Portal:Olympic Games
The Olympic Games Portal
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; French: Jeux olympiques) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports events in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of athletic competitions. The Olympic Games, open to both amateur and professional athletes, involve more than 200 teams, each team representing a sovereign state or territory. The Games often, but not always, substitute for any world championships during the year in which they take place. The Olympics are staged every four years. Since 1994, they have alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year Olympiad.
Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, which encompasses all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games. The Olympic Charter defines their structure and authority.
The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in numerous 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 adapted to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. The abuse of amateur rules 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 I and II 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 because of the COVID-19 restrictions.
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Following Olympic tradition, incumbent Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised in a special ceremony on February 28, 2006, and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Vancouver opening ceremony. The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, accompanied by the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge.
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The 2024 Summer Paralympics (French: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 2024), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (French: Jeux paralympiques d'été de Paris 2024), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international multi-sport parasports event governed by the International Paralympic Committee. The Games were held in Paris, France, from 28 August to 8 September 2024, and featured 549 medal events across 22 sports. These games marked the first time Paris hosted the Summer Paralympics and the second time France hosted the Paralympic Games, following the 1992 Winter Paralympics in Tignes and Albertville. France also hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Paralympics return to its usual 4-year cycle following the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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| “ | The Olympic Games must not be an end in itself, they must be a means of creating a vast program of physical education and sports competitions for all young people. | ” |
| — Avery Brundage, The fifth President of the International Olympic Committee | ||
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Robert George Windle (born 7 November 1944) is an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, who won four Olympic medals, including an individual gold medal. Windle won the 1500 m freestyle and took bronze in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and silver and bronze in the 4 × 200 m and 4 × 100 m freestyle relays respectively at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Known for his versatility, he is the only male swimmer to represent Australia at the Olympics in all freestyle distances from 100 m to 1500 m. During his career, Windle set six world records and won six Commonwealth Games gold medals. He won 19 Australian championships in all distances from 220 yd to 1650 yd.
Current Events
- 15 March 2026 – 2026 Winter Paralympics
- In para ice hockey, the United States defeats Canada 6–2, completing the three-peat of hockey championships at the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Italy. (AP)
- 22 February 2026 – 2026 Winter Olympics
- 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
- The Winter Olympics conclude with Norway as the highest-ranked team in the medal table. The Olympic flag is handed over to the organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics to be held in the French Alps. (France 24)
- Ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics
- The United States defeats Canada 2–1 during overtime, winning gold in the men's tournament in ice hockey for the first time since 1980, exactly 46 years after the Miracle on Ice. (KNBC-TV)
- 20 February 2026 – 2026 Winter Olympics
- Norway breaks the record for most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics event after skier Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won the country's 17th gold medal in Milan–Cortina, surpassing their own record of 16 gold medals. (The Independent)
Did You Know...-
- ...that John Konrads, an Olympic gold-medal winning swimmer who set 26 individual world records, later became the Australasian director of L'Oréal?
- ...that amateur wrestling Olympic gold medalist Robin Reed could pin every member of the 1924 United States Olympic wrestling team, despite being in the second lowest weight class?
- ...that James Foster was a Scottish-born Canadian goalie who helped lead Great Britain to its first and only Olympic gold medal in ice hockey in 1936?
- ...that Ilsa Konrads, former editor of Belle, was an Australian Olympic swimmer who set 12 world records?
- ...that Harold Hardwick, an Australian swimming gold medallist at the 1912 Olympics, was also a national boxing champion and later an army colonel?
Upcoming Olympic Games
2028 Summer Olympics
The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to 30, 2028, in the United States. Los Angeles will be the host city, with various events also scheduled to be held at other cities spread across the Greater Los Angeles area, plus two subsites in Oklahoma City.
Los Angeles had originally bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Following multiple withdrawals, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a process to concurrently award the 2024 and 2028 Games to Los Angeles and Paris as the two remaining candidates; Paris was preferred as host for 2024, while Los Angeles agreed to host in 2028. Los Angeles was formally awarded the Games at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on September 13, 2017. They will mark the fifth Summer Olympics, and ninth Olympics overall to be hosted by the United States; having previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, Los Angeles becomes the third three-time host city after London (1908, 1948, 2012) and Paris (1900, 1924, 2024), and the first non-European city to do so. These will be the first Summer Olympics held under the IOC presidency of Kirsty Coventry.
After debuting in 2020 as optional events, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing have been promoted to the Summer Olympics' core event program. The Games will feature the debut of flag football and squash as optional sports, joined by the return of baseball/softball, cricket (for the first time since 1900) and lacrosse (for the first time as a medal event since 1908).
All-time Combined Olympic Games Medal Table
Separate current and precursor NOCs (records not combined):
| No. | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 1,231 | 1,012 | 885 | 3,128 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 473 | 376 | 355 | 1,204 |
| 3 | China | 330 | 262 | 227 | 819 |
| 4 | Germany | 326 | 327 | 328 | 981 |
| 5 | Great Britain | 313 | 345 | 361 | 1,019 |
| 6 | France | 289 | 328 | 360 | 977 |
| 7 | Italy | 281 | 250 | 298 | 829 |
| 8 | Norway | 231 | 199 | 188 | 618 |
| 9 | Sweden | 224 | 238 | 247 | 709 |
| 10 | Japan | 211 | 198 | 233 | 642 |
2030 Winter Olympics
The 2030 Winter Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 2030), officially known as the XXVI Olympic Winter Games (French: XXVIes Jeux Olympiques d'hiver) and branded as French Alps 2030 (French: Alpes Françaises 2030) or Alpes 2030, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 1 to 17 February 2030 in the French Alps region of France.
As part of the new Olympic bid process, the Future Host Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) nominated the French Alps as its preferred candidate on 29 November 2023. The French Alps' bid was approved during the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on 24 July 2024.
Events will be held across the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Hautes-Alpes in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (with the prefecture of Nice hosting all but one of the ice events), and the departments of Haute-Savoie and Savoie in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Olympic Sports
- Archery
- Artistic swimming
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Beach volleyball
- Boxing
- Canoeing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Diving
- Equestrian
- Fencing
- Football
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Handball
- Field hockey
- Judo
- Lacrosse
- Modern pentathlon
- Rowing
- Rugby
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Skateboarding
- Softball
- Sport climbing
- Squash
- Surfing
- Swimming
- Table tennis
- Taekwondo
- Tennis
- Triathlon
- Volleyball
- Water polo
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
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