Chronology of the Summer Olympic Games: Frequency Of Holding, Who Revived the Modern Olympic Games

The Summer Olympics, also called the Summer Olympic Games or Games of the Olympiad is one of the most prestigious international tournaments in the world. Since 1896, 28 summer games have been held across five continents, and several events have been added and others removed. There has also been an increase in women's participation in the games over the years. Stay tuned to find out who revived the modern Olympic games, the frequency of holding, and the Summer Olympiads by year.

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Pierre de Coubertin, a French historian and educator revived the modern Olympic games. The ancient Olympic games inspired Pierre and he supported the idea of athletes in building character. As an education reformer, Pierre believed the Olympic games could meet national and international goals, and act as a place where nations could meet.

He came up with the idea of launching the Olympic games in 1892. In 1894 an official announcement was made and Athens, Greece was chosen as the host city for the modern Olympic games. The first modern Olympic games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The Olympic games are no longer ancient. The revival of the games is what we are currently seeing today.

The Summer Olympic Games have occurred every four years except during the World Wars. Since 1994, the games have been alternating between the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics every two years in the four-year Olympiad.

The inaugural of the games was held in Athens, Greece in 1896, and the most recent games took place in Tokyo, Japan in 2021. Over the years US athletes have shined in almost every tournament, winning more than 1,000 gold medals and a total of 2,600 medals accumulatively.

The revived Summer Olympic Games have given the world’s best athletes a chance to showcase their skills while promoting international unity through sports. 29 Olympic games have been held in 21 cities over the years. Let’s have a look at the years of the Summer Olympic Games. We have covered the year, host city, and the duration of the events. Here is a list of summer Olympics.

This was the initial inaugural of the modern Olympic games. The games featured 14 countries with all male athletes and 43 events. Some of the events included cycling, track and field, wrestling, tennis, weight lifting, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, and many more.

This event took place as part of the Paris World’s Fair. The games took five months, featured 24 events, and 24 countries were represented. New games like golf, rugby, croquet, and cricket were introduced in the 1900 games.

This was another Olympics associated with the World’s Fair and had American dominance. Only 12 countries participated in the event and 85% of the athletes were from the USA. In the almost 100 sports covered, women only competed in archery. Other games like boxing, decathlon, freestyle wrestling, and dumbbells were introduced.

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The 1908 Olympic games were scheduled for Rome but they were cancelled as a result of Mount Vesuvius volcanic eruption. This was the longest Olympics in history where 20 countries competed in more than 6 months. During this Olympics, diving and swimming took place in a swimming pool for the first time.

The 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm was one of the most well-organized events. During the Olympic games, Japan was the first Asian country to join the Olympic Games. The Sweden Olympic Games included 28 nations from five continents. Women's swimming and diving took a debut, and pentathlon was also introduced. It was during the 1912 Olympic Games that electronic timing and public address systems were used for the first time.

The 1916 Berlin Olympics was canceled due to the World War. the 1920 Olympics took place in Antwerp, Belgium, and countries like Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Austria were not invited. The event comprised 2,600 athletes from 29 countries who competed in 156 events. Out of the 2,600 athletes, about 60 were women.

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The 1924 Paris Olympics comprised 44 nations who competed in 126 events. There were 300 athletes and 135 were women. There were also more than 1000 reporters. This Olympics included the first standard 50-meter pool featuring marked lanes. Additionally, a formal closing ceremony was introduced where athletes were in an Olympic village. 

The 1928 Olympic Games were held in Amsterdam and 46 nations participated. 2,883 athletes were contesting in 109 events. The Olympic Flame was lit for the first time in a cauldron with Greece presiding over the opening ceremony while the Netherlands closed the event. Germany returned to the Olympics after 16 during this Olympics. This event also marked the addition of women's gymnastics as a game.

The Summer Olympics of the year 1932 featured a grand opening ceremony and it marked the first use of a victory podium. 37 nations participated in 117 events with 1,334 athletes and 100,000 spectators at the opening ceremony held at the Coliseum stadium. The 1932 games were also shortened and they lasted for 15-18 days. Soccer was not included in the 1932 games and race-walk was introduced.

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The 1936 Olympic Games consisted of 49 nations and 4,000 athletes contested in 129 events. Some of the games that made its debut included basketball, canoeing, and field handball. This was also the first Olympics to be televised. With the Nazis in power since 1933, many countries planned to boycott the games but none did.

The 1940 Tokyo Olympics was canceled due to World War II and Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. The 1944 London Olympics was also canceled due to World War II. the Olympics returned to London after 12 years and 59 nations participated. Many of the Olympic games were to be carried out at Wembley Stadium. During the 1948 Olympics, starting blocks were used for the first time in sprint contests. This also marked the first Olympics to be televised in homes.

The Soviet Union participated in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki for the first time. 69 nations participated with 5,000 athletes. Women were also allowed to contest with men in mixed equestrian events.

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This was the first Olympics to be carried out in the Southern Hemisphere. It was also the first time that Spain, Netherlands, and Switzerland boycotted the games as a result of the Soviet Union invasion of Hungary. China also boycotted the games because Taiwan took part as its own country.

Paralympics made its debut in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Rome held its first modern Olympic games and the event was televised in the US, Europe, Japan, and Canada. About 5,300 athletes from 83 countries participated and 611 were women.

This was the first Olympics to take place in Asia and the first with a satellite broadcast. Men's and women's volleyball and men’s judo made their debuts. This Olympics also featured the use of fiberglass pole vaulting pole and handheld stop-watch.

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This was the first time the Olympics happened in Latin America, and it was popular for its high-altitude records of approximately 7,400 feet. The 1968 games had more than 5,500 athletes from 112 teams in the competition. This was also the first time they made electronic scores standard. The event also marked the first woman to light the cauldron.

The Munich Olympics had 7,000 athletes from 121 countries competing in 195 events. During the 1972 Olympics, new sports like canoeing, kayaking, and men’s indoor handball were introduced. The event was marked by a tragic massacre where terrorists attacked the Olympic Village and killed two Israeli team members and 9 others were taken hostage. The games were suspended for 34 hours before resuming. 

This was the first time Canada hosted the Olympics. Women's basketball, rowing, and handball were added during the Montreal Olympics. More than 20 African countries boycotted the games. They were led by Tanzania protesting against IOS allowing New Zealand to take part in the competition even though its rugby team (All Blacks) was touring apartheid South Africa.

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Many Western countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. As a result of the boycott, only 80 countries attended, making it the lowest since 1956.

The Soviet Union and its allies boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. However, the boycott did not affect the victory of the games. New sports added during this Olympics included rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, cycling road race, and the women’s 3000 meters.

159 nations participated in the Seoul Olympics. Some countries like Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia boycotted the games because they were not allowed to co-host the games. Tennis returned during this Olympics after 64 years.

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The Barcelona Olympics was marked by the end of the Cold War. Germany participated as one nation, and with the fall of the Soviet Union, the USSR came as 15 countries. This Olympics also marked the return of South Africa after apartheid. Baseball was made a medal-winning sport while women’s judo and badminton were introduced.

197 nations attended the Atlanta Olympics with athletes exceeding 10,300 completed in 271 events. Bill Clinton presided over the opening ceremony. Unfortunately, there was a terrorist attack at the Centennial Olympic Park that got 2 people dead and 110 injured. Sports added during this Olympics included women’s soccer, softball, beach volleyball, lightweight rowing, and mountain biking.

199 nations participated in the Sydney Olympics with more than 10,600 athletes contesting in 2000 games. Newly added sports during the Sydney Olympics included women's weightlifting, taekwondo, triathlon, and modern pentathlon. Blood tests and EPO detection were used for the first time.

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The Olympics returned to their birthplace in 2004 and 201 nations participated. 10,625 athletes were competing in 301 events. New sports added included women’s wrestling the Athens games were known for their great organization and superb infrastructure which left a legacy in Athens.

The 2008 China Olympics is known for its amazing opening ceremony. 204 nations participated with Togo, Mongolia, Panama, and Afghanistan winning their first gold medals. During the games, 130 Olympic records and 40 world records were broken.

This was the third time London was hosting the games. These games had at least one woman in every delegation. Saudi Arabia also allowed women to participate for the first time. New sports in the London Games included tennis mixed doubles and women’s boxing. Softball and baseball were not included.

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This was the first Olympics to take place in South America. The games featured 11,238 athletes from 208 nations contesting 306 events in 28 sports. New events included women’s rugby. After events that returned after many years are men’s rugby and golf. There were more than 100 Russians were banned because of doping.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to happen in July-August 2020 but postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic. 11,420 athletes from 206 countries contested in 33 sports. Spectators were banned from all events by the Olympic Organizing Committee. The athletes also went through regular testing and maintained social distance.