The Olympic Games Portal
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (French: 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 nations participating. The Olympic Games are normally held every four years, alternating between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years in the four-year period.
Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games (Ancient Greek: Ὀλυμπιακοί Ἀγῶνες), 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,[definition needed] 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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Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid for the right to host the 1956 Games. The Cortina Games were unique in that many of the venues were within walking distance of each other. The organising committee received financial support from the Italian government for infrastructure improvements, but the rest of the costs for the Games had to be privately financed. Consequently, the organising committee was the first to rely heavily on corporate sponsorship for funding.
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The Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on February 26, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET (19:00 UTC) at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.
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“ | The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. | ” |
— Pierre de Coubertin, reviver of the Olympic Games |
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Current Events
- 21 March 2022 – Doping in Russia, Russia at the Olympics
- Russian racewalker Elena Lashmanova is banned from the Olympics for two years and will be stripped of her gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics following doping allegations against her. (ESPN)
- 2 March 2022 – Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, International reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Western intelligence report indicates that China had some level of knowledge about the Russian invasion of Ukraine as it requested Russian officials not to invade during the 2022 Olympic Games. China disputes the accuracy of the reports, saying they are a way to shift blame on the country and smear it. (The New York Times)
- 27 February 2022 – Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis
- FIFA prohibits Russia from playing under its own flag, but will allow the country to compete under a neutral banner of "Football Union of Russia", which is similar to how the International Olympic Committee requires Russian athletes to compete at the Olympics under the name of the Russian Olympic Committee. International football matches that would have taken place in Russia may only be played without spectators in other, neutral countries. However, several teams, including all possible playoff opponents for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, refuse to compete against the Russian team. (The Guardian)
- 20 February 2022 – 2022 Winter Olympics
- The closing ceremony for the Winter Olympics is held in Beijing. (NPR)
- 19 February 2022 – 2022 Winter Olympics
- Slovakia at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics
- The Slovakia men's hockey team wins their first medal at the Winter Olympics after defeating Sweden in the men's tournament. (The Hockey News)
Did You Know...-
- ... that in 1995, René Fasel of Switzerland became the first ever representative of ice hockey to become a member of the International Olympic Committee?
- ... that Margitta Gummel-Helmboldt was the first woman to throw a shot put more than 19 meters in the Summer Olympic Games?
- ... that Ukrainian runner Yuliya Krevsun ended her track career in 2005 to start a family, but later made a comeback and reached the 800 metres final at the Beijing Olympics?
- ... that while training to become a mountain guide, former Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Karine Ruby was killed in a climbing accident on Mont Blanc?
- ...that the Olympic ice hockey tournament was nearly canceled when two hockey teams from the United States arrived in St. Moritz, Switzerland, to compete in the 1948 Winter Olympic Games?
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 also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in Paris, France. Having previously hosted in 1900 and 1924, Paris will become the second city to host the Summer Olympics three times after London (1908, 1948 and 2012). The Games will mark the centenary of the Paris Games of 1924, and the sixth Olympic Games hosted by France (three in summer and three in winter). This will be the first of two consecutive Olympic games to be held in western Europe after the London Olympics, and will be followed by the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The bidding process for these Games began in 2015. Five cities submitted their candidature, but Hamburg, Rome, and Budapest withdrew, leaving only Paris and Los Angeles in contention. A proposal to elect the 2024 and 2028 Olympic host cities concurrently was approved by an Extraordinary IOC Session on 11 July 2017 in Lausanne. On 31 July 2017, the IOC negotiated a deal that would see Paris host the Games in 2024 and Los Angeles four years later. The formal announcement of this decision took place at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017.
All-time Combined Olympic Games Medal Table
Separate current and precursor NOCs (records not combined):
No. | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
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1 | ![]() |
1173 | 953 | 833 | 2959 |
2 | ![]() |
473 | 376 | 355 | 1204 |
3 | ![]() |
305 | 305 | 312 | 922 |
4 | ![]() |
296 | 323 | 331 | 950 |
5 | ![]() |
284 | 231 | 196 | 711 |
6 | ![]() |
264 | 293 | 332 | 889 |
7 | ![]() |
259 | 231 | 269 | 759 |
8 | ![]() |
213 | 227 | 239 | 679 |
9 | ![]() |
210 | 184 | 174 | 568 |
10 | ![]() |
196 | 165 | 186 | 547 |
2026 Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics, 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, Lombardy and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto. Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo beat another joint bid from Swedish cities Stockholm–Åre by 47–34 votes to be elected host cities 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, the second for Cortina d'Ampezzo (previously hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics), and the first hosted in Milan. It will be the first Olympic Games featuring multiple host cities in an official form and will be the first Winter Olympics since Sarajevo 1984 at which the opening and closing ceremonies will be held in different places. It will mark the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the most recent Winter Olympics in Italy and the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the first Olympics held in Italy. It was also the last of the two consecutive Olympics to be held in Europe with France hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Olympic Sports
- Archery
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Beach volleyball
- Boxing
- Canoeing
- Cycling
- Diving
- Equestrian
- Fencing
- Football
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Handball
- Field hockey
- Judo
- Karate
- Modern pentathlon
- Rowing
- Rugby
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Skateboarding
- Sport climbing
- Surfing
- Swimming
- Synchronized swimming
- Table tennis
- Taekwondo
- Tennis
- Triathlon
- Volleyball
- Water polo
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
Olympic Games Countdown
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