Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The Games were first held in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and were most recently held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. In each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place; this tradition began in 1904. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympics. The Olympics have increased in scope from a 42 competition event programme with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 nations in 1896 to 306 events with 11,238 competitors from 206 nations in 2016. The Summer Olympics have been hosted on five continents by a total of nineteen countries.

Read more in the app

Here's what the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris look like from space (photos)

From Paris to Tahiti: Discover the Iconic Venues of the 2024 Summer Olympics

NASA astronauts hold their own Summer Olympics in space (video)

Dengue Fever Threatens to Gate-Crash the 2024 Summer Olympics

Watch astronauts hold their own Summer Olympics in space with zero-g synchronized swimming and more