summer olympics games

Summer Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games Overview

This Summer Olympic Games list details every host city and host nation along with the number of sportsmen and sportswomen who took part. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be held between 24th July and 9th August 2020. Five new sports make their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020; surfing, sport climbing, karate and skateboarding, a total of 33 sports, the largest number of sports in Olympic history.

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Country Year Games Nations Olympic Village Athletes Events Sports
Greece 1896 I (1st) 14 Athens 245 43 9
France 1900 II (2nd) 24 Paris 131 185 23
USA 1904 III (3rd) 12 St. Louis 689 91 17
England 1908 IV (4th) 22 London 2,035 109 21
Sweden 1912 V (5th) 28 Stockholm 2,547 102 14
Germany 1916 VI (6th) – Berlin cancelled due to WWII –
Belgium 1920 VII (7th) 29 Antwerp 2,669 154 20
France 1924 VIII (8th) 44 Paris (France) 3,075 126 17
Netherlands 1928 IX (9th) 46 Amsterdam 2,871 109 14
USA 1932 X (10th) 37 Los Angeles 1,331 116 14
Germany 1936 XI (11th) 49 Berlin 4,066 129 19
Finland / Japan 1940 XII (12th) – Helsinki / Tokyo cancelled due to WWII –
England 1944 XIII (13th) – London cancelled due to WWII –
England 1948 XIV (14th) 59 London 4,106 136 17
Finland 1952 XV (15th) 69 Helsinki 4,955 149 17
Australia 1956 XVI (16th) 72* Melbourne 3,472 153 17
Italy 1960 XVII (17th) 83 Rome 5,338 150 17
Japan 1964 XVIII (18th) 93 Tokyo 514 163 19
Mexico 1968 XIX (19th) 112 Mexico City 5,531 172 18
Germany 1972 XX (20th) 121 Munich 7,147 195 21
Canada 1976 XXI (21st) 92 Montreal 6,028 198 21
Russia 1980 XXII (22nd) 80 Moscow 5,217 203 21
USA 1984 XXIII (23rd) 140 Los Angeles 6,797 221 21
South Korea 1988 XXIV (24th) 159 Seoul 8,381 237 23
Spain 1992 XXV (25th) 169 Barcelona 9,967 257 25
USA 1996 XXVI (26th) 197 Atlanta 1,032 271 26
Australia 2000 XXVII (27th) 199 Sydney 10,651 300 28
Greece 2004 XXVIII (28th) 201 Athens 11,099 301 28
China 2008 XXIX (29th) 204 Beijing 11,129 302 28
England 2012 XXX (30th) 204 London 10,768 302 26
Brazil 2016 XXXI (31st) 207 Rio de Janeiro 11,303 306 28
Japan 2020 XXXII (32nd) – Tokyo TBC 339 33
*Due to Australian quarantine laws six equestrian events were held in Sweden ahead of the 1956 Games in Australia. Five nations, which competed in the equestrian events in Sweden, didn’t attend the main games in Australia.

Summer Olympic Games History

The first modern Summer Olympic Games took place in 1896 having been resurrected by Pierre de Frédy – a French Baron and historian – with the goal of promoting peace through sport. To what degree he succeeded is unclear – the games have been cancelled 3 times so far because of World Wars. Historians generally agree the first Olympic games took place in the summer of 776 BC. In ancient Greece an Olympiad was a group of four years. The first modern Olympiad 1896 is one year out of sync with the ancient Olympiad cycle, possibly because the Julian calendar skips from 1 BC to 1 AD.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn’t publish Olympics medal tables because the Olympic Charter states the games are “competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not between countries” but nevertheless medal tables are widely published, including ADDucation’s All-time Summer Olympics medal table. Despite attempts to agree a more inclusive points system, which would give a rank to countries without any medals, none have become widely established.

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