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The Summer Olympics are held every four years. A new city is chosen to host the games each time.

1896 Athens, Greece

These first modern Olympic games were staged by the Greeks at a cost of 1.5 million drachmas. At the time Greece was heavily in debt so the event was financed by selling commemorative stamps and coins.

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Athletes from 14 countries took part in 43 events in 7 sports –
athletics, cycling, fencing, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

United States 11 7 2 20
Greece 10 17 19 46
Germany 6 5 2 13
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France 5 4 2 11
Great Britain 2 3 2 7
Hungary 2 1 3 6
Austria 2 1 2 5
Australia 2 0 0 2
Denmark 1 2 3 6
Switzerland 1 2 0 3

Winners were actually given a silver medal, an olive branch, and a diploma, while runners-up received a copper medal, laurel branch, and diploma. The International Olympic Committee has since assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the three best placed athletes in each event.
 

1900 Paris, France

The games were hosted by Paris, France and took place as part of the World Fair

997 athletes from 24 countries took part in 95 events in 16 sports –
archery, athletics, Basque pelota, cricket, croquet, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, polo, rowing, rugby union, sailing, swimming, shooting, tug-of-war, water polo

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

France 26 41 34 101
United States 19 14 14 47
Great Britain 15 6 9 30
Mixed Team 6 3 3 12
Switzerland 6 2 1 9
Belgium 5 5 5 15
Germany 4 2 2 8
Italy 2 2 0 4
Australia 2 0 3 5
Denmark 1 3 2 6

Winners were actually given a silver medal, while runners-up received a bronze medal. The International Olympic Committee has since assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the three best placed athletes in each event.
 

1904 St Louis, USA

The games were hosted by St Louis, USA as part of the World Fair. For the first time Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were awarded to winning athletes. The number of countries that took part was much lower than previously because many athletes from Europe were not willing to travel such a long distance.

645 men and 6 women from 12 countries took part in 91 events in 18 sports –
archery, athletics, boxing, cycling, diving, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, roque, rowing, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 78 82 79 239
Germany 4 4 5 13
Cuba 4 2 3 9
Canada 4 1 1 6
Hungary 2 1 1 4
Great Britain 1 1 0 2
Mixed Team 1 1 0 2
Greece 1 0 1 2
Switzerland 1 0 1 2
Austria 0 0 1 1

1908 London,  UK

April 27th – October 31st 1908

These games had been scheduled to take place in Rome but when the volcano Vesuvius erupted in April 1906 Italy’s Olympic fund had to be used to re-build Naples which had been devastated by the disaster.

1971 men and 37 women from 22 countries took part in 110 events in 24 sports –
archery, athletics, boxing, cycling, diving, fencing, figure skating, football, gymnastics, hockey, jeu de paume, lacrosse, polo, rackets, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water motorsports, water polo, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Great Britain 56 51 39 146
USA 23 12 12 47
Sweden 8 6 11 25
France 5 5 9 19
Germany 3 5 5 13
Hungary 3 4 2 9
Canada 3 3 10 16
Norway 2 3 3 8
Italy 2 2 0 4
Belgium 1 5 2 8

 

1912 Stockholm,  Sweden

May 5th – July 22nd 1912

The Pentathlon and Decathlon were first introduced while boxing was disallowed

2360 men and 48 women from 28 countries took part in 102 events in 16 sports –
athletics, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water polo, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 25 19 19 63
Sweden 24 24 17 65
Great Britain 10 15 16 41
Finland 9 8 9 26
France 7 4 3 14
Germany 5 13 7 25
South Africa 4 2 0 6
Norway 4 1 4 9
Canada 3 2 3 8
Hungary 3 2 3 8

 

1916 Cancelled – World War One

 

1920 Antwerp, Belgium

April 20th – September 12th 1920

The games were awarded to Belgium in recognition of the suffering the Belgian people had endured in World War One. The defeated countries Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey were all banned from taking part.

2561 men and 65 women from 29 countries took part in 154 events in 24 sports –
archery, athletics, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, figure skating, football, gymnastics, hockey, ice hockey, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, tug-of-war, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 41 27 27 95
Sweden 19 20 25 64
Great Britain 15 15 13 43
Finland 15 10 9 34
Belgium 14 11 11 36
Norway 13 9 9 31
Italy 13 5 5 23
France 9 19 13 41
Netherlands 4 2 5 11
Denmark 3 9 1 13

 

1924 Paris, France

May 4th – July 27th 1924

The games returned to Paris, France at an estimated cost of 10 million Francs.

The film Chariots of Fire was based on the Olympic dreams of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell and their participation in these games.

2954 men and 135 women from 44 countries took part in 126 events in 19 sports –
athletics, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 45 27 27 99
Finland 14 13 10 37
France 13 15 10 38
Great Britain 9 13 12 34
Italy 8 3 5 16
Switzerland 7 8 10 25
Norway 5 2 3 10
Sweden 4 13 12 29
Netherlands 4 1 5 10
Belgium 3 7 3 13

 

1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands

July 28th – August 12th 1928

Amsterdam had the first stadium with a 400 metre track – this would become the standard for all athletics stadiums

Despite opposition from de Coubertin and new President of the IOC Baillet-Latour women were allowed to compete in 5 athletics track events, however on seeing the distressed condition of some of the female 800 metre race finishers, Baillet-Latour had the event banned. The ban stayed in place until 1960.

2611 men and 273 women from 46 countries took part in 109 events in 16 sports –
athletics, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 22 18 16 56
Germany 10 7 14 31
Finland 8 8 9 25
Sweden 7 6 12 25
Italy 7 5 7 19
Switzerland 7 4 4 15
France 6 10 5 21
Netherlands 6 9 4 19
Hungary 4 5 0 9
Canada 4 4 7 15

 

1932 Los Angeles, USA

July 30th – August 14th 1932

This Olympics took place during the Great Depression and as a result many athletes from other continents were unable finance a trip to America.

1206 men and 126 women from 37 countries took part in 116 events in 16 sports –
athletics, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 41 32 30 103
Italy 12 12 12 36
France 10 5 4 19
Sweden 9 5 9 23
Japan 7 7 4 18
Hungary 6 4 5 15
Finland 5 8 12 25
Great Britain 4 7 5 16
Germany 3 12 5 20
Australia 3 1 1 5

 

1936 Berlin, Germany

August 1st – August 16th 1936

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler was warned that many countries would boycott his games unless he modified his behaviour towards Jews and ethnic minority groups. As a result racist signs were removed from the city for the duration of the games.

Hitler did not shake hands with Afro-American sprint and long jump winner Jesse Owens.

3632 men and 331 women from 49 countries took part in 129 events in 16 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Germany 33 26 30 89
USA 24 20 12 56
Hungary 10 1 5 16
Italy 8 9 5 22
Finland 7 6 6 19
France 7 6 6 19
Sweden 6 5 9 20
Japan 6 4 8 18
Netherlands 6 4 7 17
Great Britain 4 7 3 14

 

1940 Cancelled – World War Two

1944 Cancelled – World War Two

 

1948 London, UK

July 29th – August 14th 1948

Known as the ‘Austerity Games’ because following World War Two there was no money to spend on new stadium, accommodations or facilities.

Germany and Japan were not invited and the USSR declined the invitation

3714 men and 390 women from 59 countries took part in 136 events in 21 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, modern pentathlon, polo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 38 27 19 84
Sweden 16 11 17 44
France 10 6 13 29
Hungary 10 5 12 27
Italy 8 11 8 27
Finland 8 7 5 20
Turkey 6 4 2 12
Czechoslovakia 6 2 3 11
Switzerland 5 10 5 20
Denmark 5 7 8 20

 

1952 Helsinki, Finland

July 19th – August 3rd 1952

4436 men and 519 women from 69 countries took part in 139 events in 19 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 40 19 17 76
Soviet Union 22 30 19 71
Hungary 16 10 16 42
Sweden 12 13 10 35
Italy 8 9 4 21
Czechoslovakia 7 3 3 13
France 6 6 6 18
Finland 6 3 13 22
Australia 6 2 3 11
Norway 3 2 0 5

 

1956 Melbourne, Australia

November 22nd – December 8th 1956

Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt boycotted the games in protest at the British, French and Israeli invasion of Egypt (Suez Crisis)
Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland boycotted the games in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary
The People’s Republic of China boycotted the games in protest at the games’ recognition of Formosa (now Taiwan)

A water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union became known as ‘The Blood in the Water Match’

2938 men and 376 women from 72 countries took part in 145 events in 19 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Soviet Union 37 29 32 98
USA 32 25 17 74
Australia 13 8 14 35
Hungary 9 10 7 26
Italy 8 8 9 25
Sweden 8 5 6 19
Germany 6 13 7 26
Great Britain 6 7 11 24
Romania 5 3 5 13
Japan 4 10 5 19

 

1960 Rome, Italy

August 25th – September 11th 1960

This Olympics was the last that South Africa competed in until 1992 due to its policy of Apartheid

4727 men and 611 women from 83 countries took part in 150 events in 19 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Soviet Union 43 29 31 103
USA 34 21 16 71
Italy 13 10 13 36
Germany 12 19 11 42
Australia 8 8 6 22
Turkey 7 2 0 9
Hungary 6 8 7 21
Japan 4 7 7 18
Poland 4 6 11 21
Czechoslovakia 3 2 3 8

 

1964 Tokyo, Japan

October 10th – October 24th 1964

Germany competed as one country for the last time until 1992

4473 men and 678 women from 93 countries took part in 163 events in 21 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 36 26 28 90
Soviet Union 30 31 35 96
Japan 16 5 8 29
Germany 10 22 18 50
Italy 10 10 7 27
Hungary 10 7 5 22
Poland 7 6 10 23
Australia 6 2 10 18
Czechoslovakia 5 6 3 14
Great Britain 4 12 2 18

 

1968 Mexico City, Mexico

October 12th – October 27th 1968

The high altitude of Mexico City caused difficulties for some athletes who were not used to the conditions.

4750 men and 780 women from 112 countries took part in 172 events in 20 sports –
athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 45 28 34 107
Soviet Union 29 32 30 91
Japan 11 7 7 25
Hungary 10 10 12 32
East Germany 9 9 7 25
France 7 3 5 15
Czechoslovakia 7 2 4 13
West Germany 5 11 10 26
Australia 5 7 5 17
Great Britain 5 5 3 13
Mexico 3 3 3 9

 

1972 Munich, West Germany

August 26th – September 10th 1972

The games were marred by the Munich massacre – Black September terrorists killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team

Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in swimming events

Russian gymnast Olga Korbut became the darliing of the Olympics

6075 men and 1095 women from 121 countries took part in 195 events in 23 sports –
archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Soviet Union 50 27 22 99
USA 33 31 30 94
East Germany 20 23 23 66
West Germany 13 11 16 40
Japan 13 8 8 29
Australia 8 7 2 17
Poland 7 5 9 21
Hungary 6 13 16 35
Bulgaria 6 10 5 21
Italy 5 3 10 18

 

1976 Montreal, Canada

July 17th – August 1st 1976

31 nations boycotted the games as a protest against the New Zealand rugby team’s recent game with South Africa

Increased costs together with a reduced number of visitors nearly bankrupted Montreal

4781 men and 1274 women from 92 countries took part in 198 events in 23 sports –
archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Soviet Union 49 41 35 125
East Germany 40 25 25 90
USA 34 35 25 94
West Germany 10 12 17 39
Japan 9 6 10 25
Poland 7 6 13 26
Bulgaria 6 9 7 22
Cuba 6 4 3 13
Romania 4 9 14 27
Hungary 4 5 13 22
Canada 0 5 6 11

 

1980 Moscow, USSR, Soviet Union

July 19th – August 3rd 1980

61 western nations boycotted the games in protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan

4064 men and 1115 women from 80 countries took part in 203 events in 23 sports –
archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Soviet Union 80 69 46 195
East Germany 47 37 42 126
Bulgaria 8 16 17 41
Cuba 8 7 5 20
Italy 8 3 4 15
Hungary 7 10 15 32
Romania 7 6 13 25
France 6 5 3 14
Great Britain 5 7 9 21
Poland 3 14 15 32

 

1984 Los Angeles, USA

July 28th – August 12th 1984

Communist bloc countries (except Romania) boycotted these games in retaliation for the western boycott of Moscow.

5263 men and 1566 women from 140 countries took part in 221 events in 24 sports –
archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, synchronised swimming, swimming, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 83 61 30 174
Romania 20 16 17 53
West Germany 17 19 23 59
China 15 8 9 32
Italy 14 6 12 32
Canada 10 18 16 44
Japan 10 8 14 32
New Zealand 8 1 2 11
Yugoslavia 7 4 7 18
South Korea 6 6 7 19

 

1992 Barcelona, Spain

July 25th – August 9th 1992

6652 men and 2704 women from 169 countries took part in 286 events in 28 sports –
Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Field hockey, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Synchronized swimming, Swimming, Table tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Water polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

Unified Team (CIS*) 45 38 29 112
USA 37 34 37 108
Germany 33 21 28 82
China 16 22 16 54
Cuba 14 6 11 31
Spain 13 7 2 22
South Korea 12 5 12 29
Hungary 11 12 7 30
France 8 5 16 29
Australia 7 9 11 27

*Commonwealth of Independent states – formed following the break up of the Soviet Union

1996 Atlanta, Georgia, United States

July 19th – August 4th 1996

6797 men and 3523 women from 197 countries took part in 271 events in 29 sports –
Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Field hockey, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, softball, Synchronized swimming, Swimming, Table tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Water polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 44 32 25 101
Russia 26 21 16 63
Germany 20 18 27 65
China 16 22 12 50
France 15 7 15 37
Italy 13 10 12 35
Australia 9 9 23 41
Cuba 9 8 8 25
Ukraine 9 2 12 23
South Korea 7 15 5 27

 

2000 Sydney, Australia

September 15th – October 1st 2000

6582 men and 4069 women from 199 countries took part in 300 events in 31 sports –
Archery, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Badminton, Boxing, Canoe/Kayak, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (soccer), Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Synchronized swimming, Table tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 37 24 31 92
Russia 32 28 28 88
China 28 16 15 59
Australia 16 25 17 58
Germany 13 17 26 56
France 13 14 11 38
Italy 13 8 13 34
Netherlands 12 9 4 25
Cuba 11 11 7 29
Great Britain 11 10 7 28

 

2004 Athens, Greece

August 13th – August 29th 2004

10,625 athletes from 201 countries took part in 301 events in 31 sports –
Archery, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Badminton, Boxing, Canoe/Kayak, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (soccer), Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Synchronized swimming, Table tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

USA 35 39 29 103
China 32 17 14 63
Russia 28 26 38 92
Australia 17 16 16 49
Japan 16 9 12 37
Germany 13 16 20 49
France 11 9 13 33
Italy 10 11 11 32
South Korea 9 12 9 30
Great Britain 9 9 13 31
Greece 6 6 4 16

 

2008 Beijing, China

August 8th – August 24th 2008

43 world records and 132 Olympic records were broken during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing

6,450 men and 4746 women athletes from 204 countries took part in 302 events in 31 sports –
Archery, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Badminton, Boxing, Canoe/Kayak, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (soccer), Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Synchronized swimming, Table tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

China 51 21 28 100
USA 36 38 36 110
Russia 23 21 28 72
Great Britain 19 13 15 47
Germany 16 10 15 41
Australia 14 15 17 46
South Korea 13 10 8 31
Japan 9 6 10 25
Italy 8 9 10 27
France 7 16 18 41

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"The Olympics – Summer Olympics" History on the Net
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March 29, 2024 <https://www.historyonthenet.com/the-olympics-summer-olympics>
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