FACTSHEET

THE GAMES OF THE OLYMPIAD

UPDATE - OCTOBER 2013

1896, ATHENS, Greece The Games were very similar to those of 1900
and lasted almost five months. Numerous
1896 ATHENS, Greece events were not labelled “Olympic”, but had the
Dates: from 6 to 15 April 1896. status of sporting championships only in the
Participants: 14 National Olympic Committees framework of the world fair. The athletes often
(NOCs), 43 events, 241 athletes (men only). competed as individuals who were not really
Officially opened by: King George I. linked to an international team. After 1904, the
founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre
The Games of the Olympiad in Athens were de Coubertin, swore never again to organise the
financed by a donation of approximately one Olympic Games alongside a fair.
million drachmas from businessman Georges
Averof and by the sale of souvenir stamps and 1908 LONDON, Great Britain
medals. American James Connolly became the Dates: from 27 April to 31 October 1908.
first Olympic champion of the modern era, Other candidate cities: Berlin (Germany),
winning the triple jump on 6 April 1896 (13.71 Milan (Italy) and Rome (Italy). Rome was
metres). The Greek spectators were rewarded chosen initially, but the Games were then
for their enthusiasm when Greek peasant awarded to London due to the eruption of Mount
Spyridon Louis won the star event – the Vesuvius in 1906.
marathon. Participants: 22 NOCs, 110 events, 2,008
athletes (1,971 men, 37 women).
1900 PARIS, France Officially opened by: King Edward VII.
Dates: from 14 May to 28 October 1900.
Participants: 24 NOCs, 95 events, 997 athletes This edition of the Olympic Games was one of
(975 men, 22 women). the best organised to date. The Games were
starting to become known around the globe and
In 1900, Paris hosted the International Universal athletes the world over wanted to compete. On
Exhibition, and the Games were organised in the first Sunday of the Games, a religious
the framework of this event. The Games were service took place in St Paul’s Cathedral. The
spread over five months and there were no real Bishop of Pennsylvania gave a sermon here
opening and closing ceremonies. Women made that would become famous, containing the
their Olympic debut in tennis and golf. British words: “The important thing in these Olympiads
tennis player Charlotte Cooper was the first is not to win, but to take part.”
woman to earn the title of Olympic champion.
1912 STOCKHOLM, Sweden
1904 ST. LOUIS, USA Dates: from 5 May to 27 July 1912.
Dates: from 1 July to 23 November 1904. Participants: 28 NOCs, 102 events, 2,407
Other candidate city: Chicago (USA). athletes (2,359 men, 48 women). For the first
Chicago was initially chosen to host the Games time, competitors in the Games came from all
of the III Olympiad but the IOC decided to five continents.
transfer the Games to St. Louis in 1902 because Officially opened by: King Gustav V.
it was also hosting the Universal Exhibition.
Participants: 12 NOCs, 91 events, 651 athletes The Swedish hosts unofficially introduced the
(645 men, 6 women). use of electronic time-keeping for the athletics
Officially opened by: David Francis, President races, as well as the first loudspeaker system.
of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 As a result of Sweden refusing to allow boxing
Universal Exhibition). tournaments to take place within its territory, the

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International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided, Olympic oath (athletes): Henri Denis, football.
after the Games, to limit the power of the host city Officially opened by: Prince Hendrik.
insofar as choosing the Olympic programme was
concerned. For the first time, the Olympic flame was lit at
the top of a tower within the stadium. It
GAMES OF THE VI OLYMPIAD remained lit throughout the Games. At this
Did not take place because of WWI. Planned stage, the Olympic Torch Relay had not yet
location: Berlin (Germany). Other candidate been invented. The programme contained
cities: Alexandria (Egypt) and Budapest athletics events for women for the first time. The
(Hungary). presentation of medals took place on the final
day of the Games for the last time.
1920 ANTWERP, Belgium
Dates: from 20 April to 12 September 1920. 1932 LOS ANGELES, USA
Participants: 29 NOCs, 154 events, 2,626 Dates: from 30 July to 14 August 1932.
athletes (2,561 men, 65 women). Participants: 37 NOCs, 117 events, 1,332
Olympic oath (athletes): Victor Boin, fencing. athletes (1,206 men, 126 women).
Officially opened by: King Albert I. Olympic oath (athletes): George Calnan,
fencing.
The Opening Ceremony stood out for various Officially opened by: Vice President Charles
reasons: first use of the Olympic flag; first time Curtis.
that a competitor took the Olympic oath; and Emblem: Arms in the colours of the United
first pigeon release. States, with the Olympic rings and motto in the
foreground.
1924 PARIS, France
Dates: from 4 May to 27 July 1924. The 1932 Olympic Games were the first to take
Other candidate cities: Amsterdam place over 16 days. For the first time, male
(Netherlands), Barcelona (Spain), Los Angeles athletes were accommodated in a single
(USA), Prague (Czechoslovakia) and Rome Olympic village (the women stayed in a hotel).
(Italy). At the medal presentation ceremonies, the
Participants: 44 NOCs, 126 events, 3,089 winners stepped onto podiums and their
athletes (2,954 men, 135 women). countries’ flags were raised. Automatic timing
Olympic oath (athletes): Georges André, was introduced for the athletics events, as was
athletics. the photo finish.
Officially opened by: President Gaston
Doumergue. 1936 BERLIN, Germany
Emblem: emblem of the City of Paris. Dates: from 1 to 16 August 1936.
Other candidate city: Barcelona (Spain).
At the Closing Ceremony, the practice of raising Participants: 49 NOCs, 129 events, 3,963
three flags (one for the IOC, one for the host athletes (3,632 men, 331 women).
country and one for the host country of the next Olympic oath (athletes): Rudolf Ismayr,
edition of the Games) was introduced. weightlifting.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Fritz Schilgen.
1928 AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands Officially opened by: Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
Dates: from 17 May to 12 August 1928. Emblem: a bell with the Olympic rings under the
Participants: 46 NOCs, 109 events, 2,883 German eagle.
Athletes (2,606 men, 277 women).

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The 1936 Olympic Games put paid to Adolf Olympic cauldron lit by: Paavo Nurmi and
Hitler’s attempt to prove his theories on the Hannes Kolehmainen: after having lit a first
superiority of the Aryan race. These Games cauldron in the stadium, Nurmi passed the torch
witnessed the introduction of the Olympic Torch to Kolehmainen, who lit a second cauldron at
Relay. The flame is carried from Olympia to the the top of the stadium tower, in honour of the
site of the Games. The 1936 Games were also 1940 Games that did not take place.
the first to be broadcast on television. Officially opened by: President Juho Paasikivi.
Emblem: the stadium tower with the Olympic
GAMES OF THE XII OLYMPIAD rings at the top.
Did not take place because of WWII. Planned
location: initially Tokyo (Japan) but, because of The Soviet Union took part in the Games for the
the Sino-Japanese conflict, the Games were first time. One of the first women authorised to
reassigned to Helsinki (Finland). compete against the men in dressage was
Denmark’s Lis Hartel, who won a silver medal.
GAMES OF THE XIII OLYMPIAD
Did not take place because of WWII. Planned 1956 MELBOURNE, Australia
location: London (Great Britain). Other Dates: from 22 November to 8 December 1956.
candidate cities: Detroit (USA), Lausanne Other candidate cities: Buenos Aires
(Switzerland) and Rome (Italy). (Argentina), Los Angeles (USA), Detroit (USA),
Mexico City (Mexico), Chicago (USA),
1948 LONDON, Great Britain Minneapolis (USA), Philadelphia (USA) and San
Dates: from 29 July to 14 August 1948. Francisco (USA).
Other candidate cities: Baltimore (USA), Participants: 67 NOCs, 145 events, 3,155
Lausanne (Switzerland), Los Angeles (USA), athletes (2,791 men, 364 women).
Minneapolis (USA) and Philadelphia (USA). Olympic oath (athletes): John Landy, athletics.
Participants: 59 NOCs, 136 events, 4,104 Olympic cauldron lit by: Ron Clarke.
athletes (3,714 men, 390 women).There were Officially opened by: The Duke of Edinburgh.
no athletes from Japan or Germany. Emblem: drawing of Australia under an Olympic
Olympic oath (athletes): Donald Finlay, torch and rings. “MELBOURNE 1956” is
athletics. inscribed at the bottom, with laurel branches
Olympic cauldron lit by: John Mark. extending upwards on both sides.
Officially opened by: King George VI.
Emblem: Big Ben with the Olympic rings in the EQUESTRIAN GAMES, STOCKHOLM,
foreground. Sweden
Dates: from 10 to 17 June 1956.
Other candidate cities: Paris (France), Rio de
1952 HELSINKI, Finland
Janeiro (Brazil), Berlin (Germany) and Los
Dates: from 19 July to 3 August 1952.
Angeles (USA).
Other candidate cities: Los Angeles (USA),
Participants: 29 NOCs, 6 events, 159 athletes
Amsterdam (Netherlands), Minneapolis (USA),
(147 men, 12 women).
Detroit (USA), Chicago (USA) and Philadelphia
Olympic oath (athletes): Henri Saint Cyr.
(USA).
Olympic cauldron lit by: Hans Wikne.
Participants: 69 NOCs, 149 events, 4,955
Officially opened by: King Gustaf VI Adolf.
athletes (4,436 men, 519 women).
Emblem: the Olympic rings under an ancient
Olympic oath (athletes): Heikki Savolainen,
horseman.
artistic gymnastics.

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For the first time, the competitions took place in Officially opened by: Emperor Hirohito.
two countries. As the equine quarantine law was Emblem: Rising sun juxtaposed with the
too strict to allow the entry of foreign horses into Olympic rings.
Australia, the equestrian events took place in
Stockholm. The two Germanys (West and East) The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first ones
took part as a combined team. This practice organized in Asia. The Japanese highlighted
continued for the following two editions of the their success in reconstructing their country
Games. For the first time, the athletes paraded after WWII by choosing as the last torchbearer
together, rather than by country, as a symbol of Yashinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima on
world unity. the same day that the city was destroyed by an
atomic bomb.
1960 ROME, Italy
Dates: from 25 August to 11 September 1960. 1968 MEXICO CITY, Mexico
Other candidate cities: Lausanne Dates: from 12 to 27 October 1968.
(Switzerland), Detroit (USA), Budapest Other candidate cities: Detroit (USA), Lyon
(Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Mexico City (France) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).
(Mexico) and Tokyo (Japan). Participants: 112 NOCs, 172 events, 5,516
Participants: 83 NOCs, 150 events, 5,338 athletes (4,735 men,781 women).
athletes, (4,727 men, 611 women). Olympic oath (athletes): Pablo Lugo Garrido,
Olympic oath (athletes): Adolfo Consolini, athletics.
athletics. Olympic cauldron lit by: Norma Enriqueta
Olympic cauldron lit by: Giancarlo Peris. Basilio de Sotelo.
Officially opened by: President Giovanni Officially opened by: President Gustavo Diaz
Gronchi. Ordaz.
Emblem: the Olympic rings beneath a Roman Emblem: “Mexico 68” with the five Olympic
she-wolf suckling Remus and Romulus, the twin rings over the numerals.
brothers who, according to legend, founded the
city of Rome. There were a number of firsts at Mexico 1968:
they were the first Games held in Latin America;
Rome organised the competitions on several a woman lit the Olympic flame; winners
ancient sites (the ruins of the Basilica of underwent doping controls (for narcotics and
Maxence, the Caracalla Baths and the Arch of stimulants); and the synthetic material Tartan
Constantine [finish line of the marathon]). These was used for the athletics track.
Games were broadcast live in 18 European
countries; they were also broadcast with a time 1972 MUNICH, Germany
delay of a few hours in the USA and Canada. Dates: from 26 August to 11 September 1972.
Other candidate cities: Montreal (Canada),
1964 TOKYO, Japan Madrid (Spain) and Detroit (USA).
Dates: from 10 to 24 October 1964. Participants: 121 NOCs, 195 events, 7,134
Other candidate cities: Detroit (USA), Vienna athletes (6,075 men, 1,059 women).
(Austria) and Brussels (Belgium). Olympic oath (athletes): Heidi Schüller,
Participants: 93 NOCs, 163 events, 5,151 athletics.
athletes (4,473 men, 678 women). Olympic oath (officials): Heinz Pollay,
Olympic oath (athletes): Takashi Ono, artistic equestrian sports.
gymnastics. Olympic cauldron lit by: Günter Zahn.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Yoshinori Sakai.

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Officially opened by: President Gustave Olympic oath (officials): Aleksandr Medved,
Heinemann. wrestling.
Emblem: crown of rays of light. Olympic cauldron lit by: Sergei Belov.
Mascot: Waldi (a dachshund). Officially opened by: Chairman of the
Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Leonid
On the morning of 5 September, the Games Brezhnev.
were interrupted when eight Palestinian Emblem: Olympic rings under parallel lines in a
terrorists, representing the militant group Black pyramid shape, crowned by a star representing
September, broke into the Olympic Village, the stars of the Kremlin.
taking as hostages, then killing, 11 members of Mascot: Misha (a bear).
the Israeli Olympic team. The Olympic Games
were suspended for 34 hours and a memorial Further to a boycott launched by the USA, only
service for the victims held in the main stadium. 80 countries (the fewest since 1956) took part in
The flags of all the nations flew at half-staff. the Moscow Games.

1976 MONTREAL, Canada 1984 LOS ANGELES, USA

Dates: from 17 July to 1 August 1976. Dates: from 28 July to 12 August 1984.
Other candidate cities: Moscow (USSR) and Participants: 140 NOCs, 221 events, 6,829
Los Angeles (USA). athletes (5,263 men, 1,566 women).
Participants: 92 NOCs, 198 events, 6,084 Olympic oath (athletes): Edwin Moses,
athletes (4,824 men, 1,260 women). athletics.
Olympic oath (athletes): Pierre Saint-Jean, Olympic oath (officials): Sharon Weber,
weightlifting. artistic gymnastics.
Olympic oath (officials): Maurice Forget, Olympic cauldron lit by: Rafer Johnson.
athletics. Officially opened by: President Ronald
Olympic cauldron lit by: Stéphane Préfontaine Reagan.
and Sandra Henderson. Emblem: “Stars in movement”: three stars (red,
Officially opened by: Queen Elizabeth II. white and blue) crossed by 13 horizontal,
Emblem: Olympic rings under an Olympic parallel lines representing movement and the 13
podium, also representing the letter “M” for original colonies.
Montreal. Mascot: Sam (an eagle).
Mascot: Amik (a beaver).
Although a boycott (called by the USSR in
The 1976 Montreal Games were marred by a response to the boycott of the 1980 Moscow
boycott organised to protest the fact that the Games) left some sports venues rather empty, a
New Zealand rugby team had toured apartheid record 140 countries took part in these Games.
South Africa and that New Zealand was They were the first since 1896 to be organised
scheduled to compete in the Olympic Games. without government funding.

1980 MOSCOW, USSR 1988 SEOUL, Republic of Korea

Dates: from 19 July to 3 August 1980. Dates: from 17 September to 2 October 1988.
Other candidate city: Los Angeles (USA). Other candidate city: Nagoya (Japan).
Participants: 80 NOCs, 203 events, 5,179 Participants: 159 NOCs, 237 events, 8,391
athletes (4,064 men, 1,115 women). athletes (6,197 men, 2,194 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Nikolay Andrianov, Olympic oath (athletes): Hur Jae (basketball),
artistic gymnastics. Son Mi-Ha (handball).

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Olympic oath (officials): Lee Hak-Rae, judo. 1996 ATLANTA, USA
Olympic cauldron lit by: Chung Sun-Man, Kim Dates: from 19 July to 4 August 1996.
Won-Tak and Sohn Mi-Chung. Other candidate cities: Athens (Greece),
Officially opened by: President Roh Tae-Woo. Toronto (Canada), Melbourne (Australia),
Emblem: traditional Korean motif, three swirls Manchester (Great Britain) and Belgrade
representing the meeting of peoples and (Yugoslavia).
progression towards world peace. Participants: 197 NOCs, 271 events, 10,318
Mascot: Hodori (a tiger). athletes (6,806 men, 3,512 women).
Olympic oath (athletes): Teresa Edwards,
Despite a boycott by North Korea, which had basketball.
wanted to co-host the Games, this edition had Olympic oath (officials): Hobie Billingsly,
the most participants in Olympic history, with the diving.
greatest number of countries represented. Olympic cauldron lit by: Muhammad Ali.
Officially opened by: President Bill Clinton.
1992 BARCELONA, Spain Emblem: the logo represented a flame
Dates: from 25 July to 9 August 1992. composed of the five Olympic rings with the
Other candidate cities: Paris (France), number 100 (centennial) at its base, and a
Brisbane (Australia), Belgrade (Yugoslavia), whimsical flame ending in four stars.
Birmingham (Great Britain) and Amsterdam Mascot: Izzy (original name “Whatizit”) A
(Netherlands). computer-generated, blue cartoon character.
Participants: 169 NOCs, 257 events, 9,356
athletes (6,652 men, 2,704 women). For the first time in Olympic history, all the
Olympic oath (athletes): Luis Doreste Blanco, recognized National Olympic Committees were
sailing. represented at the Games. A record number of
Olympic oath (officials): Eugenio Asensio, 79 countries won medals, and 53 won gold.
football.
Olympic cauldron lit by: Antonio Rebollo 2000 SYDNEY, Australia
(Paralympic archer). Dates: from 15 September to 1 October 2000.
Officially opened by: King Juan Carlos I. Other candidate cities: Berlin (Germany),
Emblem: a stylised athlete leaping over the Manchester (Great Britain), Beijing (China) and
Olympic rings. Istanbul (Turkey).
Mascot: Cobi (a dog). Participants: 199 NOCs + 4 Individual Olympic
Athletes, 300 events, 10,651 athletes (6,582
Since Seoul 1988, the face of the world had men, 4,069 women).
changed. The Soviet Union no longer existed; Olympic oath (athletes): Rechelle Hawkes,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were once again hockey.
independent countries; Germany was reunified; Olympic oath (officials): Peter Kerr, water
Yugoslavia was divided into several republics; polo.
and North and South Yemen had become one. Olympic cauldron lit by: Cathy Freeman.
All these new national groupings appeared in Officially opened by: the Governor General of
Barcelona. South Africa took part in the Games Australia, Sir William Deane.
for the first time since 1960. Emblem: The emblem represented elements of
Australian culture: Australian colours,
boomerangs, Sydney harbour, beaches, red
earth and the indigenous inhabitants.

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Mascots: Syd (a duck-billed platypus), Millie (an 2008 BEIJING, China
echidnea), and Olly (a kookaburra). Dates: from 8 to 24 August 2008.
Other candidate cities: Istanbul (Turkey),
These Games were the biggest in history: 10, Osaka (Japan), Paris (France), Toronto
651 athletes competed in 300 events. North and (Canada).
South Korea paraded together under the same Participants: 204 NOCs, 302 events, 10,942
flag. Four athletes from Timor-Leste took part athletes, (6,305 men, 4,637 women).
individually under the Olympic flag. Olympic oath (athletes): Yining Zhang, table
tennis.
2004 ATHENS, Greece Olympic oath (officials): Liping Huang,
Dates: from 12 to 28 August 2004 gymnastics.
Other candidate cities: Buenos Aires Olympic cauldron lit by: Ning Li.
(Argentina), Cape Town (South Africa), Rome Officially opened by: The President of the
(Italy) and Stockholm (Sweden). Peoples Republic of China, Jintao Hu.
Participants: 201 NOCs, 301 events, 10,625 Emblem: entitled “Dancing Beijing”, the emblem
athletes (6,296 men, 4,329 women). combined the art of calligraphy and sport, the
Olympic oath (athletes): Zoï Dimoschaki, latter being represented by a human silhouette
swimming. running in celebration of victory.
Olympic oath (officials): Lazaros Voreaadis, Mascots: Five mascots represented the Beijing
basketball. Games, including four animals: Beibei the fish,
Olympic cauldron lit by: Nikolaos Jingjing the panda, Yingying the Tibetan
Kaklamanakis. antelope, and Nini the swallow. The fifth mascot
Officially opened by: the President of the was Huanhuan the Olympic flame. Combining
Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos. the first syllables of the mascots’ names creates
Emblem: a crown made of an olive branch. It the phrase “Bei Jing Huan Ying Nin”, which
represented through a characteristic Hellenic means “Welcome to Beijing” in Chinese.
shape the four values of the 2004 Games:
legacy, participation, celebration and the human 2012 LONDON, Great Britain
dimension. Dates: from 27 July to 12 August 2012
Mascots: Phevos and his sister, Athena, Other candidate cities: Paris (France), Madrid
represented the link between Greek history and (Spain), Moscow (Russian Federation) and New
the modern Olympic Games. Phevos was York (USA).
named after the Olympian god Apollo, the god Participants: 204 NOCs + 4 Individual Olympic
of light and music. Athena is the name of the Athletes, 302 events, 10,568 athletes (5,892
goddess of wisdom and patron of the city of men, 4,675 women).
Athens. The mascots were fashioned after an Olympic oath (athletes): Sarah Stevenson,
ancient Greek doll. Taekwondo
Olympic oath (officials): Mik Basi, boxing
The shot put competition was held in the ancient Olympic oath (coach): Eric Farrell, canoe /
stadium in Olympia, while the marathon was kayak
staged on the historic route. The Olympic Torch Olympic cauldron lit by: Callum Airlie, Jordan
Relay, which started in Olympia, was the first Duckitt, Desirée Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron
relay in the history of the Games to cross the MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds, Adelle Tracey.
five continents, before returning to Greece. Officially opened by: Her Majesty the Queen
Elizabeth II

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Emblem: it is based on the number 2012,
includes the Olympic Rings and the word
“London”. It symbolises the Olympic spirit and
the ability of the Games to inspire people to take
part.
Mascot: Wenlock is a shiny grey mascot, made
of the last drop of British steel used for the
London 2012 Olympic Stadium. His name is
inspired by Much Wenlock in Shropshire, a town
where The Much Wenlock Games were held.
There is a light on his head, allusion to London’s
iconic taxis. His single eye is a camera lens,
capturing everything he sees, and the shape of
his forehead is identical to the shape of the
Olympic Stadium roof.

2016 RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil

Dates: from 05 to 21 August 2016
Other candidate cities: Chicago (USA), Tokyo
(Japan), Madrid (Spain).

2020 TOKYO, Japan

Dates: from 24 July to 9 August 2020
Other candidate cities: Istanbul (Turkey),
Madrid (Spain).

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THE GAMES OF THE 28 October 2013

OLYMPIAD

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