Portal:Olympic Games

The Olympic Games Portal

The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; French: Jeux olympiques) are the world's biggest 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.

More about the Olympics: the ancient games, symbols, sports, ceremonies, medalists, and its locations

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected Article - show another

Australia first competed in the Winter Olympic Games in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and has participated in every games since, with the exception of the 1948 Games in St. Moritz.

In the early years, Australia's athletes did poorly; only two athletes placed in the top half of their events before 1976, while the vast majority placed in the bottom quarter, including some who finished last. This lack of success was attributed to the Australian culture, climate and lack of snow, as well as the lack of support for the athletes—sports administrators regarded investment in winter sports as futile.

More selected articles

Read more...

Selected Picture - show another

Credit: Saeima

The 2016 Summer Paralympics (Portuguese: Jogos Paralímpicos de Verão de 2016), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. The Games marked the first time a Latin American and South American city hosted the event, the second Southern Hemisphere city and nation, the first one being the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and also the first time a Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country hosted the event. These Games saw the introduction of two new sports to the Paralympic program: canoeing and the paratriathlon.

More selected pictures

Read more...

Selected Quote - show another

“

The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads — in the end — to the best within us.

”

— Jesse Owens, African-American athlete, winner of 4 Gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

More selected quotes

Read more...

Selected Athlete - show another

Hubert Brooks MC (December 29, 1921 – February 1, 1984) was a Canadian RCAF officer and ice hockey player who won a gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. He joined the RCAF in 1940 and served during World War II, being shot down during his second mission over Germany in 1942. He was taken as a prisoner of war to Stalag VIII-B, from where he tried several unsuccessful escape attempts prior to making it to occupied Poland and joining the Polish Underground State as a guerrilla. He rose through the ranks of the rebel force, undertaking raids and assassinations against the Nazi occupation until the end of the conflict. He was one of only five RCAF members to receive the Military Cross for his actions and his award carried the longest citation of them all.

More selected athletes

Read more...

Current Events

Read and edit Wikinews

7 May 2026 – International sporting sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Belarus at the Olympics; The International Olympic Committee lifts restrictions on Belarusian athletes participating in the Olympic Games from 2028, while Russian athletes remain limited to individual neutral participation because of the Russian Olympic Committee's suspension. (AFP via RFI) (BBC News)
26 March 2026 – 2028 Summer Olympics, Transgender people in sports: The International Olympic Committee announces that participation in women's events will be limited to athletes classified as female based on biological criteria, with eligibility determined through a one-time genetic test starting from the 2028 Olympic Games. The policy replaces previous rules that allowed individual sports federations to set their own criteria. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
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)

Did You Know...- show different entries

DYK Question Mark Right

... that German swimmer Lisa Höpink won two medals at the 2019 Summer Universiade and qualified for two events at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
... that after the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed, South African artistic gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz livestreamed the routine she was going to perform?
... that British sailor Eilidh McIntyre, who has qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, is the daughter of a former Olympic gold medallist?
... that Canadian cyclist Bernie Willock, who missed out on competing at the Olympics due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, later owned furniture stores?
... that George Dudley threatened to withdraw Canada from ice hockey at the Olympic Games over the definition of an amateur?

More did you know facts

edit

Upcoming Olympic Games

edit

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).

Read more...

All-time Combined Olympic Games Medal Table

Separate current and precursor NOCs (records not combined):

More information No., Nation ...

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

Close

Read more...

edit

2030 Winter Olympics

The 2030 Winter Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 2030), officially known as the XXVI Olympic Winter Games (French: XXVI^es 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.

Read more...

edit