The Olympic Games Portal

The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (known in French as "Jeux olympiques") are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories participating; by default the Games generally substitute for any World Championships the year in which they take place (however, each class usually maintains their own records). The Olympic Games are normally held every four years, and since 1994, have alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year period.

Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, held in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement (which encompasses all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games) with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in several changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Olympic Games for snow and ice sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities, the Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18, the five Continental games (Pan American, African, Asian, European, and Pacific), and the World Games for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games. The IOC also endorses the Deaflympics and the Special Olympics. The IOC has needed to adapt to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. The abuse of amateur rules by the Eastern Bloc nations prompted the IOC to shift away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to the acceptance of professional athletes participating at the Games. The growing importance of mass media has created the issue of corporate sponsorship and general commercialisation of the Games. World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Olympics; large-scale boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics; and the 2020 Olympics were postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A pictogram symbol of the new Olympic rugby sport to be introduced in 2012
Rugby union has been a men's medal sport at the modern Summer Olympic Games, being played at four of the first seven competitions. The sport debuted at the 1900 Paris games where the gold medal was won by the host nation. It was subsequently featured at the London games in 1908, the Antwerp games in 1920 and the Paris games in 1924.

Shortly after the 1924 games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) dropped rugby union as an Olympic sport. Since then there have been numerous attempts to bring the sport back to the Olympic programme. In October 2009 the IOC voted at its session in Copenhagen to include the sevens version of the sport in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The event made its debut in an Olympic programme at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.

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Poster of the 1920 Olympic games.
Poster of the 1920 Olympic games.

The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were celebrated in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. The 1920 Games were awarded to Antwerp to honor the suffering that had been inflicted on the Belgian people during the war.

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Taylor with coach at 1908 Olympics
Henry Taylor (17 March 1885 – 28 February 1951) was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in four Summer Olympics between 1906 and 1920. Taylor served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926. His fortunes declined after he retired and he died penniless. His record of three gold medals at one Olympic Games – the most by any Briton – stood for 100 years until it was equaled by cyclist Chris Hoy in 2008. Tying the medal count of American Mel Sheppard, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics.

Current Events

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29 November 2023 – Winter Olympic Games
The International Olympic Committee announces that a French Alps/Nice bid is the preferred candidate to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and that Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, is the preferred candidate to host the 2034 Winter Olympics. (CBC News)

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Upcoming Olympic Games

2024 Summer Olympics

The 2024 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (French: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade) and commonly known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in France, with Paris as the main host city and 16 other cities spread across metropolitan France, plus one subsite in Tahiti—an island within the French overseas country and overseas collectivity of French Polynesia.

Paris was awarded the Games at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017. After multiple withdrawals that left only Paris and Los Angeles in contention, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a process to concurrently award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics to the two cities. Having previously hosted in 1900 and 1924, Paris will become the second city, after London (who were the hosts in 1908 and 1948 and 2012), to host the Summer Olympics three times. Paris 2024 will mark the centenary of Paris 1924, and these Olympic Games will be the sixth hosted by France (three in summer and three in winter), and the first French Olympics since the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. Following Paris 2024, the Summer Games will return to the traditional four-year Olympiad cycle, as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was delayed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paris 2024 will feature the debut of breaking (also known as breakdancing) as an Olympic event, and it will be the final Olympic Games held during the presidency of IOC President Thomas Bach. The Games will be the first to feature identical number of athletes between men and women. The question regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes has been debated in the lead up to the event. The Paris Olympics are expected to cost €8.3 billion.

All-time Combined Olympic Games Medal Table

Separate current and precursor NOCs (records not combined):

No.NationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  United States (USA)11749528332959
2  Soviet Union (URS)4733763551204
3  Germany (GER)305305312922
4  Great Britain (GBR)296323331950
5  China (CHN)285231197713
6  France (FRA)264293332889
7  Italy (ITA)259231269759
8  Sweden (SWE)212228239679
9  Norway (NOR)209186173568
10  Russia (RUS)194165186545

2026 Winter Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics (Italian: 2026 Olimpiadi invernali), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games (Italian: XXV Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Milano-Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The joint bid from the two cities beat another joint bid from Swedish cities Stockholm–Åre by 47–34 votes at the 134th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.

This will be the fourth Olympic Games hosted in Italy, which previously hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It will be the first Olympic Games officially featuring multiple host cities and will be the first Winter Olympics since Sarajevo 1984 where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held in different venues. Events will also take place in seven other north-northeastern Italian cities. The games will mark the 20th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Turin and the 70th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. It will follow the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and precede the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

Olympic Sports

Summer sports
Winter sports

Olympic Games Countdown

Olympic Games
Paris
192 days left
2024
Summer
Milan & Cortina
752 days left
2026
Winter
Los Angeles
1641 days left
2028
Summer
TBD
2211 days left
2030
Winter
Brisbane
3111 days left
2032
Summer
Paralympic Games
Paris
225 days left
2024
Summer
Milan & Cortina
780 days left
2026
Winter
Los Angeles
1680 days left
2028
Summer
TBD
2239 days left
2030
Winter
Brisbane
3143 days left
2032
Summer
Youth Olympic Games
Gangwon
3 days left
2024
Winter
Dakar
1019 days left
2026
Summer

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