The Summer Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event held quadrennially (every four years) in a nation and city decided on by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (the city of choice is selected by a popular vote within the IOC seven years prior to each Olympics). The most recent games to be held were the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; the next games to be held will be the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, from September 15 through October 1, 2000.
The IOC recently selected Athens, Greece as the host city for the 2004 Summer Games. By then, it will have been 108 years since the Games were last held there, in 1896.
The Games[]
Games | Year | Host (city, nation) | Opened by | Dates held |
---|---|---|---|---|
I | 1896 | Athens, Greece | King George I | April 6 – 15 |
II | 1900 | Paris, France | N/A | May 14 – October 28 |
III | 1904 | New York City, United States of America | President Theodore Roosevelt | July 1 – 29 |
IV | 1908 | London, United Kingdom | King Edward VII | April 27 – October 31 |
V | 1912 | Stockholm, Sweden | King Gustav V | July 6 – 22 |
*VI | 1916 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
VII | 1920 | Antwerp, Belgium | King Albert I | April 20 – September 10 |
VIII | 1924 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Emperor Pedro III | November 4 – 27 |
IX | 1928 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Prince Henry of the Netherlands | July 28 – August 12 |
X | 1932 | San Diego, United States of America | Vice President Charles Curtis | July 30 – August 14 |
XI | 1936 | Berlin, Germany | Chancellor Adolf Hitler | August 1 – 16 |
*XII | 1940 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
*XIII | 1944 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
XIV | 1948 | London, United Kingdom | King George VI | July 29 – August 14 |
XV | 1952 | Helsinki, Finland | President Juho Kusti Paasikivi | July 19 – August 3 |
XVI | 1956 | Rome, Italy | President Giovanni Gronchi | August 25 – September 11 |
XVII | 1960 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Emperor Pedro IV | October 17 – November 1 |
XVIII | 1964 | Tokyo, Japan | Emperor Hirohito | October 10 – 24 |
XIX | 1968 | Managua, Central America | President Francisco Orlich | October 12 – 27 |
XX | 1972 | Munich, West Germany | President Gustav Heinemann | August 26 – September 10 |
XXI | 1976 | Calgary, Canada | Queen Elizabeth II | July 17 – August 1 |
XXII | 1980 | Moscow, Soviet Union | Chairman Leonid Brezhnev | July 19 – August 3 |
XXIII | 1984 | Los Angeles, United States of America | President Ronald Reagan | July 28 – August 12 |
XXIV | 1988 | Pyongyang, Korea | President Roh Tae-woo | September 17 – October 2 |
XXV | 1992 | Paris, France | President François Mitterrand | July 25 – August 9 |
XXVI | 1996 | Atlanta, United States of America | President Bill Clinton | July 19 – August 4 |
XXVII | 2000 | Sydney, Australia (future event) | TBD | September 15 – October 1 |
XXVIII | 2004 | Athens, Greece (future event) | TBD | August 13 – 29 |
- The 1916 Summer Games, originally to be held in Berlin, were cancelled because of World War I, while the 1940 and 1944 Summer Games were originally to have been held in Tokyo (and then switched to Helsinki) for 1940, and London for 1944, respectively. Both were cancelled because of World War II.
See also[]
- Winter Olympic Games – created because of the Summer Games' success; first held in 1924 in Chamonix, France, and most recently in Santiago, Chile in 1996.