Sochi 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, will be held in Sochi, Russia. The Sochi Olympics are the first Winter Olympics (and first Olympics altogether) for the Russian F...
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London 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, and also more generally known as London 2012, took place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The first even...
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Vancouver 2010
The Olympic Winter Games returned to Canada as Vancouver hosted the XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010. Approximately 5,500 athletes and officials from 82 National Olympic Committees attended the ...
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Beijing 2008
Beijing played host city for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad on 13 July 2008 and was the first time the Olympic Games were held in the People's Republic of China and the fifth occasion on which ...
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Turin 2006
The hosts staged the largest Winter Olympics yet, with a substantial 80 nations contesting 84 events, and a record 26 of those taking home medals. Germany topped the table with 11 gold medals, but ...
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Athens 2004
108 years after the modern Olympic Games had been established in Athens, this global festival of sport returned home in the summer of 2004. Officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad a&nb...
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Salt Lake City 2002
The Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games saw the expansion of the Olympic programme to 78 events, including the return of skeleton and the introduction of women's bobsleigh. 77 nations sent team...
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Sydney 2000
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games, were officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad. 10,000 athletes from 199 nations took part in Sydney, and the United States r...
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Nagano 1998
In 1998 the Olympic Winter games returned to Japan, 26 years after Sapporo. Snowboarding and curling were added to the Olympic programme, and women's ice hockey was also introduced. In all, a r...
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Atlanta 1996
The Centennial Olympic were hosted by Atlanta, Georgia and were officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali, returned to the Olympic arena to light the flame at t...
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Lillehammer 1994
Lillehammer in Norway saw the first Olympic Winter Games to be staged in a new cycle which placed them at the mid point of the Olympiad. Norway's athletes won an impressive ten gold medals, onl...
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Albertville 1992
The Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics were the last Games to be staged in the same year as the Summer Games. It was the third time France had hosted the Winter Olympics, and Jean-Claude Killy, the l...
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Barcelona 1992
The Summer Games of 1992, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were hosted by Barcelona, the home city of IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The Catalans provided a festival of spo...
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Calgary 1988
For the first time, the Olympic Winter Games were held over 16 days. The number of events increased from 39 in Sarajevo to 46 in Calgary, and among those making their debut were the super-G in alpi...
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Seoul 1988
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad were held in Korea. Though no-one knew it at the time, these would be the last Olympic games in which the USSR would com...
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Los Angeles 1984
The Los Angeles Olympic Games of 1984 saw a record 140 nations still participated, bringing more than 6,700 athletes together. The hosts dominated events, winning a record 83 gold medals. China app...
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Sarajevo 1984
The 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo were the first and only visit by the Games to a socialist nation and were a great success. Skiier Jure Franko, who took the oath on behalf of the athletes, earn...
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Lake Placid 1980
The Winter Olympics made its second visit to Lake Placid in 1980. The Games welcomed a team of athletes from the Peoples' Republic of China for the first time, but it was the Soviet Union that ...
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Moscow 1980
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was held in Moscow in the Soviet Union. The hosts won 87 gold medals, the East Germany claimed 47, and Bulgaria eight....
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Innsbruck 1976
Innsbruck stepped in to stage the games for the second time, only 12 years after its successful 1964 Games. There were 37 nations competing this time around, and the Soviet Union yet again proved t...
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Montreal 1976
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For the Athens to Ottawa stage of the torch relay the Olympic flame travelle...
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Munich 1972
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, was held in Munich, West Germany. American swimmer Mark Spitz, set a world record when he won seven gold medals in all t...
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Sapporo 1972
The 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics in Japan were the first to be held outside Europe or the United States. The Soviet Union regained its position as the most successful team, winning eight gold medal...
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Grenoble 1968
The 1968 Winter Olympics were held in Grenoble, France. A global audience, enjoying colour Television for the first time from a Winter Games, watched Norway topple the USSR as the most successful n...
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Mexico City 1968
The 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City are officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad. The first games to be held at altitude with an Olympic city 2,300 metres above sea level. The air...
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Innsbruck 1964
The 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck were threatened by a lack of snow. The Austrian army rushed to the rescue, carving out 20,000 ice bricks from a mountain top and transporting them to the bobsl...
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Tokyo 1964
The 1964 Summer Olympics were officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad. More than 5,100 athletes from 93 nations competed, with greater representation from Africa and Asia than ever befo...
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Rome 1960
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was held in Rome, Italy. Rome finally hosted the games fifty-four years after they'd been forced to pull out of hos...
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Squaw Valley 1960
The 1960 Winter games were held in Squaw Valley. As the Games were held in California, it seemed fitting that the chairman of the Pageantry Committee in charge of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies...
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Cortina 1956
The 1956 Winter Games were held in the Italian resort in the Dolomites, the army had to shovel in artificial snow to counter the lack of the real thing. New television technology made sure these we...
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Melbourne 1956
The Melbourne Olympics of 1956 were the first Games in which all the athletes walked together at the closing ceremony regardless of nation. This idea was suggested by an Australian schoolboy John I...
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Helsinki 1952
Helsinki hosted the 1952 Games, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad. A Soviet Union team entered Olympic competition for the first time, winning an impressive 22 gold medals. Triu...
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Oslo 1952
In 1952, the Olympics were held in Norway, the birthplace of modern skiing. The Olympic flame was lit for the first time at the birthplace of Sondre Nordheim, the pioneer of modern skiing, and then...
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London 1948
After a twelve year absence caused by World War II, the Olympic Games, Games of the XIV Olympiad, returned to London in 1948. The second time the city had hosted the games. The London Gam...
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St Moritz 1948
After a 12-year break, caused by World War II, these Games were named the "Games of Renewal”, 669 athletes from 22 nations took part. Norway and Sweden led the medal table with fou...
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Berlin 1936
The 1936 Olympic Games, the Games of the XI Olympiad, were staged in Berlin. The torch relay, in which a flaming torch is carried from Olympia to the site of the current Games was introduced a...
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Garmisch 1936
The 1936 Olympic Winter Games were held in the twin Bavarian towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen in Germany, 500,000 spectators watched the games The European nations dominated and Norway won seven...
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Lake Placid 1932
The third Winter Olympics of 1932 were held in Lake Placid, New York State, a town of fewer than 4,000 people. The global financial climate and long distances meant that only 252 athletes from 17 n...
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Los Angeles 1932
The 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles were officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad. An unprecedented crowd of 100,000 witnessed the opening on 30 July. For the first time, male athl...
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Amsterdam 1928
The Amsterdam Olympic Games of 1928 were officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad. Athletes from twenty-eight nations won gold medals, a record which would stand for forty years, and f...
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St Moritz 1928
The 1928 Olympic Winter Games, hosted by St. Moritz in Switzerland, were the first to be held in a different nation to the Summer Games of the same year. Despite a decrease in the number of sports,...
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Chamonix 1924
In 1921, the IOC voted to stage International Sports Week 1924‚ in the French Alps of Chamonix. The event attracted competitors from 16 nations, with six sports on the programme. In 1925, the...
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Paris 1924
The Olympic Games returned to Paris in 1924, officially known as Games of the VIII Olympiad. The Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius‚ (Swifter, Higher, Stronger) was introduced, and t...
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Antwerp 1920
The 1920 Summer Olympics were officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad. The Games also featured a week of winter sports. The Great War of 1914-1918 put paid to Olympic Games of 1916 w...
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Stockholm 1912
Officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, the organisers ensured it was the most impressive spectacle yet - a 31,000-capacity stadium and a new swimming pool were constructed, and accommodat...
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London 1908
The 1908 Olympic Games, Games of the IV Olympiad, were originally awarded to Rome, but were reassigned to London when it became apparent that Rome would not be ready. A 68,000-capacity stadium...
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St. Louis 1904
Like the Paris Games before them, The 1904 St Louis Olympics were part of a larger event, the World Fair, and events were drawn out over four and a half months. The 1904 Olympic Games were the firs...
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Paris 1900
The 1900 Summer Olympics, today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad, was celebrated in Paris, France. No opening or closing ceremonies were held. Women took part in the games for ...
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Athens 1896
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was held in Athens, Greece. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era; because Ancient Greece wa...
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