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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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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Martin Sesaker representing Norway in curling at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics
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“ | I hope that this medal inspires the kids at home to put down guns and knives and pick up a pair of trainers instead. | ” |
— Erick Barrondo, Guatemalan racewalker, on winning Guatemala's first Olympic medal in London 2012 |
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Brodeur holds numerous NHL and franchise records among goaltenders; he ranks as the league's all-time regular season leader in wins (691), losses (397), shutouts (125), and games played (1,266). He won at least 30 games in twelve straight seasons between 1995–96 and 2007–08 and is the only goaltender in NHL history with eight 40-win seasons. He is a four-time Vezina Trophy winner, a five-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner, a ten-time NHL All-Star, and a Calder Memorial Trophy winner. He is one of only 12 NHL goaltenders to score a goal in the regular season and only the second to do so in the playoffs; his three goals are the most of any NHL goaltender.
Current Events
- 3 June 2022 – Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
- The Special Olympics lift their COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the upcoming Special Olympics USA event in Orlando, Florida, after Governor Ron DeSantis urged them to do so or face threats of a $27.5 million fine. (Florida Politics) (Bleacher Report) (WPEC-TV)
- 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)
Did You Know...-
- ... that ski jumper Joséphine Pagnier, who competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics, won two medals at the Winter Youth Olympics two years ago?
- ... that freestyle skier Kirsty Muir was the youngest Team GB competitor at the 2022 Winter Olympics?
- ... that the 2012 Olympic women's soccer semifinal between the Canadian and the American national teams was called "the greatest knockout match in major-tournament football" since 1982?
- ... that Rebeca Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to win a medal at the Olympic Games?
- ... that in 2022, Frida Westman was the first Swedish ski jumper to compete at an Olympic Games since 1994, when her father competed?
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 with Paris as its main host city and 16 cities spread across Metropolitan France and one at Overseas France as subsites.
Paris were awarded the Games at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017. Due to 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 to host the Summer Olympics three times after London (1908, 1948 and 2012) and the first of two consecutive Olympic Games to be held in Francophone country, preceding 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal. 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), and the first Olympic Games in France since the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
The Games will feature the debut of breaking (breakdancing) as an Olympic event.
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 and Cortina d'Ampezzo. 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
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- Football
- Golf
- Gymnastics
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- 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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