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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Kanthaugen Freestyleanlegg
Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena (Norwegian: Kanthaugen Freestyleanlegg) is a freestyle skiing stadium located in the hillside area of Kanthaugen in Lillehammer, Norway. Opened in 1992, it was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics. The venue consists of three hills—one each for aerials, moguls and ski ballet. The moguls hill has a capacity for 12,000 spectators while the other two have a 15,000-person capacity. The arena is designated as Norway's national venue for freestyle skiing. It hosted the FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup in 1993 and 1995, and freestyle skiing and snowboarding at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics. The arena is owned by Lillehammer Olympiapark and is located adjacent to the ski jumping hill Lysgårdsbakken.

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A bronze medal from the 2024 Summer Paralympics
A bronze medal from the 2024 Summer Paralympics
Credit: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

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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Jenner in 2015
Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner, October 28, 1949), formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete.

Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a knee injury that required surgery. Convinced by Olympic decathlete Jack Parker's coach, L. D. Weldon, to try the decathlon, she competed in decathlon for six years, culminating in winning the men's decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, setting a third successive world record and gaining fame as "an all-American hero". Jenner established a career in television, film, writing, auto racing, business, and as a Playgirl cover model.

Current Events

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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 MilanCortina, surpassing their own record of 16 gold medals. (The Independent)
19 February 2026 – 2026 Winter Olympics
Ski mountaineer Oriol Cardona wins the men's sprint event and captures Spain's first Winter Olympics gold medal in 54 years. (NBC)

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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

Olympic Games Countdown

Olympic Games
Milan & Cortina
Celebrated
2026
Winter
Los Angeles
868 days left
2028
Summer
French Alps
1438 days left
2030
Winter
Brisbane
2338 days left
2032
Summer
Paralympic Games
Milan & Cortina
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2026
Winter
Los Angeles
907 days left
2028
Summer
French Alps
1466 days left
2030
Winter
Brisbane
2370 days left
2032
Summer
Youth Olympic Games
Dakar
246 days left
2026
Summer
Dolomites & Valtellina
691 days left
2028
Winter

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