games between 1900 and 1920, the marathon was raced over six distances. The Games saw Great Britain winning 146 medals, 99 more than second-placed Americans, its best result to this day.

At the end of the 1908 marathon, the Italian runner Dorando Pietri was first to enter the stadium, but he was clearly in distress and collapsed of exhaustion before he could complete the event. He was helped over the finish line by concerned race officials and later disqualified for that. As compensation for the missing medal, Queen Alexandra gave Pietri a gilded silver cup. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a special report about the race in the Daily Mail.[10]

The Games continued to grow, attracting 2,504 competitors, to Stockholm in 1912, including the great all-rounder Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon. Thorpe had previously played a few games of baseball for a fee, and saw his medals stripped for this 'breach' of amateurism after complaints from Avery Brundage. They were reinstated in 1983, 30 years after his death. The Games at Stockholm were the first to fulfil Pierre de Coubertin's original idea. For the first time since the Games started in 1896, all five inhabited continents were represented with athletes competing in the same stadium.

The scheduled 1916 Summer Olympics were cancelled following the onset of World War I.

Interwar era

The 1920 Antwerp Games in war-ravaged Belgium were a subdued affair, but again drew a record number of competitors. This record only stood until 1924, when the Paris Games involved 3,000 competitors, the greatest of whom was Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi. The "Flying Finn" won three team gold medals and the individual 1,500 and 5,000 meter runs, the latter two on the same day.[11]

The 1928 Amsterdam Games was notable for being the first games which allowed females to compete at track & field athletics, and benefited greatly from the general prosperity of the times alongside the first appearance of sponsorship of the games, from the Coca-Cola Company. The 1928 games saw the introduction of a standard medal design with the IOC choosing Giuseppe Cassioli's depiction of Greek goddess Nike and a winner being carried by a crowd of people. This design was used up until 1972.[citation needed]

The 1932 Los Angeles Games were affected by the Great Depression, which contributed to the low number of competitors.

 
Olympiastadion in Berlin, during the 1936 Games

The 1936 Berlin Games were seen by the German government as a golden opportunity to promote their ideology. The ruling Nazi Party commissioned film-maker Leni Riefenstahl to film the games. The result, Olympia, was widely considered to be a masterpiece, despite Hitler's theories of Aryan racial superiority being repeatedly shown up by "non-Aryan" athletes. In particular, African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won four gold medals. The 1936 Berlin Games also saw the introduction of the Torch Relay.[12]

Due to World War II, the 1940 Games (due to be held in Tokyo and temporarily relocated to Helsinki upon the outbreak of war) were cancelled. The 1944 Games were due to be held in London but were also cancelled; instead, London hosted the first games after the end of the war, in 1948.

After World War II

The first post-war Games were held in 1948 in London, with both Germany and Japan excluded.[13] Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals on the track, emulating Owens' achievement in Berlin.[14]

At the 1952 Helsinki Games, the USSR team competed for the first time and quickly emerged as one of the dominant teams, finishing second in the number of gold and overall medals won. Their immediate success might be explained by the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete". The USSR entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis, hence violating amateur rules.[15][16] Finland made a legend of an amiable Czechoslovak Army lieutenant named Emil Zátopek, who was intent on improving on his single gold and silver medals from 1948. Having first won both the 10,000- and 5,000-meter races, he also entered the marathon, despite having never previously raced at that distance. Pacing himself by chatting with the other race leaders, Zátopek led from about halfway, slowly dropping the remaining contenders to win by two and a half minutes, and completed a trio of wins.[17]

The 1956 Melbourne Games were largely successful, with the exception of a water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, which ended in a pitched battle between the teams on account of the Soviet invasion of Hungary.[18] The equestrian events were held in Stockholm due to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Britain at the time and the strict quarantine laws of Australia.

At the 1960 Rome Games, a young light-heavyweight boxer named Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, arrived on the scene. Ali would later throw his gold medal away in disgust after being refused service in a whites-only restaurant in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.[19] He was awarded a new medal 36 years later at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.[20] Other notable performers in 1960 included Wilma Rudolph, a gold medallist in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay events.[21]

The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first to be broadcast worldwide on television, enabled by the recent advent of communication satellites.[22] These Games marked a turning point in the global visibility and popularity of the Olympics and are credited for heralding the modern age of telecommunications. Judo debuted as an official sport, and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink caused a stir when he won the final of the open weight division, defeating Akio Kaminaga in front of his home crowd.[23]

 
The opening ceremony for the 1968 Games, in Mexico City, the first held in Latin America

Performances at the 1968 Games in Mexico City were affected by the altitude of the host city.[24] These Games introduced the now-universal Fosbury flop, a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal.[25] In the medal award ceremony for the men's 200-meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith (gold medal winner) and John Carlos (bronze medal winner) took a stand for civil rights by raising their black-gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes.[26] The two athletes were subsequently expelled from the Games by the IOC. Věra Čáslavská, in protest against the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the controversial decision by the judges on the balance beam and floor, turned her head down and away from the Soviet flag while the national anthem was played during the medal ceremony.[27] She returned home as a heroine of the Czechoslovak people but was made an outcast by the Soviet-dominated government.

 
The Olympic flag at halfmast in Kiel (host city of the sailing events), after the Munich massacre at 1972 Games

Politics again intervened at the 1972 Games in Munich, but this time with lethal consequences. A Palestinian terrorist group named Black September invaded the Olympic village and broke into the apartment of the Israeli delegation. They killed two Israelis and held nine others as hostages, demanding that Israel release numerous prisoners. When the Israeli government refused the terrorists' demands, the situation developed into a tense stand-off while negotiations continued. Eventually, the captors, still holding their hostages, were offered safe passage and taken to an airport, where they were ambushed by German security forces. In the ensuing firefight, 15 people were killed, including the nine captive Israeli athletes and five of the terrorists.[28] After much debate, the decision was taken to continue the Games, but the proceedings were understandably dominated by these events.[29] Some memorable athletic achievements did occur during these Games, notably the winning of a then-record seven gold medals by United States swimmer Mark Spitz, Finland's Lasse Virén taking back-to-back gold medals in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, and the winning of three gold medals by Soviet gymnastic star Olga Korbut, who achieved a historic backflip off the high bar.

There was no such tragedy at the 1976 Montreal Games, but bad planning and fraud led to the cost of these Games far exceeding the budget. Costing $1.5 billion (equivalent to $6.83 billion in 2021),[30][31] the 1976 Summer Games were the most expensive in Olympic history (until the 2014 Winter Olympics) and it seemed, for a time, that the Olympics might no longer be a viable financial proposition. In retrospect, it is believed that contractors (suspected of being members of the Montreal Mafia) skimmed large sums of money from all levels of contracts while also profiting from the substitution of cheaper building materials of lesser quality, which may have contributed to the delays, poor construction, and excessive costs. In 1988, one such contractor, Giuseppe Zappia "was cleared of fraud charges that resulted from his work on Olympic facilities after two key witnesses died before testifying at his trial".[32] The 1976 Games were boycotted by many African nations as a protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by the New Zealand national rugby union team.[33] Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci made history when she won the women's individual all-around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores. She won two other individual events, with two perfect scores in the balance beam and all perfect scores in the uneven bars.[34] Lasse Virén repeated his double gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, making him the first athlete to ever win the distance double twice.[35]

End of the 20th century

Following the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, 66 nations, including the United States, Canada, West Germany, and Japan, boycotted the 1980 Games held in Moscow. Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games – the smallest number since 1956. The boycott contributed to the 1980 Games being a less publicised and less competitive affair, which was dominated by the host country.

In 1984 the Soviet Union and 13 Soviet allies reciprocated by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Romania and Yugoslavia, notably are the only two countries from the Eastern Bloc that did attend the 1984 Olympics. These games were perhaps the first games of a new era to make a profit. Although a boycott led by the Soviet Union depleted the field in certain sports, 140 National Olympic Committees took part, which was a record at the time.[36] The Games were also the first time mainland China (People's Republic) participated.

According to British journalist Andrew Jennings, a KGB colonel stated that the agency's officers had posed as anti-doping authorities from the IOC to undermine doping tests and that Soviet athletes were "rescued with [these] tremendous efforts".[37] On the topic of the 1980 Summer Olympics, a 1989 Australian study said "There is hardly a medal winner at the Moscow Games, certainly not a gold medal winner, who is not on one sort of drug or another: usually several kinds. The Moscow Games might as well have been called the Chemists' Games."[37]

Documents obtained in 2016 revealed the Soviet Union's plans for a statewide doping system in track and field in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Dated prior to the country's decision to boycott the Games, the document detailed the existing steroids operations of the programme, along with suggestions for further enhancements.[38] The communication, directed to the Soviet Union's head of track and field, was prepared by Dr. Sergei Portugalov of the Institute for Physical Culture. Portugalov was also one of the main figures involved in the implementation of the Russian doping programme prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics.[38]

The 1988 Games, in Seoul, was very well planned but the games were tainted when many of the athletes, most notably men's 100 metres winner Ben Johnson, failed mandatory drug tests. Despite splendid drug-free performances by many individuals, the number of people who failed screenings for performance-enhancing chemicals overshadowed the games.

The 1992 Barcelona Games featured the admittance of players from one of the North American top leagues, the NBA, exemplified by but not limited to US basketball's "Dream Team". The 1992 games also saw the reintroduction to the Games of several smaller European states which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union since World War II. At these games, gymnast Vitaly Scherbo set an inaugural medal record of five individual gold medals at a Summer Olympics, and equaled the inaugural record set by Eric Heiden at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

By then the process of choosing a location for the Games had become a commercial concern; there were widespread allegations of corruption potentially affecting the IOC's decision process.

At the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, the highlight was 200 meters runner Michael Johnson annihilating the world record in front of a home crowd. Canadians savoured Donovan Bailey's recording gold medal run in the 100-meter dash. This was popularly felt to be an appropriate recompense for the previous national disgrace involving Ben Johnson. There were also emotional scenes, such as when Muhammad Ali, clearly affected by Parkinson's disease, lit the Olympic torch and received a replacement medal for the one he had discarded in 1960. The latter event took place in the basketball arena. The atmosphere at the Games was marred, however, when a bomb exploded during the celebration in Centennial Olympic Park. In June 2003, the principal suspect in this bombing, Eric Robert Rudolph, was arrested.

 
The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, were known as the "Games of the New Millennium".

The 2000 Summer Olympics, held in Sydney, Australia, showcased individual performances by locals favorites Ian Thorpe in the pool and Cathy Freeman, an Indigenous Australian whose triumph in the 400 meters united a packed stadium., Briton Steve Redgrave who won a rowing gold medal in an unprecedented fifth consecutive Olympics, and Eric "the Eel" Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, received wide media coverage when he completed the 100 meter freestyle swim in by far the slowest time in Olympic history. He nevertheless won the heat as both his opponents had been disqualified for false starts. His female compatriot Paula Barila Bolopa also received media attention for her record-slow and struggling but courageous performance. The Sydney Games also saw the first appearance of a joint North and South Korean contingent at the opening ceremonies, though they competed in all events as different teams. Controversy occurred in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics when the vaulting horse was set to the wrong height during the All-Around Competition.

Start of the 21st century

In 2004, the Olympic Games returned to their birthplace in Athens, Greece. At least $7.2 billion was spent on the 2004 Games, including $1.5 billion on security. Michael Phelps won his first Olympic medals, tallying six gold and two bronze medals. Pyrros Dimas, winning a bronze medal, became the most decorated weightlifter of all time with four Olympic medals, three gold and one bronze. Although unfounded reports of potential terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions at the first weekend of the Olympics (14–15 August 2004), attendance picked up as the Games progressed. A third of the tickets failed to sell,[39] but ticket sales still topped figures from the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics (1988 and 1992).[citation needed] IOC President Jacques Rogge characterised Greece's organisation as outstanding and its security precautions as flawless.[40] All 202 NOCs participated at the Athens Games with over 11,000 participants.

The 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Several new events were held, including the new discipline of BMX for both men and women. Women competed in the steeplechase for the first time. The fencing programme was expanded to include all six events for both men and women; previously, women had not been able to compete in team foil or sabre events, although women's team épée and men's team foil were dropped for these Games. Marathon swimming events were added, over the distance of 10 km (6.2 mi). Also, the doubles events in table tennis were replaced by team events.[41] American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight, and tied the record of most gold medals by a single competitor previously held by both Eric Heiden and Vitaly Scherbo. Another notable star of the Games was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who became the first male athlete ever to set world records in the finals of both the 100 and 200 metres in the same Games. Equestrian events were held in Hong Kong.

London held the 2012 Summer Olympics, becoming the first city to host the Olympic Games three times. In his closing address, Jacques Rogge described the Games as "Happy and glorious". The host nation won 29 gold medals, the best haul for Great Britain since the 1908 Games in London. The United States returned to the top of the medal table after China dominated in 2008. The IOC had removed baseball and softball from the 2012 programme. The London Games were successful on a commercial level because they were the first in history to completely sell out every ticket, with as many as 1 million applications for 40,000 tickets for both the Opening Ceremony and the 100m Men's Sprint Final. Such was the demand for tickets to all levels of each event that there was controversy over seats being set aside for sponsors and National Delegations which went unused in the early days. A system of reallocation was put in place so the empty seats were filled throughout the Games.

Recent Games

 
The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, had few attendees as a result of excluding public spectators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rio de Janeiro in Brazil hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the first South American city to host the Olympics, the second Olympic host city in Latin America, after Mexico City in 1968, as well as the third city in the Southern Hemisphere to host the Olympics after Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 and Sydney, Australia, in 2000. The preparation for these Games was overshadowed by controversies, including political instability and an economic crisis in the host country, health and safety concerns surrounding the Zika virus, and significant pollution in the Guanabara Bay. However, these concerns were superseded by a state-sponsored doping scandal involving Russian athletes at the Winter Olympics held two years earlier, which affected the participation of its athletes in these Games.[42]

The 2020 Summer Olympics were originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. The city was the fifth in history to host the Games twice and the first Asian city to have this title. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the IOC and the Tokyo Organising Committee announced that the 2020 Games were to be delayed until 2021, marking the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed. Unlike previous Olympics, these Games took place without spectators due to concerns over COVID-19 and a state of emergency imposed in the host city.[43][44][45] Nevertheless, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games featured many memorable moments and feats of technical excellence. One star of the games, the US gymnast Simone Biles, gracefully bowed out to focus on her mental health, but later returned to claim an individual bronze medal.[46] Norway's Karsten Warholm smashed his own world record in the 400m hurdles.[original research?]

Sports

There has been a total of 42 sports, spanning 55 disciplines, included in the Olympic programme at one point or another in the history of the Games. The schedule has comprised 33 sports for recent Summer Olympics (2020), with 32 sports planned for the next Summer Olympics (2024).

The various Olympic Sports federations are grouped under a common umbrella association, called the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

  Current sport     No longer included

Sport Years
3x3 Basketball Since 2021
Archery 1900–1908, 1920, since 1972
Artistic swimming Since 1984
Athletics All
Badminton Since 1992
Baseball 1992–2008, 2020, 2028
Basketball Since 1936
Basque pelota 1900
Breaking To begin 2024
Boxing 1904, 1908, since 1920
Canoeing Since 1936
Cricket 1900
Croquet 1900
Cycling All
Diving Since 1904
Equestrian 1900, since 1912
Fencing All
Field hockey 1908, 1920, since 1928
Football 1900–1928, since 1936
Golf 1900, 1904, since 2016
Gymnastics All
Handball 1936, since 1972
Jeu de paume 1908
Judo 1964, since 1972
Karate 2020
Lacrosse 1904, 1908
Modern pentathlon Since 1912
Polo 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924, 1936
Rackets 1908
Roque 1904
Rowing Since 1900
Rugby union 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924
Rugby sevens Since 2016
Sailing 1900, since 1908
Shooting 1896, 1900, 1908–1924, since 1932
Skateboarding Since 2020
Softball 1996–2008, 2020, 2028
Sport climbing Since 2020
Surfing Since 2020
Swimming All
Table tennis Since 1988
Taekwondo Since 2000
Tennis 1896–1924, since 1988
Triathlon Since 2000
Tug of war 1900–1920
Volleyball Since 1964
Water motorsports 1908
Water polo Since 1900
Weightlifting 1896, 1904, since 1920
Wrestling 1896, since 1904

Qualification

Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports Federation (IF) that governs that sport's international competition.[47]

For individual sports, competitors typically qualify by attaining a certain place in a major international event or on the IF's ranking list. There is a general rule that a maximum of three individual athletes may represent each nation per competition. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) may enter a limited number of qualified competitors in each event, and the NOC decides which qualified competitors to select as representatives in each event if more have attained the benchmark than can be entered.[48]

Nations most often qualify teams for team sports through continental qualifying tournaments, in which each continental association is given a certain number of spots in the Olympic tournament. Each nation may be represented by no more than one team per competition; a team consists of just two people in some sports.

Popularity of Olympic sports

The IOC divides Summer Olympic sports into five categories (A – E) based on popularity, gauged by six criteria: television viewing figures (40%), internet popularity (20%), public surveys (15%), ticket requests (10%), press coverage (10%), and number of national federations (5%). The category of a sport determines the share of Olympic revenue received by that sport's International Federation.[49][50] Sports that were new to the 2016 Olympics (rugby and golf) have been placed in Category E.

The current categories are:

Cat. No. Sport
A 3 athletics, aquatics,[a] gymnastics
B 5 basketball, cycling, football, tennis, volleyball
C 8 archery, badminton, boxing, judo, rowing, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting
D 9 canoe/kayaking, equestrian, fencing, handball, field hockey, sailing, taekwondo, triathlon, wrestling
E 3 modern pentathlon, golf, rugby
F 6 baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing

a Aquatics encompasses artistic swimming, diving, swimming, and water polo.

All-time medal table

The table below uses official data provided by the IOC.

   Defunct nation
No. Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total Games
1   United States 1060 831 738 2629 28
2   Soviet Union 395 319 296 1010 9
3   Great Britain 285 319 314 918 29
4   China 262 199 173 634 11
5   France 223 251 277 751 29
6   Italy 217 188 213 618 28
7   Germany 201 207 247 655 17
8   Hungary 181 154 176 511 27
9   Japan 169 150 178 497 23
10   Australia 164 173 210 547 27
11   East Germany 153 129 127 409 5
12   Russia 149 126 151 426 6
13   Sweden 148 176 179 503 28
14   Finland 101 85 119 305 26
15   South Korea 96 91 100 287 18
16   Netherlands 95 105 122 322 27
17   Romania 90 97 121 308 22
18   Cuba 84 69 82 235 21
19   Poland 72 89 137 298 22
20   Canada 71 109 146 326 27

Medal leaders by year

Number of occurrences

List of Summer Olympic Games

The IOC has never decided which events of the early Games were "Olympic" and which were not.[51] The founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, ceded that determination to the organisers of those Games.

Olympiad No. Host Games dates /
Opened by
Sports
(Disciplines)
Competitors Events Nations Top nation
Total Men Women
1896[52] I   Athens 6–15 April 1896
King George I
9 (10) 241 241 0 43 14+1[A]   United States
1900[53] II   Paris 14 May – 28 October 1900
N/A
19 (20) 1226 N/A N/A 95[B] 26+4[C]+1[A]   France
1904[54] III   St. Louis 1 July – 23 November 1904
Former Mayor David R. Francis
16 (17) 651 645 6 95[D] 12+1[A]   United States
1908[55] IV   London 27 April – 31 October 1908
King Edward VII
22 (25) 2008 1971 37 110 22   Great Britain
1912[56] V   Stockholm 6–22 July 1912
King Gustaf V
14 (18) 2407 2359 48 102 28   United States
1916 VI[E] Awarded to Germany (Berlin). Cancelled due to World War I
1920[57] VII   Antwerp 14 August – 12 September 1920
King Albert I
22 (29) 2626 2561 65 156[F] 29   United States
1924[58] VIII   Paris 5–27 July 1924
President Gaston Doumergue
17 (23) 3089 2954 135 126 44   United States
1928[59] IX   Amsterdam 28 July – 12 August 1928
Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
14 (20) 2883 2606 277 109 46   United States
1932[60] X   Los Angeles 30 July – 14 August 1932
Vice President Charles Curtis
1332 1206 126 117 37   United States
1936[61] XI   Berlin 1–16 August 1936
Chancellor Adolf Hitler[G]
19 (25) 3963 3632 331 129 49   Germany
1940 XII[E] Originally awarded to Japan (Tokyo), then awarded to Finland (Helsinki). Cancelled due to World War II
1944 XIII[E] Awarded to United Kingdom (London). Cancelled due to World War II
1948[62] XIV   London 29 July – 14 August 1948
King George VI
17 (23) 4104 3714 390 136 59   United States
1952[63] XV   Helsinki 19 July – 3 August 1952
President Juho Kusti Paasikivi
4955 4436 519 149 69   United States
1956[3] XVI   Melbourne
  Stockholm (equestrian events)
22 November – 8 December 1956
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
3314 2938 376 151[H] 72[I]   Soviet Union
1960[64] XVII   Rome 25 August – 11 September 1960
President Giovanni Gronchi
5338 4727 611 150 83   Soviet Union
1964[65] XVIII   Tokyo 10–24 October 1964
Emperor Hirohito
19 (25) 5151 4473 678 163 93   United States
1968[24] XIX   Mexico City 12–27 October 1968
President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
18 (24) 5516 4735 781 172 112   United States
1972[29] XX   Munich 26 August – 11 September 1972[J]
President Gustav Heinemann
21 (28) 7134 6075 1059 195 121   Soviet Union
1976[66] XXI   Montreal 17 July – 1 August 1976
Queen Elizabeth II
21 (27) 6084 4824 1260 198 92   Soviet Union
1980[67] XXII   Moscow 19 July – 3 August 1980
Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev[K]
5179 4064 1115 203 80   Soviet Union
1984[36] XXIII   Los Angeles 28 July – 12 August 1984
President Ronald Reagan
21 (29) 6829 5263 1566 221 140   United States
1988[68] XXIV   Seoul 17 September – 2 October 1988
President Roh Tae-woo
23 (31) 8391 6197 2194 237 159   Soviet Union
1992[69] XXV   Barcelona 25 July – 9 August 1992
King Juan Carlos I
25 (34) 9356 6652 2704 257 169   Unified Team
1996[70] XXVI   Atlanta 19 July – 4 August 1996
President Bill Clinton
26 (37) 10318 6806 3512 271 197   United States
2000[71] XXVII   Sydney 15 September – 1 October 2000
Governor-General Sir William Deane
28 (40) 10651 6582 4069 300 199   United States
2004[72] XXVIII   Athens 13–29 August 2004
President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
10625 6296 4329 301 201   United States
2008[73] XXIX   Beijing 8–24 August 2008
President Hu Jintao[L]
28 (41) 10942 6305 4637 302 204   China
2012[74] XXX   London 27 July – 12 August 2012
Queen Elizabeth II
26 (39) 10768 5992 4776 302 204   United States
2016[75] XXXI   Rio de Janeiro 5–21 August 2016
Acting President Michel Temer
28 (41) 11238 6179 5059 306 207   United States
2020[76] XXXII   Tokyo 23 July – 8 August 2021[M]
Emperor Naruhito
33 (50) 11656 5982 5494 339 206   United States
2024[77] XXXIII   Paris 26 July – 11 August 2024
President Emmanuel Macron (expected)
32 (48) 10500[N] TBA TBA 329 TBA TBA
2028[78] XXXIV   Los Angeles 14–30 July 2028
TBA
TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA
2032[79] XXXV   Brisbane 23 July – 8 August 2032
TBA
TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA
  • A.1 2 3 The IOC site for the 1896, 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympic Games does not include Mixed teams (teams of athletes from different nations) as separate "nation" when counting participating nations. At the same time the IOC shows Mixed team in the results of competitions where these teams competed. Thus, specified number of national teams plus Mixed teams participated in the Games.
  • B.^ At an earlier time the IOC database for the 1900 Summer Olympics listed 85 medal events, 24 participating countries and 997 athletes (22 women, 975 men).[80] The Olympic historian and author, Bill Mallon,[81] whose studies have shed light on the topic, suggested the number 95 events satisfying all four retrospective selection criteria (restricted to amateurs, international participation, open to all competitors and without handicapping) and now should be considered as Olympic events. In July 2021, the IOC upgraded its complete online database of all Olympic results explicitly to incorporate the data of the Olympic historians website, Olympedia.org, thus accepting Mallon's recommendation (based on four applied criteria) for events of the 1900 Olympic Games. The eleven events, the results of which had nevertheless been shown within the earlier IOC database, have been added over the former total of 85. Оne shooting event (20 metre military pistol, which was an event for professionals) have been removed. Acceptance of Mallon's recommendation increased the number of events to 95, and also entailed increasing the number of participation countries up to 26 and athletes up to 1226. After upgrading of the IOC online database the IOC web site results section contains 95 events.[82] However the IOC webpage for the 1900 Summer Olympics shows a total of 96 (not 95) medal events, 26 participating countries and 1226 athletes.[53] The reason for the discrepancy in the number of events on the IOC webpage is unknown. Furthermore, the IOC factsheet "The Games of the Olympiad" of November 2021 refers to 95 events, but still refers to old numbers of participating countries (24) and athletes (997).[8]
  • C.^ According to the International Olympic Committee, 26 nations sent competitors to this edition.[53] The concept of "national teams" chosen by National Olympic Committees did not exist at this point in time. When counting the number of participating countries in the early Olympic Games, the IOC does not take into account otherwise unrepresented countries whose citizens competed for other countries. Modern research shows[81] that at the 1900 Olympics, the athletes of at least four otherwise unrepresented countries (Canada, Luxembourg, Colombia, New Zealand) competed for other countries in both individual and team sports. The IOC website lists all of them in the results section under their nationalities,[82] but does not include their countries among the 26 participating countries.[53]
  • D.^ The IOC webpage for the 1904 Summer Olympics[54] sets the number at 95 events, while at one time the IOC webpage[83] listed 91. The figure of 91 is sourced to a work by Olympic historian and author, Bill Mallon,[84] whose studies have shed light on the topic. Events satisfying all four of these retrospective selection criteria — restricted to amateurs, allowing international participation, open to all competitors and without handicapping — are now regarded as Olympic events.
  • E.1 2 3 Although the Games of 1916, 1940, and 1944 were cancelled, the Roman numerals for those Games were still applied because the official titles of the Summer Games count the Olympiads, not the Games themselves, per the Olympic Charter.[85] This contrasts with the Winter Olympics, which ignore the cancelled Winter Games of 1940 and 1944 in their numeric count.
  • F.^ The IOC webpage for the 1920 Summer Olympics[57] gives the figure of 156 events, while at one time the IOC webpage[86] listed 154 (difference was two sailing events in Amsterdam).
  • G.^ IOC records state Hitler opened these Games as "Chancellor" (Head of Government), but in 1934 that office was consolidated with "President" (Head of State) into "Führer und Reichskanzler", or "Führer".[87]
  • H.^ The IOC webpage for the 1956 Summer Olympics[3] gives a total of 151 events (145 events in Melbourne and six equestrian events in Stockholm).
  • I.^ Owing to Australian quarantine laws, six equestrian events were held in Stockholm for the 1956 Summer Olympics several months before the other events in Melbourne; five of the 72 nations that competed in the equestrian events in Stockholm did not attend the main Games in Melbourne.
  • J.^ The 1972 Summer Olympics was originally scheduled to end on 10 September 1972, but was postponed to a day on 11 September after events had been suspended for 34 hours due to the Munich massacre, which happened after day 9.
  • K.^ IOC records state Brezhnev opened the Moscow Games as "President", a title used at that time by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, or de jure head of state. (The office of President of the Soviet Union was not created until 1990, a year before the nation broke up.) Though Brezhnev was also de facto ruler as General Secretary of the Communist Party, that title is not reflected in IOC records.[87]
  • L.^ IOC records state Hu Jintao opened the Beijing Games as "President", de jure head of state. Though Hu was also de facto ruler as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, that title is not reflected in IOC records.[87]
  • M.^ Originally scheduled for 24 July – 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the event was still referred to as the 2020 Summer Olympics (marking the 32nd Olympiad) to preserve the four-year Olympiad cycle.[43]
  • N.^ Number of athletes will be in limited quota into an equal number of gender participants.[88]

See also

References

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External links

  • Official website  
  • Candidate Cities for future Olympic Games

summer, olympic, games, olympic, summer, games, redirects, here, video, game, olympic, summer, games, video, game, french, jeux, olympiques, été, also, known, games, olympiad, often, referred, summer, olympics, major, international, multi, sport, event, normal. Olympic Summer Games redirects here For the video game see Olympic Summer Games video game The Summer Olympic Games French Jeux olympiques d ete also known as the Games of the Olympiad and often referred to as the Summer Olympics is a major international multi sport event normally held once every four years The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens Greece and the most recent Games were held in 2021 in Tokyo Japan The International Olympic Committee IOC is responsible for organising the Games and for overseeing the host city s preparations The tradition of awarding medals began in 1904 in each Olympic event gold medals are awarded for first place silver medals for second place and bronze medals for third place The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympic Games which are regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi sport international event in the world The Summer Olympics have increased in scope from a 42 event competition programme in 1896 with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 different nations to 339 events in 2021 with 11 420 competitors almost half of whom were women from 206 nations The Games have been held in nineteen different countries over five continents four times in the United States 1904 1932 1984 and 1996 three times in Great Britain 1908 1948 and 2012 twice each in Greece 1896 and 2004 France 1900 and 1924 Germany 1936 and 1972 Australia 1956 and 2000 and Japan 1964 and 2020 and once each in Sweden 1912 Belgium 1920 the Netherlands 1928 Finland 1952 Italy 1960 Mexico 1968 Canada 1976 the Soviet Union 1980 South Korea 1988 Spain 1992 China 2008 and Brazil 2016 London was the first city to host the Summer Olympic Games three times As of 2022 update Paris Los Angeles Athens and Tokyo have each hosted twice Paris will host for the third time in 2024 followed by Los Angeles which will host the Games in 2028 1 Only five countries have participated in every Summer Olympic Games Australia France Great Britain Greece and Switzerland Australia France and Great Britain have won at least a medal at every edition of the Games with Great Britain as the only one to win gold each time The United States leads the all time medal count at the Summer Olympics and has topped the medal table on 18 separate occasions followed by the USSR six times and France Great Britain Germany China and the ex Soviet Unified Team once each Contents 1 Hosting 2 History 2 1 Early years 2 2 Interwar era 2 3 After World War II 2 4 End of the 20th century 2 5 Start of the 21st century 2 6 Recent Games 3 Sports 3 1 Qualification 3 2 Popularity of Olympic sports 4 All time medal table 4 1 Medal leaders by year 5 List of Summer Olympic Games 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHosting Edit Map of Summer Olympic Games locations countries that have hosted one Summer Olympics are shaded green while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue The United States hosted the Summer Olympic Games four times the 1904 Games were held in St Louis Missouri the 1932 and 1984 Games were both held in Los Angeles California and the 1996 Games were held in Atlanta Georgia The 2028 Games in Los Angeles will mark the fifth occasion on which the Summer Games have been hosted by the U S In 2012 Great Britain hosted its third Summer Olympic Games in London which became the first city ever to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times The cities of Los Angeles Paris and Athens excluding 1906 have each hosted two Summer Olympic Games In 2024 France will host its third Summer Olympic Games in its capital making Paris the second city ever to have hosted three Summer Olympics And in 2028 Los Angeles will in turn become the third city ever to have hosted the Games three times Australia France Germany Greece and Japan all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice with France and Australia planned to host in 2024 and 2032 respectively taking both countries to three each Tokyo Japan hosted the 2020 Games and became the first city outside the predominantly English speaking and European nations to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice having already hosted the Games in 1964 2 it is also the largest city ever to have hosted having grown considerably since 1964 The other countries to have hosted the Summer Olympics are Belgium Brazil Canada China Finland Italy Mexico Netherlands South Korea Soviet Union Spain and Sweden with each of these countries having hosted the Summer Games on one occasion Asia has hosted the Summer Olympics four times in Tokyo 1964 and 2020 Seoul 1988 and Beijing 2008 The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro Brazil were the first Summer Olympics to be held in South America and the first that was held completely during the local winter season The only two countries in the Southern Hemisphere to have hosted the Summer Olympics have been Australia 1956 2000 and upcoming 2032 and Brazil 2016 with Africa having yet to host any Summer Olympics Stockholm Sweden has hosted events at two Summer Olympics having been sole host of the 1912 Games and hosting the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics which they are credited as jointly hosting with Melbourne Australia 3 Amsterdam Netherlands has also hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games having been sole host of the 1928 Games and previously hosting two of the sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics At the 2008 Summer Olympics Hong Kong provided the venues for the equestrian events which took place in Sha Tin and Kwu Tung History EditEarly years Edit The opening ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games in the Panathenaic Stadium Athens The International Olympic Committee IOC was founded in 1894 when Pierre de Coubertin a French pedagogue and historian sought to promote international understanding through sporting competition The first edition of The Olympic Games was held in Athens in 1896 and attracted just 245 competitors of whom more than 200 were Greek and only 14 countries were represented Nevertheless no international events of this magnitude had been organised before Female athletes were not allowed to compete though one woman Stamata Revithi ran the marathon course on her own saying If the committee doesn t let me compete I will go after them regardless 4 The 1896 Summer Olympics officially known as the Games of the Olympiad was an international multi sport event which was celebrated in Athens Greece from 6 to 15 April 1896 It was the first Olympic Games held in the modern era About 100 000 people attended for the opening of the games The athletes came from 14 nations with most coming from Greece Although Greece had the most athletes the U S finished with the most champions 11 Americans placed first in their events vs the 10 from Greece 5 Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games It was unanimously chosen as the host city during a congress organised by Pierre de Coubertin in Paris on 23 June 1894 The IOC was also established during this congress Despite many obstacles and setbacks the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date Panathinaiko Stadium the first big stadium in the modern world overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event 6 The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis a water carrier He won in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds setting off wild celebrations at the stadium The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann who won four gold medals Greek officials and the public were enthusiastic about the experience of hosting an Olympic Games This feeling was shared by many of the athletes who even demanded that Athens be the permanent Olympic host city The IOC intended for subsequent Games to be rotated to various host cities around the world The second Olympics was held in Paris 7 Four years later the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris attracted more than four times as many athletes including 20 women who were allowed to officially compete for the first time in croquet golf sailing and tennis The Games were integrated with the Paris World s Fair and lasted over five months It has been disputed which exact events were Olympic as some events were for professionals some had restricted eligibility and others lacked international competitors Francis Field of Washington University in St Louis during the 1904 Summer Olympics Dorando Pietri finishes the modern marathon in 1908 at the current distance Tensions caused by the Russo Japanese War and the difficulty of getting to St Louis may have contributed to the fact that very few top ranked athletes from outside the US and Canada took part in the 1904 Games 8 The Second International Olympic Games in Athens as they were called at the time were held in 1906 9 The IOC does not currently recognise these games as being official Olympic Games although many historians do and credit the 1906 games with preventing the demise of the Olympics The 1906 Athens games were the first of an alternating series of games to be held in Athens in even non Olympic years but the series failed to materialise The games were more successful than the 1900 and 1904 games with over 850 athletes competing and contributed positively to the success of future games The 1908 London Games saw numbers rise again as well as the first running of the marathon over its now standard distance of 42 195 km 26 miles 385 yards The first Olympic Marathon in 1896 a male only race was raced at a distance of 40 km 24 miles 85 yards The new marathon distance was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family Thus the marathon had been 40 km 24 9 mi for the first games in 1896 but was subsequently varied by up to 2 km 1 2 mi due to local conditions such as street and stadium layout At the six Olympic games between 1900 and 1920 the marathon was raced over six distances The Games saw Great Britain winning 146 medals 99 more than second placed Americans its best result to this day At the end of the 1908 marathon the Italian runner Dorando Pietri was first to enter the stadium but he was clearly in distress and collapsed of exhaustion before he could complete the event He was helped over the finish line by concerned race officials and later disqualified for that As compensation for the missing medal Queen Alexandra gave Pietri a gilded silver cup Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a special report about the race in the Daily Mail 10 The Games continued to grow attracting 2 504 competitors to Stockholm in 1912 including the great all rounder Jim Thorpe who won both the decathlon and pentathlon Thorpe had previously played a few games of baseball for a fee and saw his medals stripped for this breach of amateurism after complaints from Avery Brundage They were reinstated in 1983 30 years after his death The Games at Stockholm were the first to fulfil Pierre de Coubertin s original idea For the first time since the Games started in 1896 all five inhabited continents were represented with athletes competing in the same stadium The scheduled 1916 Summer Olympics were cancelled following the onset of World War I Interwar era Edit The 1920 Antwerp Games in war ravaged Belgium were a subdued affair but again drew a record number of competitors This record only stood until 1924 when the Paris Games involved 3 000 competitors the greatest of whom was Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi The Flying Finn won three team gold medals and the individual 1 500 and 5 000 meter runs the latter two on the same day 11 The 1928 Amsterdam Games was notable for being the first games which allowed females to compete at track amp field athletics and benefited greatly from the general prosperity of the times alongside the first appearance of sponsorship of the games from the Coca Cola Company The 1928 games saw the introduction of a standard medal design with the IOC choosing Giuseppe Cassioli s depiction of Greek goddess Nike and a winner being carried by a crowd of people This design was used up until 1972 citation needed The 1932 Los Angeles Games were affected by the Great Depression which contributed to the low number of competitors Olympiastadion in Berlin during the 1936 Games The 1936 Berlin Games were seen by the German government as a golden opportunity to promote their ideology The ruling Nazi Party commissioned film maker Leni Riefenstahl to film the games The result Olympia was widely considered to be a masterpiece despite Hitler s theories of Aryan racial superiority being repeatedly shown up by non Aryan athletes In particular African American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won four gold medals The 1936 Berlin Games also saw the introduction of the Torch Relay 12 Due to World War II the 1940 Games due to be held in Tokyo and temporarily relocated to Helsinki upon the outbreak of war were cancelled The 1944 Games were due to be held in London but were also cancelled instead London hosted the first games after the end of the war in 1948 After World War II Edit The first post war Games were held in 1948 in London with both Germany and Japan excluded 13 Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers Koen won four gold medals on the track emulating Owens achievement in Berlin 14 At the 1952 Helsinki Games the USSR team competed for the first time and quickly emerged as one of the dominant teams finishing second in the number of gold and overall medals won Their immediate success might be explained by the advent of the state sponsored full time amateur athlete The USSR entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students soldiers or working in a profession but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full time basis hence violating amateur rules 15 16 Finland made a legend of an amiable Czechoslovak Army lieutenant named Emil Zatopek who was intent on improving on his single gold and silver medals from 1948 Having first won both the 10 000 and 5 000 meter races he also entered the marathon despite having never previously raced at that distance Pacing himself by chatting with the other race leaders Zatopek led from about halfway slowly dropping the remaining contenders to win by two and a half minutes and completed a trio of wins 17 The 1956 Melbourne Games were largely successful with the exception of a water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union which ended in a pitched battle between the teams on account of the Soviet invasion of Hungary 18 The equestrian events were held in Stockholm due to a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Britain at the time and the strict quarantine laws of Australia At the 1960 Rome Games a young light heavyweight boxer named Cassius Clay later known as Muhammad Ali arrived on the scene Ali would later throw his gold medal away in disgust after being refused service in a whites only restaurant in his home town of Louisville Kentucky 19 He was awarded a new medal 36 years later at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta 20 Other notable performers in 1960 included Wilma Rudolph a gold medallist in the 100 meters 200 meters and 4 100 meters relay events 21 The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first to be broadcast worldwide on television enabled by the recent advent of communication satellites 22 These Games marked a turning point in the global visibility and popularity of the Olympics and are credited for heralding the modern age of telecommunications Judo debuted as an official sport and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink caused a stir when he won the final of the open weight division defeating Akio Kaminaga in front of his home crowd 23 The opening ceremony for the 1968 Games in Mexico City the first held in Latin America Performances at the 1968 Games in Mexico City were affected by the altitude of the host city 24 These Games introduced the now universal Fosbury flop a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal 25 In the medal award ceremony for the men s 200 meter race black American athletes Tommie Smith gold medal winner and John Carlos bronze medal winner took a stand for civil rights by raising their black gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes 26 The two athletes were subsequently expelled from the Games by the IOC Vera Caslavska in protest against the 1968 Soviet led invasion of Czechoslovakia and the controversial decision by the judges on the balance beam and floor turned her head down and away from the Soviet flag while the national anthem was played during the medal ceremony 27 She returned home as a heroine of the Czechoslovak people but was made an outcast by the Soviet dominated government The Olympic flag at halfmast in Kiel host city of the sailing events after the Munich massacre at 1972 Games Politics again intervened at the 1972 Games in Munich but this time with lethal consequences A Palestinian terrorist group named Black September invaded the Olympic village and broke into the apartment of the Israeli delegation They killed two Israelis and held nine others as hostages demanding that Israel release numerous prisoners When the Israeli government refused the terrorists demands the situation developed into a tense stand off while negotiations continued Eventually the captors still holding their hostages were offered safe passage and taken to an airport where they were ambushed by German security forces In the ensuing firefight 15 people were killed including the nine captive Israeli athletes and five of the terrorists 28 After much debate the decision was taken to continue the Games but the proceedings were understandably dominated by these events 29 Some memorable athletic achievements did occur during these Games notably the winning of a then record seven gold medals by United States swimmer Mark Spitz Finland s Lasse Viren taking back to back gold medals in the 5 000 meters and 10 000 meters and the winning of three gold medals by Soviet gymnastic star Olga Korbut who achieved a historic backflip off the high bar There was no such tragedy at the 1976 Montreal Games but bad planning and fraud led to the cost of these Games far exceeding the budget Costing 1 5 billion equivalent to 6 83 billion in 2021 30 31 the 1976 Summer Games were the most expensive in Olympic history until the 2014 Winter Olympics and it seemed for a time that the Olympics might no longer be a viable financial proposition In retrospect it is believed that contractors suspected of being members of the Montreal Mafia skimmed large sums of money from all levels of contracts while also profiting from the substitution of cheaper building materials of lesser quality which may have contributed to the delays poor construction and excessive costs In 1988 one such contractor Giuseppe Zappia was cleared of fraud charges that resulted from his work on Olympic facilities after two key witnesses died before testifying at his trial 32 The 1976 Games were boycotted by many African nations as a protest against a recent tour of apartheid run South Africa by the New Zealand national rugby union team 33 Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci made history when she won the women s individual all around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores She won two other individual events with two perfect scores in the balance beam and all perfect scores in the uneven bars 34 Lasse Viren repeated his double gold in the 5 000 and 10 000 meters making him the first athlete to ever win the distance double twice 35 End of the 20th century Edit Following the Soviet Union s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan 66 nations including the United States Canada West Germany and Japan boycotted the 1980 Games held in Moscow Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games the smallest number since 1956 The boycott contributed to the 1980 Games being a less publicised and less competitive affair which was dominated by the host country In 1984 the Soviet Union and 13 Soviet allies reciprocated by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Romania and Yugoslavia notably are the only two countries from the Eastern Bloc that did attend the 1984 Olympics These games were perhaps the first games of a new era to make a profit Although a boycott led by the Soviet Union depleted the field in certain sports 140 National Olympic Committees took part which was a record at the time 36 The Games were also the first time mainland China People s Republic participated According to British journalist Andrew Jennings a KGB colonel stated that the agency s officers had posed as anti doping authorities from the IOC to undermine doping tests and that Soviet athletes were rescued with these tremendous efforts 37 On the topic of the 1980 Summer Olympics a 1989 Australian study said There is hardly a medal winner at the Moscow Games certainly not a gold medal winner who is not on one sort of drug or another usually several kinds The Moscow Games might as well have been called the Chemists Games 37 Documents obtained in 2016 revealed the Soviet Union s plans for a statewide doping system in track and field in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Dated prior to the country s decision to boycott the Games the document detailed the existing steroids operations of the programme along with suggestions for further enhancements 38 The communication directed to the Soviet Union s head of track and field was prepared by Dr Sergei Portugalov of the Institute for Physical Culture Portugalov was also one of the main figures involved in the implementation of the Russian doping programme prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics 38 The 1988 Games in Seoul was very well planned but the games were tainted when many of the athletes most notably men s 100 metres winner Ben Johnson failed mandatory drug tests Despite splendid drug free performances by many individuals the number of people who failed screenings for performance enhancing chemicals overshadowed the games The 1992 Barcelona Games featured the admittance of players from one of the North American top leagues the NBA exemplified by but not limited to US basketball s Dream Team The 1992 games also saw the reintroduction to the Games of several smaller European states which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union since World War II At these games gymnast Vitaly Scherbo set an inaugural medal record of five individual gold medals at a Summer Olympics and equaled the inaugural record set by Eric Heiden at the 1980 Winter Olympics By then the process of choosing a location for the Games had become a commercial concern there were widespread allegations of corruption potentially affecting the IOC s decision process At the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics the highlight was 200 meters runner Michael Johnson annihilating the world record in front of a home crowd Canadians savoured Donovan Bailey s recording gold medal run in the 100 meter dash This was popularly felt to be an appropriate recompense for the previous national disgrace involving Ben Johnson There were also emotional scenes such as when Muhammad Ali clearly affected by Parkinson s disease lit the Olympic torch and received a replacement medal for the one he had discarded in 1960 The latter event took place in the basketball arena The atmosphere at the Games was marred however when a bomb exploded during the celebration in Centennial Olympic Park In June 2003 the principal suspect in this bombing Eric Robert Rudolph was arrested The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Australia were known as the Games of the New Millennium The 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney Australia showcased individual performances by locals favorites Ian Thorpe in the pool and Cathy Freeman an Indigenous Australian whose triumph in the 400 meters united a packed stadium Briton Steve Redgrave who won a rowing gold medal in an unprecedented fifth consecutive Olympics and Eric the Eel Moussambani a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea received wide media coverage when he completed the 100 meter freestyle swim in by far the slowest time in Olympic history He nevertheless won the heat as both his opponents had been disqualified for false starts His female compatriot Paula Barila Bolopa also received media attention for her record slow and struggling but courageous performance The Sydney Games also saw the first appearance of a joint North and South Korean contingent at the opening ceremonies though they competed in all events as different teams Controversy occurred in the Women s Artistic Gymnastics when the vaulting horse was set to the wrong height during the All Around Competition Start of the 21st century Edit In 2004 the Olympic Games returned to their birthplace in Athens Greece At least 7 2 billion was spent on the 2004 Games including 1 5 billion on security Michael Phelps won his first Olympic medals tallying six gold and two bronze medals Pyrros Dimas winning a bronze medal became the most decorated weightlifter of all time with four Olympic medals three gold and one bronze Although unfounded reports of potential terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions at the first weekend of the Olympics 14 15 August 2004 attendance picked up as the Games progressed A third of the tickets failed to sell 39 but ticket sales still topped figures from the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics 1988 and 1992 citation needed IOC President Jacques Rogge characterised Greece s organisation as outstanding and its security precautions as flawless 40 All 202 NOCs participated at the Athens Games with over 11 000 participants The 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing People s Republic of China Several new events were held including the new discipline of BMX for both men and women Women competed in the steeplechase for the first time The fencing programme was expanded to include all six events for both men and women previously women had not been able to compete in team foil or sabre events although women s team epee and men s team foil were dropped for these Games Marathon swimming events were added over the distance of 10 km 6 2 mi Also the doubles events in table tennis were replaced by team events 41 American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight and tied the record of most gold medals by a single competitor previously held by both Eric Heiden and Vitaly Scherbo Another notable star of the Games was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt who became the first male athlete ever to set world records in the finals of both the 100 and 200 metres in the same Games Equestrian events were held in Hong Kong London held the 2012 Summer Olympics becoming the first city to host the Olympic Games three times In his closing address Jacques Rogge described the Games as Happy and glorious The host nation won 29 gold medals the best haul for Great Britain since the 1908 Games in London The United States returned to the top of the medal table after China dominated in 2008 The IOC had removed baseball and softball from the 2012 programme The London Games were successful on a commercial level because they were the first in history to completely sell out every ticket with as many as 1 million applications for 40 000 tickets for both the Opening Ceremony and the 100m Men s Sprint Final Such was the demand for tickets to all levels of each event that there was controversy over seats being set aside for sponsors and National Delegations which went unused in the early days A system of reallocation was put in place so the empty seats were filled throughout the Games Recent Games Edit The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo Japan had few attendees as a result of excluding public spectators amid the COVID 19 pandemic Rio de Janeiro in Brazil hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics becoming the first South American city to host the Olympics the second Olympic host city in Latin America after Mexico City in 1968 as well as the third city in the Southern Hemisphere to host the Olympics after Melbourne Australia in 1956 and Sydney Australia in 2000 The preparation for these Games was overshadowed by controversies including political instability and an economic crisis in the host country health and safety concerns surrounding the Zika virus and significant pollution in the Guanabara Bay However these concerns were superseded by a state sponsored doping scandal involving Russian athletes at the Winter Olympics held two years earlier which affected the participation of its athletes in these Games 42 The 2020 Summer Olympics were originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Tokyo Japan The city was the fifth in history to host the Games twice and the first Asian city to have this title Due to the COVID 19 pandemic the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the IOC and the Tokyo Organising Committee announced that the 2020 Games were to be delayed until 2021 marking the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed Unlike previous Olympics these Games took place without spectators due to concerns over COVID 19 and a state of emergency imposed in the host city 43 44 45 Nevertheless the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games featured many memorable moments and feats of technical excellence One star of the games the US gymnast Simone Biles gracefully bowed out to focus on her mental health but later returned to claim an individual bronze medal 46 Norway s Karsten Warholm smashed his own world record in the 400m hurdles original research Sports EditMain article Olympic sports There has been a total of 42 sports spanning 55 disciplines included in the Olympic programme at one point or another in the history of the Games The schedule has comprised 33 sports for recent Summer Olympics 2020 with 32 sports planned for the next Summer Olympics 2024 The various Olympic Sports federations are grouped under a common umbrella association called the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations ASOIF Current sport No longer included Sport Years3x3 Basketball Since 2021Archery 1900 1908 1920 since 1972Artistic swimming Since 1984Athletics AllBadminton Since 1992Baseball 1992 2008 2020 2028Basketball Since 1936Basque pelota 1900Breaking To begin 2024Boxing 1904 1908 since 1920Canoeing Since 1936Cricket 1900Croquet 1900Cycling AllDiving Since 1904Equestrian 1900 since 1912Fencing AllField hockey 1908 1920 since 1928Football 1900 1928 since 1936Golf 1900 1904 since 2016Gymnastics AllHandball 1936 since 1972Jeu de paume 1908Judo 1964 since 1972Karate 2020Lacrosse 1904 1908Modern pentathlon Since 1912Polo 1900 1908 1920 1924 1936Rackets 1908Roque 1904Rowing Since 1900Rugby union 1900 1908 1920 1924Rugby sevens Since 2016Sailing 1900 since 1908Shooting 1896 1900 1908 1924 since 1932Skateboarding Since 2020Softball 1996 2008 2020 2028Sport climbing Since 2020Surfing Since 2020Swimming AllTable tennis Since 1988Taekwondo Since 2000Tennis 1896 1924 since 1988Triathlon Since 2000Tug of war 1900 1920Volleyball Since 1964Water motorsports 1908Water polo Since 1900Weightlifting 1896 1904 since 1920Wrestling 1896 since 1904Qualification Edit Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports Federation IF that governs that sport s international competition 47 For individual sports competitors typically qualify by attaining a certain place in a major international event or on the IF s ranking list There is a general rule that a maximum of three individual athletes may represent each nation per competition National Olympic Committees NOCs may enter a limited number of qualified competitors in each event and the NOC decides which qualified competitors to select as representatives in each event if more have attained the benchmark than can be entered 48 Nations most often qualify teams for team sports through continental qualifying tournaments in which each continental association is given a certain number of spots in the Olympic tournament Each nation may be represented by no more than one team per competition a team consists of just two people in some sports Popularity of Olympic sports Edit The IOC divides Summer Olympic sports into five categories A E based on popularity gauged by six criteria television viewing figures 40 internet popularity 20 public surveys 15 ticket requests 10 press coverage 10 and number of national federations 5 The category of a sport determines the share of Olympic revenue received by that sport s International Federation 49 50 Sports that were new to the 2016 Olympics rugby and golf have been placed in Category E The current categories are Cat No SportA 3 athletics aquatics a gymnasticsB 5 basketball cycling football tennis volleyballC 8 archery badminton boxing judo rowing shooting table tennis weightliftingD 9 canoe kayaking equestrian fencing handball field hockey sailing taekwondo triathlon wrestlingE 3 modern pentathlon golf rugbyF 6 baseball softball karate skateboarding sport climbing surfinga Aquatics encompasses artistic swimming diving swimming and water polo All time medal table EditMain article All time Olympic Games medal table The table below uses official data provided by the IOC Defunct nation No Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total Games1 United States 1060 831 738 2629 282 Soviet Union 395 319 296 1010 93 Great Britain 285 319 314 918 294 China 262 199 173 634 115 France 223 251 277 751 296 Italy 217 188 213 618 287 Germany 201 207 247 655 178 Hungary 181 154 176 511 279 Japan 169 150 178 497 2310 Australia 164 173 210 547 2711 East Germany 153 129 127 409 512 Russia 149 126 151 426 613 Sweden 148 176 179 503 2814 Finland 101 85 119 305 2615 South Korea 96 91 100 287 1816 Netherlands 95 105 122 322 2717 Romania 90 97 121 308 2218 Cuba 84 69 82 235 2119 Poland 72 89 137 298 2220 Canada 71 109 146 326 27Medal leaders by year Edit Number of occurrences United States 18 times Soviet Union 6 times France once Great Britain once Germany once China once Unified Team onceList of Summer Olympic Games EditThe IOC has never decided which events of the early Games were Olympic and which were not 51 The founder of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin ceded that determination to the organisers of those Games Olympiad No Host Games dates Opened by Sports Disciplines Competitors Events Nations Top nationTotal Men Women1896 52 I Athens 6 15 April 1896King George I 9 10 241 241 0 43 14 1 A United States1900 53 II Paris 14 May 28 October 1900N A 19 20 1226 N A N A 95 B 26 4 C 1 A France1904 54 III St Louis 1 July 23 November 1904Former Mayor David R Francis 16 17 651 645 6 95 D 12 1 A United States1908 55 IV London 27 April 31 October 1908King Edward VII 22 25 2008 1971 37 110 22 Great Britain1912 56 V Stockholm 6 22 July 1912King Gustaf V 14 18 2407 2359 48 102 28 United States1916 VI E Awarded to Germany Berlin Cancelled due to World War I1920 57 VII Antwerp 14 August 12 September 1920King Albert I 22 29 2626 2561 65 156 F 29 United States1924 58 VIII Paris 5 27 July 1924President Gaston Doumergue 17 23 3089 2954 135 126 44 United States1928 59 IX Amsterdam 28 July 12 August 1928Duke Henry of Mecklenburg Schwerin 14 20 2883 2606 277 109 46 United States1932 60 X Los Angeles 30 July 14 August 1932Vice President Charles Curtis 1332 1206 126 117 37 United States1936 61 XI Berlin 1 16 August 1936Chancellor Adolf Hitler G 19 25 3963 3632 331 129 49 Germany1940 XII E Originally awarded to Japan Tokyo then awarded to Finland Helsinki Cancelled due to World War II1944 XIII E Awarded to United Kingdom London Cancelled due to World War II1948 62 XIV London 29 July 14 August 1948King George VI 17 23 4104 3714 390 136 59 United States1952 63 XV Helsinki 19 July 3 August 1952President Juho Kusti Paasikivi 4955 4436 519 149 69 United States1956 3 XVI Melbourne Stockholm equestrian events 22 November 8 December 1956Philip Duke of Edinburgh 3314 2938 376 151 H 72 I Soviet Union1960 64 XVII Rome 25 August 11 September 1960President Giovanni Gronchi 5338 4727 611 150 83 Soviet Union1964 65 XVIII Tokyo 10 24 October 1964Emperor Hirohito 19 25 5151 4473 678 163 93 United States1968 24 XIX Mexico City 12 27 October 1968President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz 18 24 5516 4735 781 172 112 United States1972 29 XX Munich 26 August 11 September 1972 J President Gustav Heinemann 21 28 7134 6075 1059 195 121 Soviet Union1976 66 XXI Montreal 17 July 1 August 1976Queen Elizabeth II 21 27 6084 4824 1260 198 92 Soviet Union1980 67 XXII Moscow 19 July 3 August 1980Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev K 5179 4064 1115 203 80 Soviet Union1984 36 XXIII Los Angeles 28 July 12 August 1984President Ronald Reagan 21 29 6829 5263 1566 221 140 United States1988 68 XXIV Seoul 17 September 2 October 1988President Roh Tae woo 23 31 8391 6197 2194 237 159 Soviet Union1992 69 XXV Barcelona 25 July 9 August 1992King Juan Carlos I 25 34 9356 6652 2704 257 169 Unified Team1996 70 XXVI Atlanta 19 July 4 August 1996President Bill Clinton 26 37 10318 6806 3512 271 197 United States2000 71 XXVII Sydney 15 September 1 October 2000Governor General Sir William Deane 28 40 10651 6582 4069 300 199 United States2004 72 XXVIII Athens 13 29 August 2004President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos 10625 6296 4329 301 201 United States2008 73 XXIX Beijing 8 24 August 2008President Hu Jintao L 28 41 10942 6305 4637 302 204 China2012 74 XXX London 27 July 12 August 2012Queen Elizabeth II 26 39 10768 5992 4776 302 204 United States2016 75 XXXI Rio de Janeiro 5 21 August 2016Acting President Michel Temer 28 41 11238 6179 5059 306 207 United States2020 76 XXXII Tokyo 23 July 8 August 2021 M Emperor Naruhito 33 50 11656 5982 5494 339 206 United States2024 77 XXXIII Paris 26 July 11 August 2024President Emmanuel Macron expected 32 48 10500 N TBA TBA 329 TBA TBA2028 78 XXXIV Los Angeles 14 30 July 2028TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA2032 79 XXXV Brisbane 23 July 8 August 2032TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBAA 1 2 3 The IOC site for the 1896 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympic Games does not include Mixed teams teams of athletes from different nations as separate nation when counting participating nations At the same time the IOC shows Mixed team in the results of competitions where these teams competed Thus specified number of national teams plus Mixed teams participated in the Games B At an earlier time the IOC database for the 1900 Summer Olympics listed 85 medal events 24 participating countries and 997 athletes 22 women 975 men 80 The Olympic historian and author Bill Mallon 81 whose studies have shed light on the topic suggested the number 95 events satisfying all four retrospective selection criteria restricted to amateurs international participation open to all competitors and without handicapping and now should be considered as Olympic events In July 2021 the IOC upgraded its complete online database of all Olympic results explicitly to incorporate the data of the Olympic historians website Olympedia org thus accepting Mallon s recommendation based on four applied criteria for events of the 1900 Olympic Games The eleven events the results of which had nevertheless been shown within the earlier IOC database have been added over the former total of 85 One shooting event 20 metre military pistol which was an event for professionals have been removed Acceptance of Mallon s recommendation increased the number of events to 95 and also entailed increasing the number of participation countries up to 26 and athletes up to 1226 After upgrading of the IOC online database the IOC web site results section contains 95 events 82 However the IOC webpage for the 1900 Summer Olympics shows a total of 96 not 95 medal events 26 participating countries and 1226 athletes 53 The reason for the discrepancy in the number of events on the IOC webpage is unknown Furthermore the IOC factsheet The Games of the Olympiad of November 2021 refers to 95 events but still refers to old numbers of participating countries 24 and athletes 997 8 C According to the International Olympic Committee 26 nations sent competitors to this edition 53 The concept of national teams chosen by National Olympic Committees did not exist at this point in time When counting the number of participating countries in the early Olympic Games the IOC does not take into account otherwise unrepresented countries whose citizens competed for other countries Modern research shows 81 that at the 1900 Olympics the athletes of at least four otherwise unrepresented countries Canada Luxembourg Colombia New Zealand competed for other countries in both individual and team sports The IOC website lists all of them in the results section under their nationalities 82 but does not include their countries among the 26 participating countries 53 D The IOC webpage for the 1904 Summer Olympics 54 sets the number at 95 events while at one time the IOC webpage 83 listed 91 The figure of 91 is sourced to a work by Olympic historian and author Bill Mallon 84 whose studies have shed light on the topic Events satisfying all four of these retrospective selection criteria restricted to amateurs allowing international participation open to all competitors and without handicapping are now regarded as Olympic events E 1 2 3 Although the Games of 1916 1940 and 1944 were cancelled the Roman numerals for those Games were still applied because the official titles of the Summer Games count the Olympiads not the Games themselves per the Olympic Charter 85 This contrasts with the Winter Olympics which ignore the cancelled Winter Games of 1940 and 1944 in their numeric count F The IOC webpage for the 1920 Summer Olympics 57 gives the figure of 156 events while at one time the IOC webpage 86 listed 154 difference was two sailing events in Amsterdam G IOC records state Hitler opened these Games as Chancellor Head of Government but in 1934 that office was consolidated with President Head of State into Fuhrer und Reichskanzler or Fuhrer 87 H The IOC webpage for the 1956 Summer Olympics 3 gives a total of 151 events 145 events in Melbourne and six equestrian events in Stockholm I Owing to Australian quarantine laws six equestrian events were held in Stockholm for the 1956 Summer Olympics several months before the other events in Melbourne five of the 72 nations that competed in the equestrian events in Stockholm did not attend the main Games in Melbourne J The 1972 Summer Olympics was originally scheduled to end on 10 September 1972 but was postponed to a day on 11 September after events had been suspended for 34 hours due to the Munich massacre which happened after day 9 K IOC records state Brezhnev opened the Moscow Games as President a title used at that time by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet or de jure head of state The office of President of the Soviet Union was not created until 1990 a year before the nation broke up Though Brezhnev was also de facto ruler as General Secretary of the Communist Party that title is not reflected in IOC records 87 L IOC records state Hu Jintao opened the Beijing Games as President de jure head of state Though Hu was also de facto ruler as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party that title is not reflected in IOC records 87 M Originally scheduled for 24 July 9 August 2020 the Games were postponed by one year due to the COVID 19 pandemic However the event was still referred to as the 2020 Summer Olympics marking the 32nd Olympiad to preserve the four year Olympiad cycle 43 N Number of athletes will be in limited quota into an equal number of gender participants 88 See also Edit Olympic Games portalList of participating nations at the Summer Olympic Games List of Olympic Games scandals and controversies Lists of Olympic medalists Olympic Games ceremony Olympic Stadium Summer Paralympic Games Paralympic Games Winter Olympic GamesReferences Edit IOC makes historic decision in agreeing to award 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games at the same time IOC 11 July 2017 Retrieved 31 January 2022 Schaffer Kay 2000 The Olympics at the Millennium Power Politics and the Games p 271 a b c Melbourne 1956 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Tarasouleas Athanasios Summer 1993 The Female Spiridon Loues PDF Citius Altius Fortius 1 3 11 12 Archived from the original PDF on 25 June 2008 Retrieved 26 June 2012 Macy Sue 2004 Swifter Higher Stronger Washington D C United States National Geographic pp 16 ISBN 0 7922 6667 6 Young David C 1996 The Modern Olympics A Struggle for Revival Johns Hopkins University Press p 144 ISBN 978 0 8018 5374 6 1896 Athina Summer Games Sports Reference Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 31 January 2009 a b Factsheet The Games of the Olympiad PDF International Olympic Committee 16 November 2021 p 1 Archived PDF from the original on 17 July 2021 Retrieved 31 January 2022 Lennartz Karl December 2001 The 2nd International Olympic Games in Athens 1906 PDF Journal of Olympic History 10 Archived PDF from the original on 15 May 2012 via LA84 Foundation Lovesey Peter December 2001 Conan Doyle and the Olympics PDF Journal of Olympic History 10 6 9 Archived from the original PDF on 16 October 2010 Paavo Nurmi THE FLYING FINN Life Story Retrieved 16 March 2020 The Olympic torch s shadowy past BBC News 5 April 2008 Retrieved 4 August 2008 Germany and Japan Are Banned As Participants in 48 Olympics Other Enemy Countries Including Italy Are Likely to Receive Bids However Organizing Group Reveals Plans The New York Times 24 January 1947 Retrieved 13 August 2022 Fernando Shemal 23 January 2022 Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers Koen who was crowned Female Athlete of the 20th Century Sunday Observer Retrieved 13 August 2022 Benjamin Daniel 27 July 1992 Traditions Pro Vs Amateur Time Archived from the original on 2 September 2009 Retrieved 18 March 2009 Schantz Otto The Olympic Ideal and the Winter Games Attitudes Towards the Olympic Winter Games in Olympic Discourses from Coubertin to Samaranch PDF www coubertin ch Comite International Pierre De Coubertin Archived from the original PDF on 5 May 2013 Retrieved 13 September 2008 Turnbull Simon 27 July 2022 Marking 70 years since Zatopek s unsurpassed Olympic treble worldathletics org Retrieved 13 August 2022 Reid Kirsty 20 August 2011 Blood in the water Hungary s 1956 water polo gold BBC News Retrieved 13 August 2022 Wallechinsky David Jamie Loucky 2008 The Complete Book of the Olympics 2008 Edition Aurum Press pp 453 454 ISBN 978 1 84513 330 6 Why Muhammad Ali received a second Olympic gold medal in 1996 olympics nbcsports com 4 May 2020 Retrieved 13 August 2022 Mulkeen Jon 2 September 2020 Sixty years since historic Olympic triple Rudolph s legacy lives on worldathletics org Retrieved 13 August 2022 Kortemeier Todd 8 January 2019 How the 1964 Games brought live Olympic Sports to the United States for the first time Team USA Retrieved 13 August 2022 Messner Nicolas 8 July 2021 Tokyo 1964 The First Chapter ijf org Retrieved 13 August 2022 a b Mexico City 1968 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Minshull Phil 20 October 2018 50 years since the day Dick Fosbury revolutionised the high jump worldathletics org Retrieved 13 August 2022 Parfitt Tom 24 April 2019 Black Power salute 50 years on Iconic Olympics protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos remembered The Independent Retrieved 13 August 2022 Reynolds Tom 20 October 2018 Vera Caslavska and the forgotten story of her 1968 Olympics protest BBC Sport Retrieved 13 August 2022 Burnton Simon 2 May 2012 50 stunning Olympic moments No 26 The terrorist outrage in Munich in 1972 The Guardian Archived from the original on 19 February 2014 a b Munich 1972 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Forrester Nicole W 25 February 2019 Will Canada ever host another Olympics If not don t blame the 1976 Montreal Games National Post The Canadian Press Retrieved 14 August 2022 Newton Paula 20 July 2012 Olympics worth the price tag The Montreal Legacy edition cnn com Retrieved 14 August 2022 Schneider Stephen April 2009 Ice The Story of Organized Crime in Canada p 551 ISBN 0 470 83500 1 Riga Andy 18 July 2016 Montreal Olympics photo flashback Boycott targeted New Zealand South Africa Montreal Gazette Retrieved 13 August 2022 Bowman Verity 25 September 2019 Moment in Time 18 July 1976 Nadia Comaneci s perfect 10 The Telegraph Retrieved 14 August 2022 Fernando Shemal 22 May 2022 Finnish Lasse Viren s Olympic Gold Double Double at Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 Sunday Observer Retrieved 14 August 2022 a b Los Angeles 1984 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 a b Hunt Thomas M 2011 Drug Games The International Olympic Committee and the Politics of Doping University of Texas Press p 66 ISBN 978 0292739574 a b Ruiz Rebecca R 13 August 2016 The Soviet Doping Plan Document Reveals Illicit Approach to 84 Olympics The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 3 September 2016 Tickets to Olympic events in Beijing sold out USA Today 28 July 2008 Retrieved 24 May 2010 Rogge hails Athens success BBC Sport 29 August 2004 Retrieved 19 August 2016 Beijing 2008 Games Program Finalized IOC 27 April 2006 Retrieved 31 January 2022 Rio to stage 2016 Olympic Games BBC Sport 2 October 2009 Retrieved 28 July 2012 a b Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed because of coronavirus BBC Sport 24 March 2020 Retrieved 24 March 2020 McCurry Justin Ingle Sean 24 March 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 24 March 2020 Tokyo to be put under state of emergency for duration of 2020 Olympic Games the Guardian 8 July 2021 Retrieved 8 July 2021 Peter Josh 8 August 2021 Will Tokyo Olympics be a game changer in how we view athletes mental health USA Today International Sports Federations IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 National Olympic Committees IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Athletics to share limelight as one of top Olympic sports The Queensland Times 31 May 2013 Retrieved 18 July 2013 Winners Include Gymnastics Swimming and Wrestling as IOC Announces New Funding Distribution Groupings The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations Retrieved 18 July 2013 Lennartz Karl Teutenberg Walter 1995 Olympische Spiele 1900 in Paris Kassel Germany Agon Sportverlag p 147 ISBN 3 928562 20 7 In many works it is read that the IOC later met to decide which events were Olympic and which were not This is not correct and no decision has ever been made No discussion of this item can be found in the account of any Session Athens 1896 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 a b c d Paris 1900 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 a b St Louis 1904 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 London 1908 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Stockholm 1912 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 a b Antwerp 1920 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Paris 1924 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Amsterdam 1928 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Los Angeles 1932 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Berlin 1936 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 London 1948 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Helsinki 1952 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Rome 1960 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Tokyo 1964 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Montreal 1976 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Moscow 1980 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Seoul 1988 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Barcelona 1992 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Atlanta 1996 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Sydney 2000 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Athens 2004 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Beijing 2008 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 London 2012 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Rio 2016 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Tokyo 2020 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Paris 2024 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Los Angeles 2028 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Brisbane 2032 IOC Retrieved 31 January 2022 Olympic Games Medals Results Sports Athletes Medailles Resultats Sports et Athletes des Jeux Olympiques Archived from the original on 24 February 2014 Retrieved 18 February 2014 a b Mallon Bill 1998 The 1900 Olympic Games Results for All Competitors in All Events with Commentary Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company Inc pp 25 28 ISBN 978 0 7864 4064 1 a b Paris 1900 Results International Olympic Committee Retrieved 31 January 2022 St Louis 1904 archived Olympic org Archived from the original on 2 June 2016 Retrieved 11 December 2020 Mallon Bill 1999 The 1904 Olympic Games Results for All Competitors in All Events with Commentary Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company Inc p 16 ISBN 9781476621609 Lennox Doug 2009 Now You Know Big Book of Sports Dundurn Press p 223 ISBN 978 1 55488 454 4 Antwerp 1920 archived Olympic org Archived from the original on 2 June 2016 Retrieved 11 December 2020 a b c Factsheet Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad PDF 6 October 2021 pp 4 5 Archived PDF from the original on 23 July 2021 Retrieved 31 January 2022 Gender equality and youth at the heart of the Paris 2024 Olympic Sports Programme www olympics com International Olympic Committee 7 December 2020 Retrieved 2 August 2020 The 10 500 athlete quota set for Paris 2024 including new sports will lead to an overall reduction in the number of athletesExternal links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Summer Olympics Official website Candidate Cities for future Olympic Games Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Summer Olympic Games amp oldid 1145082952, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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