Games of the I Olympiad

Host city	Athens, Greece
Nations participating	14[1]
Athletes participating	241[2]
Events	43 in 9 sports
Opening ceremony	April 6
Closing ceremony	April 15
Officially opened by	King George I of Greece
Stadium	Panathinaiko Stadium

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era. Because Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, 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 organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also instituted 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. The Panathinaiko Stadium, the only Olympic stadium used in the 19th century, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.^[3] The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events.

After the Games, Rhys Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics, some 108 years later.

The stories surrounding the events and personalities of these Games were chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens, 1896 – starring David Ogden Stiers as William Milligan Sloane and Louis Jourdan as Pierre de Coubertin.^[4]

Reviving the Games[link]

During the 18th century, several small-scale sports festivals across Europe were named after the Ancient Olympic Games. The 1870 Olympics at the Panathenaic stadium, which had been refurbished for the occasion, had an audience of 30,000 people.^[5] Coubertin adopted Dr William Penny Brooke's idea to establish a multi-national and multi-sport event—the ancient games were in a sense international, because various Greek city-states and colonies were represented, but only free male athletes of Greek origin were allowed to participate.^{[6][not in citation given]} In 1890, Coubertin wrote an article in La Revue Athletique, which espoused the importance of Much Wenlock—a rural market town in the English county of Shropshire. It was here that, in October 1850, the local physician William Penny Brookes had founded the Wenlock Olympian Games, a festival of sports and recreations that included athletics and team sports, such as cricket, football and quoits.^[7] Coubertin also took inspiration from the earlier Greek games organized under the name of Olympics by businessman and philanthropist Evangelis Zappas in 1859, 1870 and 1875.^[8] The 1896 Athens Games was funded by the legacies of Evangelis Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas^[9][10][11] and by George Averoff^[12] who had been specifically requested by the Greek government, through crown prince Constantine, to sponsor the second refurbishment of the Panathinaiko Stadium. This the Greek government did despite the fact that the cost of refurbishing the stadium in marble had already been funded in full by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier.^[13]

On 18 June 1894, Coubertin organized a congress at the Sorbonne, in Paris, to present his plans to representatives of sports societies from 11 countries. Following his proposal's acceptance by the congress, a date for the first modern Olympic Games needed to be chosen. Coubertin suggested that the Games be held concurrently with the 1900 Universal Exposition of Paris. Concerned that a six-year waiting period might lessen public interest, congress members opted instead to hold the inaugural Games in 1896. With a date established, members of the congress turned their attention to the selection of a host city. It remains a mystery how Athens was finally chosen to host the inaugural Games. In the following years both Coubertin and Demetrius Vikelas would offer recollections of the selection process that contradicted the official minutes of the congress. Most accounts hold that several congressmen first proposed London as the location, but Coubertin dissented. After a brief discussion with Vikelas, who represented Greece, Coubertin suggested Athens. Vikelas made the Athens proposal official on June 23, and since Greece had been the original home of the Olympics, the congress unanimously approved the decision. Vikelas was then elected the first president of the newly established International Olympic Committee (IOC).^[15]

Organisation[link]

Panorama of the Panathinaiko Stadium

News that the Olympic Games would return to Greece was received favourably by the Greek public, media, and royal family. According to Coubertin, "the Crown Prince Constantine learned with great pleasure that the Games will be inaugurated in Athens." Coubertin went on to confirm that, "the King and the Crown Prince will confer their patronage on the holding of these games." Constantine later conferred more than that; he eagerly assumed the presidency of the 1896 organising committee.^[16]

However, the country had financial troubles and was in political turmoil. The job of prime minister alternated between Charilaos Trikoupis and Theodoros Deligiannis frequently during the last years of the 19th century. Because of this financial and political instability, both prime minister Trikoupis and Stephanos Dragoumis, the president of the Zappas Olympic Committee, which had attempted to organise a series of national Olympiads, believed that Greece could not host the event.^[17] In late 1894, the organising committee under Stephanos Skouloudis presented a report that the cost of the Games would be three times higher than originally estimated by Coubertin. They concluded the Games could not be held, and offered their resignation. The total cost of the Games was 3,740,000 gold drachmas.^[18]

Demetrius Vikelas, the first president of the International Olympic Committee, was credited with the successful organisation of the 1896 Games.

With the prospect of reviving the Olympic games very much in doubt, Coubertin and Vikelas commenced a campaign to keep the Olympic movement alive. Their efforts culminated on January 7, 1895 when Vikelas announced that crown prince Constantine would assume the presidency of the organising committee. His first responsibility was to raise the funds necessary to host the Games. He relied on the patriotism of the Greek people to motivate them to provide the required finances.^[19] Constantine's enthusiasm sparked a wave of contributions from the Greek public. This grassroots effort raised 330,000 drachmas. A special set of postage stamps were commissioned; the sale of which raised 400,000 drachmas. Ticket sales added an additional 200,000 drachmas. At the request of Constantine, businessman George Averoff agreed to pay for the restoration of the Panathinaiko Stadium. Averoff would donate 920,000 drachmas^[12] to this project.^[20] As a tribute to his generosity, a statue of Averoff was constructed and unveiled on April 5, 1896 outside the stadium. It stands there to this day.^[21]

Some of the athletes would take part in the Games because they happened to be in Athens at the time the Games were held, either on holiday or for work (e.g., some of the British competitors worked for the British embassy). A designated Olympic Village for the athletes did not appear until the 1932 Summer Olympics. Consequently the athletes had to provide their own lodging.

Stamp from the first Olympic stamp set

The first regulation voted on by the new IOC in 1894 was to allow only amateur athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.^[22] The various contests were thus held under amateur regulations with the exception of fencing matches.^[23] The rules and regulations were not uniform, so the Organising Committee had to choose among the codes of the various national athletic associations. The jury, the referees and the game director bore the same names as in antiquity (Ephor, Helanodic and Alitarc). Prince George acted as final referee; according to Coubertin, "his presence gave weight and authority to the decisions of the ephors."^[24]

Venues[link]

Calendar[link]

Opening ceremony[link]

The opening ceremony in the Panathinaiko Stadium

On April 6 (March 25 according to the Julian calendar then in use in Greece), the games of the First Olympiad were officially opened; it was Easter Monday for both the Western and Eastern Christian Churches and the anniversary of Greece's independence.^[25] The Panathinaiko Stadium was filled with an estimated 80,000 spectators, including King George I of Greece, his wife Olga, and their sons. Most of the competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organizing committee, Crown Prince Constantine, his father officially opened the Games:^[26]

"I declare the opening of the first international Olympic Games in Athens. Long live the Nation. Long live the Greek people."

Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn, composed by Spyridon Samaras, with words by poet Kostis Palamas. Thereafter, a variety of musical offerings provided the backgrounds to the Opening Ceremonies until 1960, since which time the Samaras/Palamas composition has become the official Olympic Anthem (decision taken by the IOC Session in 1958). Other elements of current Olympic opening ceremonies were initiated later: the Olympic flame was first lit in 1928, the first athletes' oath was sworn at the 1920 Summer Olympics, and the first officials' oath was taken at the 1972 Olympic Games.^[26]

Events[link]

At the 1894 Sorbonne congress, a large roster of sports were suggested for the program in Athens. The first official announcements regarding the sporting events to be held featured sports such as football and cricket, but these plans were never finalized, and these sports did not make the final list for the Games. Rowing and yachting were scheduled, but had to be canceled due to poor weather on the planned day of competition.^[27]

Athletics[link]

The athletics events had the most international field of any of the sports. The major highlight was the marathon, held for the first time in international competition. Spyridon Louis, a previously unrecognized water carrier, won the event to become the only Greek athletics champion and a national hero. Although Greece had been favored to win the discus and the shot put, the best Greek athletes finished just behind the American Robert Garrett in both events.^[3]

No world records were set, as few top international competitors had elected to compete. In addition, the curves of the track were very tight, making fast times in the running events virtually impossible. Despite this, Thomas Burke, of the United States, won the 100 meter race in 12.0 seconds and the 400 meter race in 54.2 seconds. Burke was the only one who used the "crouch start" (putting his knee on soil), confusing the jury. Eventually, he was allowed to start from this "uncomfortable position".^[28]

Cycling[link]

Frenchmen Léon Flameng (left) and Paul Masson won four cycling events.

The rules of the International Cycling Association were used for the cycling competitions.^[29] The track cycling events were held at the newly built Neo Phaliron Velodrome. Only one road event was held, a race from Athens to Marathon and back (87 kilometers).

In the track events, the best cyclist was Frenchman Paul Masson, who won the one lap time trial, the sprint event, and the 10,000 meters. In the 100 kilometers event, Masson entered as a pacemaker for his compatriot Léon Flameng. Flameng won the event, after a fall, and after stopping to wait for his Greek opponent Georgios Kolettis to fix a mechanical problem. The Austrian fencer Adolf Schmal won the 12-hour race, which was completed by only two cyclists, while the road race event was won by Aristidis Konstantinidis.^[30]

Fencing[link]

Fencer Leonidas Pyrgos became the first Greek modern Olympic champion by winning the masters foil competition.

The fencing events were held in the Zappeion, which, built with money Evangelis Zappas had given to revive the ancient Olympic Games, had never seen any athletic contests before.^[31] Unlike other sports (in which only amateurs were allowed to take part at the Olympics), professionals were allowed to compete in fencing, though in a separate event. These professionals were considered gentlemen athletes, just as the amateurs.^[24]

Four events were scheduled, but the épée event was cancelled for unknown reasons. The foil event was won by a Frenchman, Eugène-Henri Gravelotte, who beat his countryman, Henri Callot, in the final.^[31] The other two events, the sabre and the masters foil, were won by Greek fencers. Leonidas Pyrgos, who won the latter event, became the first Greek Olympic champion in the modern era.

Gymnastics[link]

The German individual gymnastics champions: Schuhmann, Flatow, and Weingärtner

The gymnastics competition was carried out on the infield of the Panathinaiko Stadium. Germany had sent an 11-man team, which won five of the eight events, including both team events. In the team event on the horizontal bar, the German team was unopposed. Three Germans added individual titles: Hermann Weingärtner won the horizontal bar event, Alfred Flatow won the parallel bars; and Carl Schuhmann, who also competed successfully in wrestling, won the vault. Louis Zutter, a Swiss gymnast, won the pommel horse, while Greeks Ioannis Mitropoulos and Nikolaos Andriakopoulos were victorious in the rings and rope climbing events, respectively.^[32]

Shooting[link]

Held at a range at Kallithea, the shooting competition consisted of five events—two using a rifle and three with the pistol. The first event, the military rifle, was won by Pantelis Karasevdas, the only competitor to hit the target with all of his shots. The second event, for military pistols, was dominated by two American brothers: John and Sumner Paine became the first siblings to finish first and second in the same event. In order to avoid embarrassing their hosts, the brothers decided that only one of them would compete in the next pistol event, the free pistol. Sumner Paine won that event, thereby becoming the first relative of an Olympic champion to become Olympic champion himself.^[33]

The Paine brothers did not compete in the 25 meter pistol event, as the event judges determined that their weapons were not of the required caliber. In their absence, Ioannis Phrangoudis won. The final event, the free rifle, began on the same day. However, the event could not be completed due to darkness and was finalized the next morning, when Georgios Orphanidis was crowned the champion.^[33]

Swimming[link]

Alfréd Hajós, the first Olympic champion in swimming, is one of only two Olympians to have won medals in both sport and art competitions.

The swimming competition was held in the open sea because the organizers had refused to spend the money necessary for a specially constructed stadium. Nearly 20,000 spectators lined the Bay of Zea off the Piraeus coast to watch the events. The water in the bay was cold, and the competitors suffered during their races. There were three open events (men's 100 metre freestyle, men's 500 metre freestyle, and men's 1200 metre freestyle), in addition to a special event open only to Greek sailors, all of which were held on the same day (April 11).^[30]

For Alfréd Hajós of Hungary, this meant he could only compete in two of the events, as they were held too close together, which made it impossible for him to adequately recuperate. Nevertheless, he won the two events in which he swam, the 100 and 1200 meter freestyle. Hajós later became one of only two Olympians to win a medal in both the athletic and artistic competitions, when he won a silver medal for architecture in 1924. The 500 meter freestyle was won by Austrian swimmer Paul Neumann, who defeated his opponents by more than a minute and a half.

Tennis[link]

Although tennis was already a major sport by the end of the 19th century, none of the top players turned up for the tournament in Athens. The competition was held at the courts of the Athens Lawn Tennis Club, and the infield of the velodrome used for the cycling events. John Pius Boland, who won the event, had been entered in the competition by a fellow-student of his at Oxford; the Greek, Konstantinos Manos. As a member of the Athens Lawn Tennis sub-committee, Manos had been trying, with the assistance of Boland, to recruit competitors for the Athens Games from among the sporting circles of Oxford University. In the first round, Boland defeated Friedrich Traun, a promising tennis player from Hamburg, who had been eliminated in the 100 meter sprint competition. Boland and Traun decided to team up for the doubles event, in which they reached the final and defeated their Greek and Egyptian opponents after losing the first set.^[34]

Weightlifting[link]

Launceston Elliot, winner of the one-armed weightlifting event, was popular with the Greek audience, who found him very handsome.

The sport of weightlifting was still young in 1896, and the rules differed from those in use today. Competitions were held outdoors, in the infield of the main stadium, and there were no weight limits. The first event was held in a style now known as the "clean and jerk". Two competitors stood out: Scotsman Launceston Elliot and Viggo Jensen of Denmark. Both of them lifted the same weight; but the jury, with Prince George as the chairman, ruled that Jensen had done so in a better style. The British delegation, unfamiliar with this tie-breaking rule, lodged a protest. The lifters were eventually allowed to make further attempts, but neither lifter improved, and Jensen was declared the champion.^[35]

Elliot got his revenge in the one hand lift event, which was held immediately after the two-handed one. Jensen had been slightly injured during his last two-handed attempt, and was no match for Elliot, who won the competition easily. The Greek audience was charmed by the Scottish victor, whom they considered very attractive. A curious incident occurred during the weightlifting event: a servant was ordered to remove the weights, which appeared to be a difficult task for him. Prince George came to his assistance; he picked up the weight and threw it a considerable distance with ease, to the delight of the crowd.^[35]

Wrestling[link]

Carl Schuhmann (left) and Georgios Tsitas shake hands before the final match of the wrestling competition.

No weight classes existed for the wrestling competition, held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which meant that there would only be one winner among competitors of all sizes. The rules used were similar to modern Greco-Roman wrestling, although there was no time limit, and not all leg holds were forbidden (in contrast to current rules).

Apart from the two Greek contestants, all the competitors had previously been active in other sports. Weightlifting champion Launceston Elliot faced gymnastics champion Carl Schuhmann. The latter won and advanced into the final, where he met Georgios Tsitas, who had previously defeated Stephanos Christopoulos. Darkness forced the final match to be suspended after 40 minutes; it was continued the following day, when Schuhmann needed only a quarter of an hour to finish the bout.^[36]

Closing ceremony[link]

On the morning of Sunday April 12, King George organized a banquet for officials and athletes (even though some competitions had not yet been held). During his speech, he made clear that, as far as he was concerned, the Olympics should be held in Athens permanently. The official closing ceremony was held the following Wednesday, after being postponed from Tuesday due to rain. Again the royal family attended the ceremony, which was opened by the national anthem of Greece and an ode composed in ancient Greek by George S. Robertson, a British athlete and scholar.^[37]

Afterwards, the king awarded prizes to the winners. Unlike today, the first place winners received silver medals, an olive branch and a diploma. Athletes who placed second received copper medals, a branch of laurel and a diploma. Third place winners did not receive a medal. Some winners also received additional prizes, such as Spyridon Louis, who received a cup from Michel Bréal, a friend of Coubertin, who had conceived the marathon event. Louis then led the medalists on a lap of honor around the stadium, while the Olympic Hymn was played again. The King then formally announced that the first Olympiad was at an end, and left the Stadium, while the band played the Greek national hymn and the crowd cheered.^[37]

Like the Greek king, many others supported the idea of holding the next Games in Athens; most of the American competitors signed a letter to the Crown Prince expressing this wish. Coubertin, however, was heavily opposed to this idea, as he envisioned international rotation as one of the cornerstones of the modern Olympics. According to his wish, the next Games were held in Paris, although they would be somewhat over-shadowed by the concurrently held Universal Exposition.^[38]

Participating nations[link]

Participating countries

The concept of national teams was not a major part of the Olympic movement until the Intercalated Games 10 years later, though many sources list the nationality of competitors in 1896 and give medal counts. There are significant conflicts with regard to which nations competed. The International Olympic Committee gives a figure of 14, but does not list them.^[26] The following 14 are most likely the ones recognized by the IOC. Some sources list 12, excluding Chile and Bulgaria; others list 13, including those two but excluding Italy. Egypt is also sometimes included because of Dionysios Kasdaglis' participation. Belgium and Russia had entered the names of competitors, but withdrew.

1. Australia – Australia was not an independent nation until 1901, but the results of Edwin Flack are typically given with him listed as Australian. (1)
2. Austria – Austria was part of Austria–Hungary at the time, though the results of Austrian athletes are typically reported separately. (3)
3. Bulgaria – The Bulgarian Olympic Committee claims that gymnast Charles Champaud was competing as a Bulgarian.^[39] Champaud was a Swiss national living in Bulgaria. Mallon and de Wael both list Champaud as Swiss.^[40] (1)
4. Chile – The Chilean Olympic Committee claims to have had one athlete, Luis Subercaseaux, compete in the 100, 400, and 800 meter races in the athletics programme.^{[41][42][43][44]} No further details are given, and no mention is made of Subercaseaux in de Wael, or the Official Report. (1)
5. Denmark (3)
6. France (13)
7. Germany (19)
8. Great Britain – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has historically maintained separate athletic organisations for each of its constituent countries. The major exception to this has been the Olympic Games, in which the country is considered as a single entity. However, it has conventionally used the name "Great Britain" at the Olympics rather than the more common shortening of the name to "the United Kingdom". (10)
9. 22x20px Greece – Greek results typically include the results of competitors from Cyprus, Smyrna and Egypt.^[45] Some sources give Cypriot results separately, though most count Anastasios Andreou, a Greek-Cypriot and the only athlete from Cyprus, as Greek (Cyprus was a protectorate of the United Kingdom at the time). Kasdaglis, an athlete of Greek origins living in Alexandria, Egypt, is listed by the IOC as Greek during his competition in the singles tennis competition but Kasdaglis and his doubles tennis teammate, Greek athlete Demetrios Petrokokkinos, are listed as a mixed team.^[46] (169)
10. Hungary – Hungary is usually listed separately from Austria, despite the two being formally joined as Austria–Hungary at the time. However, Hungarian results are considered to include those of athletes from Vojvodina (now part of Serbia) (7)
11. Italy – The most prominent Italian involved with the games, Carlo Airoldi, was deemed a professional and excluded from competition. However, the shooter listed by name simply as Rivabella was also Italian and did compete.^[47] (1)
12. Sweden (1)
13. Switzerland (3)
14. United States (14)

Medal count[link]

A silver medal was awarded to the winner of each event during the 1896 Summer Olympics.

Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals, in addition to three medals won by mixed teams, i.e. teams made up of athletes from multiple nations. The United States won the most gold medals (11), while host nation Greece won the most medals overall (46) as well as the most silver (17) and bronze (19) medals, finishing with one fewer gold medal than the United States.^[46]

During these inaugural Olympics, winners were given a silver medal, an olive branch, and a diploma, while runners-up received a copper medal, laurel branch, and diploma.^[48][49] The IOC has retroactively assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the three best placed athletes in each event to comport with more recent traditions.^[46]

Medals of the Games

Silver (first place) medal with the face of Zeus, his hand holding a globe surmounted by winged Victory.   A copper medal was given those in second place. The reverse features the Acropolis and, in Greek, "International Olympic Games in Athens in 1896".   Obverse of the silver (first place) medal at a different angle, showing further detail

Female competitors[link]

Women were not allowed to compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics. One, named Stamata Revithi, the mother of a 17-month-old boy, ran the marathon course on April 11, the day after the men had run the official race. Although she was not allowed to enter the stadium at the end of her race, Revithi finished the marathon in about five hours and 30 minutes, and found witnesses to sign their names and verify the running time. Revithi intended to present this documentation to the Hellenic Olympic Committee, hoping that they would recognize her achievement. Neither her reports nor documents from the Hellenic Olympic Committee have been discovered to provide corroboration.^[50]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "Athens 1896". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Athens-1896. 
• "All the Medallists since 1896". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/All-Olympic-results-since-1896/?AthleteName=&Games=1333702&Country=&Sport=&TargetResults=true&resultsPageIPP=30. 
• "Almanac of the 18 June". Almanac of the Day. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/almanach_uk.asp. Retrieved 16 June 2008. 
• "Athens 1896". Bulgarian Olympic Committee. http://www.bgolympic.org/fce/index.shtml?s=001&p=0039&n=000001. Retrieved 7 July 2008. 
• Coubertin, Pierre De; Hambidge, Jay (November 1896). The Olympic Games of 1896. LIII. The Century Magazine. http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&cite=&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fcent%2Fcent0053%2F&tif=00055.TIF&pagenum=39. Retrieved 28 June 2008. 
• Coubertin, Pierre De; Timoleon J. Philemon, N.G. Politis and Charalambos Anninos (1897) (PDF). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. http://www.aafla.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1896/1896.pdf. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
• Darling, Janina K. (2004). "Panathenaic Stadium, Athens". Architecture of Greece. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32152-3. OCLC 54500822. http://books.google.com/?id=4F-v35--l_gC&dq=Panathenaic+Stadium,+Averoff,+Constantine. 
• De Wael, Herman. "Herman's Top Athina 1896 Olympians". http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/topath96.html. Retrieved 3 July 2008. 
• "George Averoff Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. 4 August 1899. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9901EEDB1431E733A25757C0A96E9C94689ED7CF&oref=slogin. Retrieved 31 July 2008. 
• Gillmeister, Heiner (1998) (PDF). Tennis: a Cultural History. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-7185-0195-0. OCLC 67496016. http://books.google.com/?id=hftxBcXOQxsC&dq=1896,+Egypt,++Kasdaglis. 
• Gillmeister, Heiner (Winter 1995). "Olympic Tennis: Some Afterthoughts" (PDF). Citius, Altius, Fortius 3 (1): 23–25. http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv3n1/JOHv3n1g.pdf. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
• Guttmann, Allen (1994). Games and Empires: Modern Sports and Cultural Imperialism. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10042-6. OCLC 231638134. http://books.google.com/?id=eJn8paCwgJYC&dq=Subercaseaux,+1896,+games. 
• Kyle, Donald G. (2007). "In Search of the Ancient Olympics". Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World: Early Sport and Spectacle. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-22970-1. OCLC 191858172. http://books.google.com/?id=tEbcu-sDkFEC&dq=ancient+Olympics,+athletes,+Greek,+only. 
• "La Presencia de Chile en los Juegos Olimpicos" (in Spanish). Olympic Committee of Chile. Archived from the original on 2 July 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080702073204/http://www.coch.cl/museo.htm. Retrieved 3 July 2008. 
• Lennartz, Karl; Wassong, Stephen (2004). "Athens 1896". In John E. Findling, Kimberly D. Pelle. Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32278-3. OCLC 52418065. http://books.google.com/?id=QmXi_-Jujj0C&dq=1896+games,+cycling. 
• Martin, David E.; Gynn, Roger W. H. (2000). "The Olympic Marathon". Running through the Ages. Human Kinetics. ISBN 0-88011-969-1. OCLC 42823784. http://books.google.com/?id=Qb125O62NVQC&dq=Stamata+Revithi. 
• Matthews, George R. (2005). "The Ghost of Plato". America's First Olympics: The St. Louis Games Of 1904. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0-8262-1588-2. OCLC 58468164. http://books.google.com/?id=WKRUmep515oC&dq=Wenlock,+Brookes,+Coubertin. 
• McGehee, Richard V. (2000). "The Impact of Imported Sports on the Popular Culture of Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Mexico and Central America". In Ingrid Elizabeth Fey, Karen Racine (PDF). Strange Pilgrimages: Exile, Travel, and National Identity in Latin America. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8420-2694-0. OCLC 237382448. http://www.aafla.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1896/1896.pdf. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
• Mullins, Samuel P.. "Pierre de Coubertin and the Wenlock Olympian Games". Proceedings of the International Olympic Academy–Selected 1980s Proceedings. University of Leeds. http://www.ioa.leeds.ac.uk/1980s/84099.htm. Retrieved 11 July 2008. 
• "Professionals and Amateurs". From Ancient Olympia to Athens of 1896. Foundation of the Hellenic World. http://www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/en/304b.html. Retrieved 18 July 2008. 
• Sears, Edward S. (2001). "The Revival of the Olympic Games". Running through the Ages. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0971-1. OCLC 46650949. http://books.google.com/?id=vxxOw3FvOgwC&dq=Burke,++crouch+start. 
• Young, David C. (2004). "The Modern Olympic Games". A Brief History of the Olympic Games. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 1-4051-1130-5. OCLC 54111254. http://books.google.com/?id=hCNtwn24iK8C&dq=Zappas+Olympic+Committee. 
• Young, David C. (1996). The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-7207-3. 
• Zarnowski, C. Frank (Summer 1992). "A Look at Olympic Costs" (PDF). Citius, Altius, Fortius 1 (1): 16–32. http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1f.pdf. Retrieved 24 March 2007. 

Further reading[link]

• Greenberg, Stan (1996). The Guinness Book of Olympic Facts and Feats. Enfield: Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-639-1. OCLC 35921786. 
• Kluge, Volker (1997). Olympische Sommerspiele: die Chronik I. Berlin: Sportverlag. ISBN 3-328-00715-6. OCLC 38258227. 
• Lennartz, Karl (ed.) (1996). Die olympischen Spiele 1896 in Athen: Erläuterungen zum Neudruck des Offiziellen Berichtes. Kassel: Agon. 
• MacAloon, John J (1982). This Great Symbol: Pierre de Coubertin and the Origins of the Modern Olympic Games. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 
• Mallon, Bill; & Widlund, Ture (1998) (PDF). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. OCLC 37213664. http://www.aafla.org/6oic/OfficialReports/Mallon/1896.pdf. Retrieved 26 May 2008. 
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X. OCLC 186174794. 
• Wallechinsky, David (2000). The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics. Woodstock: Overlook Press. ISBN 1-58567-033-2. OCLC 43561597. 
• Randall, David (2011) (ebook). 1896 The first Modern Olympics. London: Blacktoad Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9570591-0-8. http://www.1896olympics.com/. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1896 Summer Olympics

• "Athens 1896". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Athens-1896. 

Summer Olympic Games
The Olympic flame at Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics
Games
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • (1906) • 1908 • 1912 • 1916 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1940 • 1944 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 • 2012 • 2016 • 2020 • 2024 • 2028
Sports (details)
Archery • Athletics • Badminton • Basketball • Boxing • Canoeing • Cycling • Diving • Equestrian • Field hockey • Fencing • Football • Gymnastics • Handball • Judo • Modern pentathlon • Rowing • Sailing • Shooting • Swimming • Synchronized swimming • Table tennis • Taekwondo • Tennis • Triathlon • Volleyball • Water polo • Weightlifting • Wrestling

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that started in 1904. The Winter Olympics were also created due to the success of the summer Olympics.

The olympics have increased from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male athletes to a 300-event sporting celebration with over 10,000 competitors from 205 nations. Organizers for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing expected approximately 10,500 athletes to take part in the 302 events on the program for the games.^[1]

The United States has hosted four Summer Olympics Games, more than any other nation. The United Kingdom will have hosted three Summer Olympics Games when they return to the British capital in 2012, all of them have been (and will be) in London, making it the first city to hold the Summer Olympic Games three times. Australia, France, Germany and Greece have all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice. Other countries that have hosted the summer Olympics are Belgium, China, Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the Soviet Union and Sweden. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro will host the first Summer Games in South America. Four cities have hosted two Summer Olympic Games: Los Angeles, London, Paris and Athens. Stockholm, Sweden, has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having hosted the games in 1912 and the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics—which they are usually listed as jointly hosting.^[2] Events at the summer Olympics have also been held in Hong Kong and the Netherlands (both represented by their own NOCs), with the equestrian events at the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Hong Kong and two sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics being held in the Netherlands.

Five countries – Greece, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and Australia (twice combined with New Zealand as Australasia) – have been represented at all Summer Olympic Games. The only country to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympic Games is Great Britain, ranging from one gold in 1904, 1952 and 1996 to fifty-six golds in 1908.

Qualification[link]

Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports Federations (IFs) that governs that sport's international competition.^[3]

For individual sports, competitors typically qualify through attaining a certain place in a major international event or on the IF's ranking list. National Olympic committees 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.^[3][4]

Nations 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.

History[link]

The opening ceremony of the first Olympic Games in the Panathenaic Stadium

Panorama of the Panathinaiko Stadium

Early years[link]

The modern Olympic Games were founded in 1894 when Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin sought to promote international understanding through sporting competition. He based his Olympics on the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games, which had been contested in Much Wenlock since 1850.^[5]

The first edition of de Coubertin's games, held in Athens in 1896, 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 organized before. Female athletes were not allowed to compete, though one woman, Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course on her own, saying "[i]f the committee doesn’t let me compete I will go after them regardless".^[6]

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. 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 organized by Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, in Paris, on June 23, 1894. The International Olympic Committee (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.^[7] The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spiridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four gold medals.

After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the 1906 Intercalated Games, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics.

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.

Runners at the first modern marathon in 1896 Olympic Games

Dorando Pietri finishes the modern marathon at the current distance

Numbers declined for the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, due in part to the lengthy transatlantic boat trip required of the European competitors, and the integration with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair, which again spread the event out over an extended period. In contrast with Paris 1900, the word Olympic was used for practically every contest, including those exclusively for school boys or for Irish-Americans.

A series of smaller games were held in Athens in 1906. The IOC does not currently recognize 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 materialize. 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 winner of the first Olympic Marathon in 1896 (a male-only race) was Spiridon "Spiros" Louis, a Greek water-carrier. He won at the Olympics in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds at a distance of 40 km (24 miles 85 yards). The new marathon distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards) 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 for the first games in 1896, but was subsequently varied by up to 2 km 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 different distances.

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, but later he was disqualified and the gold medal was awarded to John Hayes, who had trailed him by around 30 seconds.

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 fulfill Pierre de Coubertin's original idea. For the first time since the Games started in 1896 were all continents represented with athletes competing in the same stadium.

The scheduled Berlin Games of 1916 were cancelled following the onset of World War I.

Interwar era[link]

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.

The 1928 Amsterdam games were 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 Coca-Cola. 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.

The 1932 in Los Angeles games were affected by the Great Depression, which contributed to the fewest competitors since the St. Louis 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 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 tale of Hitler snubbing Owens at the ensuing medal ceremony is an urban myth.^[8] The 1936 Berlin Games also saw the reintroduction of the Torch Relay.^[9]

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[link]

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. Finland made a legend of an amiable Czech 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 half way, 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 political tensions 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.^[10] Soviet women's artistic gymnastics team members won 15 of 16 possible medals. Other performers of note in 1960 included Wilma Rudolph, a gold medalist in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 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.

Performances at the 1968 Mexico City games were affected by the altitude of the host city,^[11] specifically the long jump, in which American athlete Bob Beamon jumped 8.90 meters. Beamon's world record would stand for 23 years. The 1968 Games also introduced the now-universal Fosbury flop, a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal. Politics took center stage in the medal ceremony for the men's 200 meter dash, where Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a protest gesture on the podium against the segregation in the United States; their political act was condemned within the Olympic Movement, but was praised in the American Civil Rights Movement.

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.^[12] 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 (defeating American distance great Steve Prefontaine in the former), and the winning of three gold medals by 16-year-old Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut. Korbut 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 2008 Summer Olympics, costing over $5 billion (equivalent to $20 billion in 2006). 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."^[13] There was also a boycott by African nations to protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by a New Zealand rugby side. The Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci won the women's individual all around gold medal with two of four possible perfect scores, thus giving birth to a gymnastics dynasty in Romania. Another female gymnast to earn the perfect score and three gold medals there was Nellie Kim of the USSR. Lasse Virén repeated his double gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, making him the only athlete to ever win the distance double twice.

End of the 20th century[link]

Following the Soviet Union's participation in the Afghan Civil War, 66 nations, including the United States, Canada, West Germany and Japan, boycotted the 1980 games held in Moscow. 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. These games were perhaps the first games of a new era to make a profit. The games were again viable, but had become more commercial. Again, without the participation of the Eastern European countries, the 1984 Games were dominated by their host country. The game was also the first time Mainland China (People's Republic) participated.

The 1988 games, in Seoul, were 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 increased professionalism amongst Olympic athletes, exemplified by US basketball's "Dream Team". 1992 also saw the reintroduction to the Games of several smaller European states which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union since World War II. These games also saw gymnast Vitaly Scherbo equal the record for most individual gold medals at a single Games set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Games, with five.

By then the process of choosing a location for the Games had itself become a commercial concern; allegations of corruption rocked the International Olympic Committee, in particular with reference to Salt Lake City's bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. In the Atlanta games in 1996, the highlight was 200 meters runner Michael Johnson annihilating the world record in front of a home crowd. Canadians savored Donovan Bailey's record-breaking 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 not at the boxing ring but in the basketball arena, at the demand of US television. 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.

New millennium[link]

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

The 2000 Games were held in Sydney, Australia, (actually the last games of the old millennium) 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, had a memorably slow 100 meter freestyle swim that showed that, even in the commercial world of the twentieth century, some of de Coubertin's original vision still remained.^[14] The Sydney Games were also memorable for the first appearance of a joint North and South Korean contingent (to a standing ovation) at the opening ceremonies, even if they competed as different countries. Controversy did not escape the 2000 Games in Women's Artistic Gymnastics, in which the vaulting horse was set to the wrong height during the All Around Competition. Several athletes faltered, including Russian Svetlana Khorkina, who had been favored to win gold after qualifying for the competition in first place.

In 2004 the Games returned to their birthplace in Athens, Greece. Greece spent at least $7.2 billion on the Games, including $1.5 billion on security alone. Nonetheless, the Men's Gymnastics events were mired in controversy when it was discovered that Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young had been incorrectly credited with a lower start value, which placed him third behind American Paul Hamm, who won the competition. Later in the event finals, fans halted the Men's High Bar competition with chants of disapproval following the release of the score for Russian Alexei Nemov. Allegations of corrupt judging also marred the event finals in men's still rings. Although unfounded and wildly sensationalized reports of potential terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions of the first weekend of the games (14–15 August), attendance picked up as the games progressed. Still, a third of the tickets failed to sell.^[15] The Athens Games witnessed all 202 NOCs participate with over 11,000 participants.

The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This Olympics was the subject of much controversy, especially following the March Tibetan riots. Human rights activists unsuccessfully called for a boycott, and some even compared the 2008 Olympics to the 1936 ones held in Nazi Germany. Several new events were held, including the new discipline of BMX for both men and women. For the first time, women competed in the steeplechase. The fencing program was expanded to include all six events for both men and women. Women had not previously been able to compete in team foil or saber events (although women's team épée and men's team foil were dropped for these Games). Marathon swimming events, over the distance of 10 kilometers, were added. In addition, the doubles events in table tennis were replaced by team events.^[1] American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight, and tied the record of Heiden and Scherbo for most individual golds at a single Games. Another major 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.

London, United Kingdom will hold the 2012 Summer Olympics, making it the first city to host the Games three times. The International Olympic Committee has removed baseball and softball from the 2012 program. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the first South American city to host either the Summer or Winter Games. Also, this will be the first games held in a lusosphere country (a Portuguese speaking country). In October 2009, the IOC included golf and rugby sevens as part of the Olympic program for Rio de Janeiro (Rugby sevens, in particular, was not considered for inclusion in 2012).

All-time medal table[link]

With reference to the top ten nations and according to official data of the International Olympic Committee.

     Past nations

#	Nation	Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Ref.
1	United States (USA)	25	930	728	639	2297	[16]
2	Soviet Union (URS)	9	395	319	226	1010
3	Great Britain (GBR)	26	207	255	203	715	[17]
4	France (FRA)	26	191	212	233	636
5	Italy (ITA)	25	191	157	174	522	[18]
6	China (CHN)	8	163	117	105	385	[19]
7	Germany (GER)	14	163	163	204	530	[20]
8	Hungary (HUN)	24	159	141	159	459
9	East Germany (GDR)	5	153	129	127	409
10	Sweden (SWE)	25	142	160	173	475

List of Olympic sports[link]

43 different sports, spanning 56 different disciplines, have been part of the Olympic program at one point or another. 28 sports have comprised the schedule for the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics, though baseball and softball have been removed to give a list of 26 for the 2012 Games.^[21]

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

List of modern Summer Olympic Games[link]

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

Games	Year	Host	Dates	Nations	Competitors			Sports	Events	Ref
					Total	Men	Women
I	1896	22x20px Athens, Greece	6–15 April	14	241	241	0	9	43	[1]
II	1900	Paris, France	14 May – 28 October	24	997	975	22	18	95	[2]
III	1904	St. Louis, United States	1 July – 23 November	12	651	645	6	17	91	[3]
IV	1908	London, Great Britain	27 April – 31 October	22	2008	1971	37	22	110	[4]
V	1912	Stockholm, Sweden	12 May – 27 July	28	2407	2359	48	14	102	[5]
VI	1916	Originally awarded to Berlin, cancelled because of World War I
VII	1920	Antwerp, Belgium	20 April – 12 September	29	2626	2561	65	22	154	[6]
VIII	1924	Paris, France	4 May – 27 July	44	3089	2954	135	17	126	[7]
IX	1928	Amsterdam, Netherlands	17 May – 12 August	46	2883	2606	277	14	109	[8]
X	1932	Los Angeles, United States	30 July – 14 August	37	1332	1206	126	14	117	[9]
XI	1936	Berlin, Germany	1–16 August	49	3963	3632	331	19	129	[10]
XII	1940	Originally awarded to Tokyo, then awarded to Helsinki, cancelled because of World War II
XIII	1944	Originally awarded to London, cancelled because of World War II
XIV	1948	London, Great Britain	29 July – 14 August	59	4104	3714	390	17	136	[11]
XV	1952	Helsinki, Finland	19 July – 3 August	69	4955	4436	519	17	149	[12]
XVI	1956	Melbourne, Australia	22 November – 9 December	72	3314	2938	376	17	145	[13]
XVII	1960	Rome, Italy	25 August – 11 September	83	5338	4727	611	17	150	[14]
XVIII	1964	Tokyo, Japan	10–24 October	93	5151	4473	678	19	163	[15]
XIX	1968	Mexico City, Mexico	12–27 October	112	5516	4735	781	18	172	[16]
XX	1972	Munich, West Germany	26 August – 11 September	121	7134	6075	1059	21	195	[17]
XXI	1976	Montreal, Canada	17 July – 1 August	92	6084	4824	1260	21	198	[18]
XXII	1980	Moscow, Soviet Union	19 July – 3 August	80	5179	4064	1115	21	203	[19]
XXIII	1984	Los Angeles, United States	28 July – 12 August	140	6829	5263	1566	21	221	[20]
XXIV	1988	Seoul, South Korea	17 September – 2 October	160	8391	6197	2194	23	237	[21]
XXV	1992	Barcelona, Spain	25 July – 9 August	169	9356	6652	2704	25	257	[22]
XXVI	1996	Atlanta, United States	19 July – 4 August	197	10318	6806	3512	26	271	[23]
XXVII	2000	Sydney, Australia	15 September – 1 October	199	10651	6582	4069	28	300	[24]
XXVIII	2004	Athens, Greece	13–29 August	201	10625	6296	4329	28	301	[25]
XXIX	2008	Beijing, China	8–24 August	204	10942	6305	4637	28	302	[26]
XXX	2012	London, Great Britain	27 July – 12 August	future event
XXXI	2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	5–21 August	future event
XXXII	2020	Istanbul, Turkey or Tokyo, Japan or Madrid, Spain (TBD September 7, 2013)	TBD	future event

^ A: The 1906 Intercalated Games are no longer considered official Games by the IOC.
^ B: Due to Australian quarantine laws, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm several months before the rest of the 1956 Games in Melbourne.

Note: Although the Games of 1916, 1940, and 1944 had been cancelled, the Roman numerals for those Games were still used because the Summer Games' official titles count Olympiads, not the Games themselves; those Olympiads occurred anyway per the Olympic Charter. This is in contrast to the Roman numerals in the official titles of the Winter Olympic Games, which ignore the cancelled Winter Games of 1940 & 1944; those titles count Games instead of Olympiads.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• List of participating nations at the Summer Olympic Games
• All-time Olympic Games medal count
• Olympic Games scandals
• Winter Olympic Games
• Olympic Stadium
• Multi-sport event
• Olympic Games ceremony
• Summer Paralympic Games

Notes[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)

External links[link]

• Official Site of the Olympic Movement
• Summer Olympic Games medalists and records (German)
• Candidate Cities for future Olympic Games
• LA84 Foundation archive of Official Reports