Juegos olimpicos de verano

"Juegos Olímpicos de Verano" vuelve a dirigir aquí. Para el videojuego, vea Juegos Olímpicos de Verano (videojuego) .

International multi-sport event

Juegos olimpicos de verano
La llama olímpica en Río de Janeiro durante los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2016
Juegos
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032
Deportes ( detalles )
Tiro al arco Natación artística Atletismo Bádminton Béisbol Baloncesto Boxeo Canotaje Ciclismo Buceo Ecuestre Hockey sobre hierba Esgrima Fútbol Gimnasia Golf Balonmano Judo Kárate Pentatlón moderno Remo Rugby a siete Navegación Tiroteo Patineta Sofbol Surf Natación Tenis de mesa Taekwondo Tenis Triatlón Vóleibol Polo acuático Levantamiento de pesas Lucha

Juegos olímpicos
Temas principales
Pujas Boicots Ceremonias Carta Ciudades anfitrionas SI COI Medalla Mesas de medallas Medallistas CON Medalla Pierre de Coubertin Escándalos y controversias Deportes Simbolos Televisión Relés de antorcha Sedes Participación de las mujeres
Juegos
Verano Invierno Juventud africano asiático europeo Pacífico Panamericano Antiguo Intercalado
v t mi

Los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano (en francés : Jeux olympiques d'été ) ^[1], también conocidos como los Juegos de la Olimpiada , son un importante evento multideportivo internacional que normalmente se celebra una vez cada cuatro años. Los Juegos se celebraron por primera vez en 1896 en Atenas , Grecia , y se celebraron más recientemente en 2016 en Río de Janeiro , Brasil. El Comité Olímpico Internacional (COI) organiza los Juegos y supervisa los preparativos de la ciudad anfitriona. En cada evento olímpico , se otorgan medallas de oro al primer lugar,las medallas de plata se otorgan para el segundo lugar y las medallas de bronce para el tercer lugar; esta tradición comenzó en 1904 . Los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno se crearon a partir del éxito de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano.

Los Juegos Olímpicos han aumentado en alcance de un programa de 42 eventos de competencia con menos de 250 competidores masculinos de 14 naciones en 1896 a 306 eventos con 11,238 competidores (6,179 hombres, 5,059 mujeres) de 206 naciones en 2016. Los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano se han organizado en cinco continentes por un total de diecinueve países. Los Juegos se han celebrado cuatro veces en los Estados Unidos ( 1904 , 1932 , 1984 y 1996 ), tres veces en Gran Bretaña ( 1908 , 1948 y 2012 ), dos veces cada una en Grecia ( 1896 y 2004 ), Francia (1900 y 1924 ), Alemania ( 1936 y 1972 ) y Australia ( 1956 y 2000 ), y una vez cada uno en Suecia ( 1912 ), Bélgica ( 1920 ), Países Bajos ( 1928 ), Finlandia ( 1952 ), Italia ( 1960 ), Japón. ( 1964 ), México ( 1968 ), Canadá ( 1976 ),Unión Soviética ( 1980 ), Corea del Sur ( 1988 ), España ( 1992 ), China ( 2008 ) y Brasil ( 2016 ).

El COI ha seleccionado Tokio , Japón, para una segunda vez para albergar los Juegos Olímpicos de 2020 (que tendrá lugar en 2021 debido a la COVID-19 pandemia . ^[2] ). Los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2024 se llevarán a cabo en París , Francia por tercera vez, exactamente cien años después de los últimos Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de la ciudad en 1924. El COI también ha seleccionado Los Ángeles , California para albergar sus terceros Juegos de Verano en 2028 . Solo cinco países han participado en todos los Juegos Olímpicos de verano: Australia, Francia, Gran Bretaña, Grecia y Suiza . Estados Unidos lidera la tabla de medallas de todos los tiempos para los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano.

Alojamiento

Mapa de las ubicaciones de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano: los países que han albergado uno de los Juegos Olímpicos de verano están sombreados en verde, mientras que los países que han albergado dos o más están sombreados en azul

El Estados Unidos ha sido anfitrión de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano cuatro veces: la primera vez Juegos de 1904 se celebró en St. Louis , Missouri ; los Juegos de 1932 y 1984 se llevaron a cabo en Los Ángeles , California , y los Juegos de 1996 se llevaron a cabo en Atlanta , Georgia . Los Juegos de 2028 en Los Ángeles marcarán la quinta ocasión en que los Juegos de Verano han sido organizados por EE. UU.

En 2012 , el Reino Unido albergó sus terceros Juegos Olímpicos de Verano en la capital, Londres , que se convirtió en la primera ciudad en haber sido sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano en tres ocasiones. Las ciudades de Los Ángeles, París y Atenas han sido sede de dos Juegos Olímpicos de verano. En 2024 , Francia albergará sus terceros Juegos Olímpicos de Verano en su capital, lo que convierte a París en la segunda ciudad en haber sido sede de tres Juegos Olímpicos de Verano. En 2028, Los Ángeles se convertirá en la tercera ciudad en haber sido sede de los Juegos en tres ocasiones.

Australia , Francia, Alemania y Grecia han sido sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano en dos ocasiones. El COI ha seleccionado a Tokio , Japón, para albergar los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2020 , cuando se convertirá en la primera ciudad fuera del mundo occidental en haber sido sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano más de una vez, habiendo sido ya sede de los Juegos en 1964 . Los otros países que han acogido los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano son Bélgica , Brasil , China , Canadá , Finlandia , Italia , México , Países Bajos , Corea del Sur , España., Unión Soviética y Suecia ; cada uno de estos países ha sido sede de los Juegos de Verano en una sola ocasión.

Asia ha sido sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano en tres ocasiones, en Tokio, Japón ( 1964 ), Seúl , Corea del Sur ( 1988 ) y Beijing , China ( 2008 ); Asia será la sede de los Juegos por cuarta vez. Tokio estaba programado por segunda vez para ser la ciudad sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2020; sin embargo, debido a la pandemia de COVID-19 , los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano se han pospuesto a doce meses desde la fecha programada originalmente. Históricamente, los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano se han celebrado principalmente en países de habla inglesa y naciones europeas . ^[3]Tokio será la primera ciudad fuera de estas regiones en albergar dos veces los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano; También será la ciudad más grande que haya albergado los Juegos, habiendo crecido considerablemente desde 1964 .

Los Juegos de 2016 en Río de Janeiro , Brasil, fueron los primeros Juegos Olímpicos de Verano que se celebraron en América del Sur y los primeros que se llevaron a cabo completamente durante la temporada de " invierno " local . Los únicos dos países del hemisferio sur que han acogido los Juegos Olímpicos de verano han sido Australia ( 1956 y 2000 ) y Brasil ( 2016 ). África aún no ha sido sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de verano.

Estocolmo , Suecia, ha sido sede de eventos en dos Juegos Olímpicos de verano, habiendo sido el único anfitrión de los Juegos de 1912 y sede de los eventos ecuestres en los Juegos Olímpicos de verano de 1956 (que se les atribuye como sede conjunta con Melbourne , Australia). ^[4] Amsterdam , Holanda, también ha sido sede de eventos en dos Juegos Olímpicos de Verano, habiendo sido el único anfitrión de los Juegos de 1928 y anteriormente acogió dos de las regatas de los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1920 . En los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2008 , Hong Kong proporcionó las sedes para los eventos ecuestres., que tuvo lugar en Sha Tin y Kwu Tung .

Historia

Primeros años

La ceremonia de apertura de los primeros Juegos Olímpicos modernos en el Estadio Panatenaico

El Comité Olímpico Internacional se fundó en 1894 cuando Pierre de Coubertin , un pedagogo e historiador francés , trató de promover el entendimiento internacional a través de la competición deportiva. La primera edición de los Juegos Olímpicos se celebró en Atenas en 1896 y atrajo solo a 245 competidores, de los cuales más de 200 eran griegos, y solo 14 países estuvieron representados. Sin embargo, antes no se habían organizado eventos internacionales de esta magnitud. A las atletas femeninas no se les permitió competir, aunque una mujer, Stamata Revithi , corrió el recorrido del maratón por su cuenta y dijo: "Si el comité no me deja competir, iré tras ellas de todos modos". ^[5]

Los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1896 , oficialmente conocidos como los Juegos de la Olimpiada, fueron un evento multideportivo internacional que se celebró en Atenas , Grecia, del 6 al 15 de abril de 1896. Fueron los primeros Juegos Olímpicos celebrados en la era Moderna . Cerca de 100.000 personas asistieron a la inauguración de los juegos. Los atletas procedían de 14 naciones, la mayoría de Grecia. Aunque Grecia tuvo la mayor cantidad de atletas, Estados Unidos terminó con la mayor cantidad de campeones. 11 estadounidenses ocuparon el primer lugar en sus eventos contra los 10 de Grecia. ^[6] Antigua Greciafue el lugar de nacimiento de los Juegos Olímpicos, por lo que Atenas fue percibida como una opción apropiada para albergar los Juegos modernos inaugurales. Fue elegida por unanimidad como ciudad sede durante un congreso organizado por Pierre de Coubertin en París, el 23 de junio de 1894. El COI también se estableció durante este congreso.

A pesar de muchos obstáculos y reveses, los Juegos Olímpicos de 1896 fueron considerados un gran éxito. Los Juegos tuvieron la mayor participación internacional de cualquier evento deportivo hasta esa fecha. El estadio Panathinaiko , el primer gran estadio del mundo moderno, se desbordó con la mayor multitud que jamás haya visto un evento deportivo. ^[7] Lo más destacado para los griegos fue la victoria en maratón de su compatriota Spiridon Louis , un aguatero. Ganó en 2 horas 58 minutos y 50 segundos, desencadenando festejos salvajes en el estadio. El competidor más exitoso fue el luchador y gimnasta alemán Carl Schuhmann , quien ganó cuatro medallas de oro.

Los funcionarios griegos y el público estaban entusiasmados con la experiencia de albergar unos Juegos Olímpicos. Este sentimiento fue compartido por muchos de los atletas, quienes incluso exigieron que Atenas sea la ciudad sede olímpica permanente. El COI tenía la intención de que los Juegos posteriores se rotaran a varias ciudades anfitrionas de todo el mundo. Los segundos Juegos Olímpicos se llevaron a cabo en París. ^[8]

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 5 months. It is still disputed which events exactly were Olympic, since few or maybe even none of the events were advertised as such at the time.

Francis Field of Washington University in St. Louis during the 1904 Summer Olympics

Dorando Pietri finishes the modern marathon 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.^[9]

A series of smaller games were held in Athens in 1906. The IOC does not currently recognise these games as being official Olympic Games, although many historians do. The 1906 Athens games were the first of an alternating series of games to be held in Athens, but the series failed to materialise. The games were more successful than the 1900 and 1904 games, with over 900 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 were all five inhabited continents 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.

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 Games of 1940 (due to be held in Tokyo and temporarily relocated to Helsinki upon the outbreak of war) were cancelled. The Games of 1944 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. Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals on the track, emulating Owens' achievement in Berlin.

At the 1952 Games in Helsinki the USSR team competed for the first time and immediately became one of the dominant teams (finishing second both in the number of gold and overall medals won). Soviet 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.^[13][14] 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 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.

The 1956 Melbourne Games were largely successful, barring a water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, which the Soviet invasion of Hungary caused to end as a pitched battle between the teams. Due to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Britain at the time and the strict quarantine laws of Australia, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm.

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.^[15] He was awarded a new medal 36 years later at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Other performers of note in 1960 included Wilma Rudolph, a gold medallist in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4 × 100 meters relay events.

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

Performances at the 1968 Mexico City games were affected by the altitude of the host city.^[16] The 1968 Games also introduced the now-universal Fosbury flop, a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal. In the medal award ceremony for the men's 200 meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) took a stand for civil rights by raising their black-gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes. They were banned by the IOC. Věra Čáslavská, in protest to 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 whilst the anthem played during the medal ceremony. She returned home as a heroine of the Czechoslovak people but was made an outcast by the Soviet-dominated government.

Politics again intervened at Munich in 1972, 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 9 others as hostages. The terrorists demanded that Israel release numerous prisoners. When the Israeli government refused their demand, a tense stand-off ensued 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 firefight that followed, 15 people, including the nine Israeli athletes and five of the terrorists, were killed. After much debate, it was decided that the Games would continue, but proceedings were obviously dominated by these events.^[17] 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, Lasse Virén (of Finland)'s back-to-back gold 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. Korbut, however, failed to win the all-around, losing to her teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva.

There was no such tragedy in Montreal in 1976, but bad planning and fraud led to the Games' cost far exceeding the budget. The Montreal Games were the most expensive in Olympic history, until the 2014 Winter Olympics, costing over $5 billion (equivalent to $22.03 billion in 2020). For a time, it seemed that the Olympics might no longer be a viable financial proposition. In retrospect, the belief 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, 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".^[18] There was also a boycott by many African nations to protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by the New Zealand national rugby union team. The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci won the women's individual all-around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores, this giving birth to a gymnastics dynasty in Romania. She also won two other individual events, with two perfect scores in the balance beam and all perfect scores in the uneven bars. Lasse Virén repeated his double gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, making him the first athlete to ever win the distance double twice.

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, notably, was one of the nations in 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.^[19] 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".^[20] 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."^[20]

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.^[21] 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.^[21]

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.

An 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 held in Sydney, Australia, known as the "Games of the New Millennium".

The 2000 Summer Olympics was held in Sydney, Australia, and showcased individual performances by local favorite Ian Thorpe in the pool, Briton Steve Redgrave who won a rowing gold medal in an unprecedented fifth consecutive Olympics, and Cathy Freeman, an Indigenous Australian whose triumph in the 400 meters united a packed stadium. 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 as different countries. 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 and new millennium

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,^[22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24] 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.

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 the political instability of Brazil's federal government; the country's economic crisis; health and safety concerns surrounding the Zika virus and significant pollution in the Guanabara Bay; and a state-sponsored doping scandal involving Russia, which affected the participation of its athletes in the Games.^[25]

The 2020 Summer Olympics were originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. The city will be the fifth in history to host the Games twice, and the first Asian city to have this title. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, the IOC and the Tokyo Organizing Committee announced that the 2020 Games were to be delayed until 2021, marking the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed.^[26][27]

Sports

Main 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 28 sports for three of the most recent Summer Olympics (2004, 2008, and 2016); the 2012 Games featured 26 sports because of the removal of baseball and softball.^[28]

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 Archery 1900–1908, 1920, since 1972 Artistic swimming Since 1984 Athletics All Badminton Since 1992 Baseball 1992–2008, resumes 2020 Basketball Since 1936 Basque pelota 1900 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 Begins 2020 Lacrosse 1904, 1908

Sport Years 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 Begins 2020 Softball 1996–2008, resumes 2020 Sport climbing Begins 2020 Surfing Begins 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.^[29]

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.^[29][30]

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

Summer Olympic sports are divided 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.^[31][32] 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, breaking, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing

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

All-time medal table

Main article: All-time Olympic Games medal table

The table below uses official data provided by the IOC.^[33]

   Defunct nation

No.	Nation	Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	27	1022	795	705	2522
2	Soviet Union (URS)	9	395	319	296	1010
3	Great Britain (GBR)	28	263	295	293	851
4	China (CHN)	10	224	167	155	546
5	France (FRA)	28	212	241	263	716
6	Italy (ITA)	27	206	178	193	577
7	Germany (GER)	16	191	194	230	615
8	Hungary (HUN)	26	175	147	169	491
9	East Germany (GDR)	5	153	129	127	409
10	Russia (RUS)	6	148	125	153	426
11	Australia (AUS)	26	147	163	187	497
12	Sweden (SWE)	27	145	170	179	494
13	Japan (JPN)	22	142	136	161	439
14	Finland (FIN)	25	101	85	117	303
15	South Korea (KOR)	17	90	87	90	267
16	Romania (ROU)	21	89	95	122	306
17	Netherlands (NED)	26	85	92	108	285
18	Cuba (CUB)	20	78	68	80	226
19	Poland (POL)	21	68	84	132	284
20	Canada (CAN)	26	64	102	136	302

Medal leaders by year

Number of occurrences

•  United States — 17 times
•  Soviet Union/ Unified Team — 7 times
•  France — 1 times
•  Great Britain — 1 times
• Germany — 1 times
•  China — 1 times

List of Summer Olympic Games

The IOC has never decided which events of the early Games were "Olympic" and which were not.^[34] The founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, ceded that determination to the organizers of those Games.

Olympiad	No.	Host city	Opened by	Sports (Disciplines)	Competitors			Events	Nations	Games dates	Top nation	Ref
					Total	Men	Women
1896	I	Athens	King George I	9 (10)	241	241	0	43	14	6–15 April 1896	United States (USA)	[1]
1900	II	Paris	N/A	19 (20)	997	975	22	95[A]	24	14 May – 28 October 1900	France (FRA)	[2]
1904	III	St. Louis	N/A	16 (17)	651	645	6	95[B]	12	1 July – 23 November 1904	United States (USA)	[3]
1908	IV	London	King Edward VII	22 (25)	2008	1971	37	110	22	27 April – 31 October 1908	Great Britain (GBR)	[4]
1912	V	Stockholm	King Gustaf V	14 (18)	2407	2359	48	102	28	6–22 July 1912	United States (USA)	[5]
1916	VI [C]	Awarded to Berlin. Cancelled due to World War I
1920	VII	Antwerp	King Albert I	22 (29)	2626	2561	65	156[D]	29	14 August – 12 September 1920	United States (USA)	[6]
1924	VIII	Paris	President Gaston Doumergue	17 (23)	3089	2954	135	126	44	5–27 July 1924	United States (USA)	[7]
1928	IX	Amsterdam	Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	14 (20)	2883	2606	277	109	46	28 July – 12 August 1928	United States (USA)	[8]
1932	X	Los Angeles	Vice President Charles Curtis		1332	1206	126	117	37	30 July – 14 August 1932	United States (USA)	[9]
1936	XI	Berlin	Chancellor Adolf Hitler	19 (25)	3963	3632	331	129	49	1–16 August 1936	Germany (GER)	[10]
1940	XII [C]	Originally awarded to Tokyo, then awarded to Helsinki. Cancelled due to World War II
1944	XIII [C]	Awarded to London. Cancelled due to World War II
1948	XIV	London	King George VI	17 (23)	4104	3714	390	136	59	29 July – 14 August 1948	United States (USA)	[11]
1952	XV	Helsinki	President Juho Kusti Paasikivi		4955	4436	519	149	69	19 July – 3 August 1952	United States (USA)	[12]
1956	XVI	Melbourne	Philip, Duke of Edinburgh		3314	2938	376	151[E]	72[F]	22 November – 8 December 1956	Soviet Union (URS)	[13]
1960	XVII	Rome	President Giovanni Gronchi		5338	4727	611	150	83	25 August – 11 September 1960	Soviet Union (URS)	[14]
1964	XVIII	Tokyo	Emperor Hirohito	19 (25)	5151	4473	678	163	93	10–24 October 1964	United States (USA)	[15]
1968	XIX	Mexico City	President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz	18 (24)	5516	4735	781	172	112	12–27 October 1968	United States (USA)	[16]
1972	XX	Munich	President Gustav Heinemann	21 (28)	7134	6075	1059	195	121	26 August – 11 September 1972	Soviet Union (URS)	[17]
1976	XXI	Montreal	Queen Elizabeth II	21 (27)	6084	4824	1260	198	92	17 July – 1 August 1976	Soviet Union (URS)	[18]
1980	XXII	Moscow	Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev		5179	4064	1115	203	80	19 July – 3 August 1980	Soviet Union (URS)	[19]
1984	XXIII	Los Angeles	President Ronald Reagan	21 (29)	6829	5263	1566	221	140	28 July – 12 August 1984	United States (USA)	[20]
1988	XXIV	Seoul	President Roh Tae-woo	23 (31)	8391	6197	2194	237	159	17 September – 2 October 1988	Soviet Union (URS)	[21]
1992	XXV	Barcelona	King Juan Carlos I	25 (34)	9356	6652	2704	257	169	25 July – 9 August 1992	Unified Team (EUN)	[22]
1996	XXVI	Atlanta	President Bill Clinton	26 (37)	10318	6806	3512	271	197	19 July – 4 August 1996	United States (USA)	[23]
2000	XXVII	Sydney	Governor-General Sir William Deane	28 (40)	10651	6582	4069	300	199	15 September – 1 October 2000	United States (USA)	[24]
2004	XXVIII	Athens	President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos		10625	6296	4329	301	201	13–29 August 2004	United States (USA)	[25]
2008	XXIX	Beijing	President Hu Jintao	28 (41)	10942	6305	4637	302	204	8–24 August 2008	China (CHN)	[26]
2012	XXX	London	Queen Elizabeth II	26 (39)	10768	5992	4776	302	204	27 July – 12 August 2012	United States (USA)	[27]
2016	XXXI	Rio de Janeiro	Acting President Michel Temer	28 (41)	11238	6179	5059	306	207	5–21 August 2016	United States (USA)	[28]
2020	XXXII	Tokyo	Emperor Naruhito (expected)	33 (50)	TBA	TBA	TBA	339	TBA	23 July – 8 August 2021	TBA	[29]
2024	XXXIII	Paris	President of France (expected)	32 (48)	TBA	TBA	TBA	329	TBA	26 July – 11 August 2024	TBA	[45]
2028	XXXIV	Los Angeles	President of the United States (expected)	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	21 July – 6 August 2028	TBA	[45]

Notes

1. The IOC webpage for the 1900 Summer Olympics^[35] sets the number at 95 events, while at one time the IOC database for the 1900 Summer Olympics^[36] apparently listed 85. The figure of 95 is sourced to a work by Olympic historian and author, Bill Mallon,^[37] whose studies have shed light on the topic. Events satisfying all four of these retrospective selection criteria — restricted to amateurs, international participation, open to all competitors and without handicapping — are now regarded as Olympic events.
2. The IOC webpage for the 1904 Summer Olympics^[38] sets the number at 95 events, while at one time the IOC webpage^[39] listed 91. The figure of 91 is sourced to a work by Olympic historian and author, Bill Mallon,^[40] whose studies have shed light on the topic. Events satisfying all four of these retrospective selection criteria — restricted to amateurs, international participation, open to all competitors and without handicapping — are now regarded as Olympic events.
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.^[41] This contrasts with the Winter Olympics, which ignore the cancelled Winter Games of 1940 and 1944 in their numeric count.
4. The IOC webpage for the 1920 Summer Olympics^[42] gives the figure of 156 events, while at one time the IOC webpage^[43] listed 154 (difference was two sailing events in Amsterdam).
5. The IOC webpage for the 1956 Summer Olympics^[44] gives total of 151 events (145 events in Melbourne and 6 equestrian events in Stockholm).
6. 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 competed in the equestrian events in Stockholm, did not attend the main Games in Melbourne.

See also

• List of participating nations at the Summer Olympic Games
• Lists of Olympic medalists
• Olympic Games ceremony
• Olympic Games scandals and controversies
• Olympic Stadium
• Summer Paralympic Games
• Paralympic Games
• Winter Olympic Games

References

1. "Even in London, French is mandatory at the Olympics". Embassy of France, Washington, D.C. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
2. "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
3. Schaffer, Kay (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. p. 271.
4. "Melbourne / Stockholm 1956". IOC. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
5. 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.
6. Macy, Sue (2004). Swifter, Higher, Stronger. Washington D.C, United States: National Geographic. pp. 16. ISBN 0-7922-6667-6.
7. Young (1996), 153^{[full citation needed]}
8. "1896 Athina Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
9. "The Olympic Summer Games Factsheet" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
10. Lovesey, Peter. "Conan Doyle and the Olympics" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History. 10 &year=2001: 6–9.
11. "Paavo Nurmi – THE FLYING FINN – Life Story". Retrieved 16 March 2020.
12. "The Olympic torch's shadowy past". BBC. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
13. Benjamin, Daniel (27 July 1992). "Traditions Pro Vs. Amateur". Time. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
14. Schantz, Otto. "The Olympic Ideal and the Winter Games Attitudes Towards the Olympic Winter Games in Olympic Discourses—from Coubertin to Samaranch" (PDF). Comité International Pierre De Coubertin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
15. Wallechinsky, David; Jamie Loucky (2008). The Complete Book of the Olympics, 2008 Edition. Aurum Press. pp. 453–454. ISBN 978-1-84513-330-6.
16. "Games of the XIX Olympiad". olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
17. "Games of the XX Olympiad". olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
18. Schneider, Stephen;(April 2009).Ice: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada. p.551. ISBN 0-470-83500-1:
19. "NO BOYCOTT BLUES". olympic.org. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
20. Hunt, Thomas M. (2011). Drug Games: The International Olympic Committee and the Politics of Doping. University of Texas Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0292739574.
21. 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.
22. "Tickets to Olympic events in Beijing sold out". USA Today. 28 July 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
23. "Rogge hails Athens success". BBC. 29 August 2004. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
24. "Beijing 2008: Games program Finalized". International Olympic Committee. 27 April 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2006.
25. "BBC SPORT, Olympics, Rio to stage 2016 Olympic Games". BBC News. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
26. "Tokyo 2020: Olympic Games organisers 'agree postponement'". BBC Sport. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
27. 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.
28. "Fewer sports for London Olympics". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 July 2005. Retrieved 5 May 2006.
29. "Olympians". Olympic.org. IOC. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
30. "National Olympic Committees (NOCs)". Olympic.org. IOC. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
31. "Athletics to share limelight as one of top Olympic sports". The Queensland Times. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
32. "Winners Include Gymnastics, Swimming - and Wrestling - as IOC Announces New Funding Distribution Groupings". The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
33. "RESULTS". olympic.org. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
34. 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.
35. "1900 Olympic Games". Olympic.org. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
36. "Event Results (Paris 1900)". Olympic.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
37. Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 1. ISBN 9780786440641.
38. "St. Louis 1904". Olympic.org. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
39. "St. Louis 1904 (archived)". Olympic.org. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
40. Mallon, Bill (1999). The 1904 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 1. ISBN 9781476621609.
41. Lennox, Doug (2009). Now You Know Big Book of Sports. Dundurn Press. p. 223. ISBN 978-1-55488-454-4.
42. "Antwerp 1920". Olympic.org. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
43. "Antwerp 1920 (archived)". Olympic.org. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
44. "1956 Olympic Games". Olympic.org. 22 November 1956. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
45. "IOC makes historic decision in agreeing to award 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games at the same time". 11 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.

External links

• Official Site of the Olympic Movement
• Candidate Cities for future Olympic Games