2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and known as Athens 2004, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, from 13 to 29 August 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports. Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. 2004 marked the return of the Olympic Games to the city where they began. Having hosted the Olympics in 1896, Athens became one of only four cities to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two separate occasions. A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli, used since the 1928 Games; this rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue. The new design features the Panathenaic Stadium.
The 2004 Summer Games were hailed as "unforgettable, dream games" by IOC President Jacques Rogge, left Athens with a improved infrastructure, including a new airport, ring road, subway system. There have been arguments regarding the cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games and their possible contribution to the Greek government-debt crisis, there is little or no evidence for such a correlation; the 2004 Olympics were deemed to be a success, with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China and Russia with the host Greece at 15th place. Several World and Olympic records were broken during these Games. Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne on 5 September 1997. Athens had lost its bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before on 18 September 1990, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo. Under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Athens pursued another bid, this time for the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004.
The success of Athens in securing the 2004 Games was based on Athens' appeal to Olympic history and the emphasis that it placed on the pivotal role that Greece and Athens could play in promoting Olympism and the Olympic Movement. Furthermore, unlike their bid for the 1996 Games, criticized for its overall disorganization and arrogance—wherein the bid lacked specifics and relied upon sentiment and the notion that it was Athens' right to organize the Centennial Games—the bid for the 2004 Games was lauded for its humility and earnestness, its focused message, its detailed bid concept; the 2004 bid addressed concerns and criticisms raised in its unsuccessful 1996 bid – Athens' infrastructural readiness, its air pollution, its budget, politicization of Games preparations. Athens' successful organization of the 1997 World Championships in Athletics the month before the host city election was crucial in allaying lingering fears and concerns among the sporting community and some IOC members about its ability to host international sporting events.
Another factor which contributed to Athens' selection was a growing sentiment among some IOC members to restore the values of the Olympics to the Games, a component which they felt was lost during the criticized over-commercialization of Atlanta 1996 Games. Subsequently, the selection of Athens was motivated by a lingering sense of disappointment among IOC members regarding the numerous organizational and logistical setbacks experienced during the 1996 Games. After leading all voting rounds, Athens defeated Rome in the 5th and final vote. Cape Town and Buenos Aires, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996; these cities were Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Saint Petersburg and Cali. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage. According to the cost-benefit evaluation of the impact of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games presented to the Greek Parliament in January 2013 by the Minister of Finance Mr. Giannis Stournaras, the overall net economic benefit for Greece was positive.
The Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, responsible for the preparation and organisation of the Games, concluded its operations as a company in 2005 with a surplus of €130.6 million. ATHOC contributed €123.6 million of the surplus to the Greek State to cover other related expenditures of the Greek State in organizing the Games. As a result, ATHOC reported in its official published accounts a net profit of €7 million; the State's contribution to the total ATHOC budget was 8% of its expenditure against an anticipated 14%. The overall revenue of ATHOC, including income from tickets, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc. totalled €2,098.4 million. The largest percentage of that income came from broadcasting rights; the overall expenditure of ATHOC was €1,967.8 million. Analysts refer to the "Cost of the Olympic Games" by taking into account not only the Organizing Committee's budget directly related to the Olympic Games, but the cost incurred by the hosting country during preparation, i.e. the large projects required for the upgrade of the country's infrastructure, including sports infrastructure, airports, power grid etc.
This cost, however, is not directly attributable to the act
Sydney
Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders"; as of June 2017, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,230,330 and is home to 65% of the state's population. Indigenous Australians have inhabited the Sydney area for at least 30,000 years, thousands of engravings remain throughout the region, making it one of the richest in Australia in terms of Aboriginal archaeological sites. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to chart the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay and inspiring British interest in the area.
In 1788, the First Fleet of convicts, led by Arthur Phillip, founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Phillip named the city Sydney in recognition of 1st Viscount Sydney. Penal transportation to New South Wales ended soon after Sydney was incorporated as a city in 1842. A gold rush occurred in the colony in 1851, over the next century, Sydney transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic centre. After World War II, it experienced mass migration and became one of the most multicultural cities in the world. At the time of the 2011 census, more than 250 different languages were spoken in Sydney. In the 2016 Census, about 35.8% of residents spoke a language other than English at home. Furthermore, 45.4% of the population reported having been born overseas, making Sydney the 3rd largest foreign born population of any city in the world after London and New York City, respectively. Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world, the 2018 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranks Sydney tenth in the world in terms of quality of living, making it one of the most livable cities.
It is classified as an Alpha+ World City by Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has an advanced market economy with strengths in finance and tourism. There is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as Australia's financial capital and one of Asia Pacific's leading financial hubs. Established in 1850, the University of Sydney is Australia's first university and is regarded as one of the world's leading universities. Sydney is home to the oldest library in Australia, State Library of New South Wales, opened in 1826. Sydney has hosted major international sporting events such as the 2000 Summer Olympics; the city is among the top fifteen most-visited cities in the world, with millions of tourists coming each year to see the city's landmarks. Boasting over 1,000,000 ha of nature reserves and parks, its notable natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, Royal Botanic Garden and Hyde Park, the oldest parkland in the country.
Built attractions such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House are well known to international visitors. The main passenger airport serving the metropolitan area is Kingsford-Smith Airport, one of the world's oldest continually operating airports. Established in 1906, Central station, the largest and busiest railway station in the state, is the main hub of the city's rail network; the first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia and before that from southeast Asia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago. However, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Western Sydney's gravel sediments that were dated from 45,000 to 50,000 years BP, which would indicate that there was human settlement in Sydney earlier than thought; the first meeting between the native people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula and encountered the Gweagal clan.
He noted in his journal that they were somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors. Cook was not commissioned to start a settlement, he spent a short time collecting food and conducting scientific observations before continuing further north along the east coast of Australia and claiming the new land he had discovered for Britain. Prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans; the earliest British settlers called the natives Eora people. "Eora" is the term the indigenous population used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is "from this place". Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan; the principal language groups were Darug and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the indigenous people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells, cooking fish. Britain—before that, England—and Ireland had for a long time been sending their convicts across the Atlantic to the American colonies.
That trade was ended with the Declaration of Independence by the United States in 1776. Britain decided in 1786 to found a new penal outpost in the territory discovered by Cook some 16 years ear
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, from October 12th to the 27th. These were the first Olympic Games to be staged in Latin America and the first to be staged in a Spanish-speaking country, they were the first Games to use an all-weather track for track and field events instead of the traditional cinder track. The 1968 Games were the third to be held in the last quarter of the year, after the 1956 Games in Melbourne and the 1964 Games in Tokyo; the Mexican Student Movement of 1968 happened concurrently and the Olympic Games were correlated to the government's repression. On October 18, 1963, at the 60th IOC Session in Baden-Baden, West Germany, Mexico City finished ahead of bids from Detroit, Buenos Aires and Lyon to host the Games; the 1968 torch relay recreated the route taken by Christopher Columbus to the New World, journeying from Greece through Italy and Spain to San Salvador Island, on to Mexico. American sculptor James Metcalf, an expatriate in Mexico, won the commission to forge the Olympic torch for the 1968 Summer Games.
In the medal award ceremony for the men's 200 meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos took a stand for civil rights by raising their black-gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes. The Australian Peter Norman, who had run second, wore an American "civil rights" badge as support to them on the podium. In response, the IOC banned Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Games for life, Norman's omission from Australia's Olympic team in 1972 was as punishment. George Foreman won the gold medal in heavyweight boxing division by defeating Soviet Ionas Chepulis via a second-round TKO. After the victory, Foreman waved a small American flag; the high elevation of Mexico City, at 2,240 m above sea level, influenced many of the events in track and field. No other Summer Olympic Games before or since have been held at high elevation. In addition to high elevation, this was the first Olympics to use a synthetic all-weather surface for track and field events; the tracks at previous Olympics were conventional cinder.
For the first time and West Germany competed as separate teams, after being forced by the IOC to compete as a combined German team in 1956, 1960, 1964. Al Oerter won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the discus to become only the second athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event, the first in track & field. Bob Beamon leapt 8.90 m in the long jump, an incredible 55 cm improvement over the previous world record. It remained the Olympic record and stood as the world record for 23 years, until broken by American Mike Powell in 1991. Jim Hines, Tommie Smith and Lee Evans set long-standing world records in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m, respectively. In the triple jump, the previous world record was improved five times by three different athletes. Winner Viktor Saneev won in 1972 and 1976, won silver in 1980. Dick Fosbury won the gold medal in the high jump using his unconventional Fosbury flop technique, which became the dominant technique in the event. Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia won four gold medals in gymnastics and protested the Soviet invasion of her country.
Debbie Meyer became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals, in the 200, 400 and 800 m freestyle events. The 800 m was a new long-distance event for women. Meyer was only 16 years old, a student at Rio Americano High School in California. Meyer was the first of several American teenagers to win the 800 m. American swimmer Charlie Hickcox won three gold medals and one silver medal; the introduction of doping tests resulted in the first disqualification because of doping: Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall was disqualified for alcohol use. John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania became internationally famous after finishing the marathon, in the last place, despite a dislocated knee; this was the first of three Olympic participation by Jacques Rogge. He competed in yachting and would become the president of the IOC. Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo of Mexico became the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron with the Olympic flame, it was the first games. Africans won at least one medal in all running events from 800 meters to the marathon, in so doing they set a trend for future games.
Most of these runners came from high-altitude areas of countries like Kenya and Ethiopia, they were well-prepared for the 2240 m elevation of Mexico City. Kipchoge Keino of Kenya, competing in spite of unexpected bouts of severe abdominal pain diagnosed as a gall bladder infection, finished the 10,000 meters in spite of collapsing from pain with two laps to go, won silver in the 5000, won gold in the 1500 meters, it was the first Olympic games in which the closing ceremony was transmitted in color to the world, as well as the events themselves. South Africa was provisionally invited to the Games, on the understanding that all segregation and discrimination in sport would be eliminated by the 1972 Games. However, African countries and African American athletes promised to boycott the Games if South Africa was present, Eastern Bloc countries threatened to do likewise. In April 1968 the IOC conceded that "it would be most unwise for South Africa to participate". Responding to growing social unrest and protests, the government of Me
Olympic weightlifting
Olympic-style weightlifting, or Olympic weightlifting simply referred to as weightlifting, is an athletic discipline in the modern Olympic programme in which the athlete attempts a maximum-weight single lift of a barbell loaded with weight plates. The two competition lifts in order are the clean and jerk; the snatch is a one-move lift. The clean and jerk is a two-move lift; each weightlifter receives three attempts in each, the combined total of the highest two successful lifts determines the overall result within a bodyweight category. Bodyweight categories are different for female competitors. A lifter who fails to complete at least one successful snatch and one successful clean and jerk fails to total, therefore receives an "incomplete" entry for the competition; the clean and press was once a competition lift, but was discontinued due to difficulties in judging proper form. In comparison with other strength sports, which test limit strength, weightlifting tests aspects of human ballistic limits.
While there are few competitive Olympic weightlifters, the lifts performed in the sport of weightlifting, in particular their component lifts, are used by elite athletes in other sports to train for both explosive and functional strength. The sport is controlled by the International Weightlifting Federation. Based in Budapest, it was founded in 1905. Athletes compete in a division determined by their body mass. In Summer of 2018, the IWF approved the current weight categories, specifying which 7 of the 10 total would be contested at the Olympics. Men's weight classes: IWF Categories 55 kg 61 kg 67 kg 73 kg 81 kg 89 kg 96 kg 102 kg 109 kg 109 kg and over Olympic Categories 61 kg 67 kg 73 kg 81 kg 96 kg 109 kg 109 kg and over Women's weight classes: IWF Categories 45 kg 49 kg 55 kg 59 kg 64 kg 71 kg 76 kg 81 kg 87 kg 87 kg and over Olympic Categories 49 kg 55 kg 59 kg 64 kg 76 kg 87 kg 87 kg and over In each weight division, lifters compete in both the snatch and clean and jerk. Prizes are given for the heaviest weights lifted in each and in the overall—the maximum lifts of both combined.
The order of the competition is up to the lifters—the competitor who chooses to attempt the lowest weight goes first. If they are unsuccessful at that weight, they have the option of reattempting at that weight or trying a heavier weight after any other competitors have made attempts at the previous weight or any other intermediate weights; the barbell is loaded incrementally and progresses to a heavier weight throughout the course of competition. Weights are set in 1 kilogram increments. If two athletes lift the same weight, they are both credited with it but in terms of placing the one who listed the weight first gets the highest placing. During competition, the snatch event takes place first, followed by a short intermission, the clean and jerk event. There are two side judges and one head referee who together provide a "successful" or "failed" result for each attempt based on their observation of the lift within the governing body's rules and regulations. Two successes are required for any attempt to pass.
The judges' and referee's results are registered via a lighting system with a white light indicating a "successful" lift and a red light indicating a "failed" lift. This is done for the benefit of all in attendance be they athlete, administrator or audience. In addition, one or two technical officials may be present to advise during a ruling. At local competitions, a "Best Lifter" title is awarded, it is awarded to women's lifters. The award is based on a formula which employs the "Sinclair Coefficient", a coefficient derived and approved by the sport's world governing body and which allows for differences in both gender and bodyweight; when the formula is applied to each lifter's overall total and grouped along with the other competitors' and evaluated, it provides a numeric result which determines the competition's best overall men's and women's lifters. And while the winner of the heaviest weight class will have lifted the most overall weight during the course of a competition, a lifter in a lighter weight class may still have lifted more weight both relative to their own bodyweight, to the Sinclair coefficient formula, thereby garnering the "Best Lifter" award.
Competition to establish who can lift the heaviest weight has been recorded throughout civilization, with the earliest known recordings including those found in Egypt and ancient Greece. Today, the modern sport of weightlifting traces its origins to the European competitions of the 19th century; the first male world champion was crowned in 1891. The first Olympic Games of 1896 included weightlifting in the Field event of the predecessor to today's track and field or athletics event. During the 1900 Olympic Games, there was no weightlifting event. Weightlifting resumed as an event, again in athletics, in 1904 but was omitted from the Games of 1908 and 1912; these were the last Games until after the First World War. In these early Games, a distinction was drawn between lifting with'one hand' only and lifting with't
Maurice Greene (athlete)
Maurice Greene is an American former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career he was a five-time World Champion; this included three golds at the 1999 World Championships, a feat which had only been achieved by Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson and has since been equaled by three others. His career was affected by a number of injuries from 2001 onwards, although he won the 100 meters bronze and silver in the sprint relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Greene was successful indoors: he was the 1999 Indoor World Champion, was the world record holder in the 60-meter dash for nearly 20 years and remains the joint-fastest man over 50 meters, he raced sparingly after an injury in 2005 and retired in 2008. Over his career, he made the fourth most sub-10-second runs in the 100m since surpassed by Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt. Following his track career he has become an ambassador for the IAAF and a TV personality, appearing on Identity, Blind Date, Dancing with the Stars.
Most he volunteered as a track coach at University of California at Los Angeles for the 2012–2013 season. Maurice Greene was born in Kansas City and attended F. L. Schlagle High School. In his youth and high school, he participated in track and field. After high school, Greene received a Track scholarship to the University of Kansas. In 1995 he took part in his first major international tournament at the World Championships in Gothenburg, but was eliminated in the 100 m quarter-finals, his next season was disappointing, as he failed to make the American team for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. After watching the Olympic final from the stands, Greene made his way to Los Angeles to seek the coaching of John Smith, he joined the start up HSI group. He went on to become the group's most visible member; the following season would be his breakthrough. At the World Championships in Athens, Greene won the 100 m title; this marked the beginning of Greene's dominance in the 100 m. He defended his title in 1999 and 2001 and captured the Olympic gold medal in the 2000 Olympics.
He was successful at the 200 m. At the 1999 World Championships, he won the 200 m title, the first to win both sprint events at a World Championships. However, he did not run the 200 m at the 2000 Olympics after an injury at the US trials. In 1999 he set the 100 m world record at 9.79 s, beating Donovan Bailey's standing world record of 9.84 s, lowering the world record by the largest margin since the advent of electronic timing. Greene matched Bailey's 50 m indoor world record time, but the run was never ratified, he set the 60 m indoor world record twice. His 60 m indoor record is at 6.39 seconds. In addition, Maurice Greene was the only sprinter to hold the 60 m and 100 m world records at the same time. In 2002, Greene lost his 100 m world record to fellow American Tim Montgomery, who beat his time by 0.01, while Greene himself was injured and watched the race from the stands. The record was broken legitimately by Asafa Powell in 2005 with a time of 9.77 s. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greene added to his medal tally with the bronze after finishing third in his attempt to defend his 100 m title to Justin Gatlin, a silver as the anchor leg runner on the United States 4 × 100 m relay team, narrowly denied another Olympic Gold by the British team, who won by 0.01 seconds.
Greene ran 51 sub-10-second 100 m races during his career, which at the time was more than any other sprinter in history. This record has now been surpassed by Asafa Powell. Greene had held the record for the most wind-legal sub-10-second clockings for 100 m in one season, when he ran 9 sub-10s in 1999; this record was broken by Asafa Powell in 2006, it was improved by Powell in 2008 to 15. On December 21, 2006, he appeared; the contestant, a self-professed track and field fan, incorrectly identified him by name as Marion Jones, although she identified him as the "world's fastest man." On February 4, 2008, Greene announced his retirement from track and field in Beijing, citing nagging injuries and a wish to see new individuals succeed in the sport. Greene said he hopes to pursue business interests. In April 2008, the New York Times reported that Greene had paid Mexican discus thrower Angel Guillermo Heredia $10,000, which Heredia claimed was in payment for performance-enhancing drugs. Greene admitted meeting Heredia and making the payment, but claimed it was common for him to pay for "stuff" for other members of his training group, reiterated that he had never used banned drugs.
Greene was a contestant on Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars, was paired with two-time champion Cheryl Burke. He was eliminated on Week 8 of the competition, he hyperextended his leg during the competition. He helped out in their pro-dancer competition and danced a Tango with future winner Anna Demidova. Greene appeared on the American television series Blind Date where he was paired with a woman named Christie. Greene and Christie agreed, he has a tattoo that reads GOAT referring to his claim to be "Greatest of All Time". In an event set up by ESPN's Todd Gallagher, Greene appeared in the book "Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan" racing in a 100-meter race agains
Clean and jerk
The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the clean, the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without resting on the clavicles. During the jerk the lifter raises the barbell to a stationary position above the head, finishing with straight arms and legs, the feet in the same plane as the torso and barbell. Of the several variants of the lift, the most common is the Olympic clean and jerk, with the snatch, is contested in Olympic weightlifting events. To execute a clean, a lifter grasps the barbell just outside the legs using a hook grip. Once the barbell is above the knees, the lifter extends explosively, raising the bar as high as possible before dropping into a squat and receiving it in a "racked" position in front of the neck and resting on the shoulders. To complete the clean, the lifter stands propelling the bar upward from the shoulders as the erect position is attained and shifting the grip wider and the feet closer together in preparation for the jerk.
The jerk begins from the "front rack" position, the finishing position of the clean. The lifter dips a few inches by bending the knees, keeping the back vertical, explosively extends the knees, propelling the barbell upward off the shoulders, quickly dropping underneath the bar by pushing upward with the arms and splitting the legs into a lunge position, one forward and one back; the bar is received overhead on straight arms, once stable, the lifter recovers from the split position, bringing the feet back into the same plane as the rest of the body. JerkAnother variation of the jerk besides the split jerk described as the power jerk, in which the lifter receives the bar overhead in a partial squat, with the feet in the same plane as the bar rather than split forward and back; this is but not always, accompanied by a significant lateral movement of the feet for increased stability. When the bar is received in a full squat position, it is referred to as the squat jerk CleanThe power clean, a weight training exercise not used in competition, refers to any variant of the clean in which the lifter does not catch the bar in a full squat position.
The hang clean, another weight training exercise, begins with the barbell off the ground, hanging from the arms. Both power and hang cleans are considered to be ideal for sports conditioning; the Continental clean involves lifting the bar from the floor to the final clean position by any method of the lifter's choosing so long as the bar is not upended and does not touch the ground. The bar may be rested on stomach, or belt. Hands may be replaced. Men Women 1 This is the official world record for the Jerk in the Men's 105 kg + category. Clean and press List of World records in weightlifting * HOW TO CLEAN AND JERK VIDEOOlympic Clean and Jerk Techniques
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad, first held in 1896, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years. The most recent Olympics were held in Rio de Brazil; the International Olympic Committee oversees the host city's preparations. In each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, bronze medals are awarded for third place; the Winter Olympic Games were created due to the success of the Summer Olympics. The Olympics have increased in scope from a 42-event competition 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 has been hosted on five continents by a total of nineteen countries. The Games have been held four times in the United States; the IOC has selected Tokyo, Japan, to host the Summer Olympics for a second time in 2020. The 2024 Summer Olympics will be held in Paris, for a third time one hundred years after the city's last Summer Olympics in 1924.
The IOC has selected Los Angeles, California, to host its third Summer Games in 2028. To date, only five countries have participated in every Summer Olympic Games – Australia, Great Britain and Switzerland; the United States leads the all-time medal table for the Summer Olympics. The United States has hosted the Summer Olympic Games four times: the 1904 Games were held in St. Louis, Missouri; the 2028 Games in Los Angeles will mark the fifth occasion on which the Summer Games have been hosted by the U. S. In 2012, the United Kingdom hosted its third Summer Olympic Games in the capital city, which became the first city to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times; the cities of Los Angeles and Athens have each hosted two Summer Olympic Games. In 2024, France will host its third Summer Olympic Games in its capital, making Paris the second city to have hosted three Summer Olympics. In 2028, Los Angeles will become the third city to have hosted the Games three times. Australia, France and Greece have all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice.
The IOC has selected Tokyo, Japan, to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, when it will become the first city outside the Western world to have hosted the Summer Olympics more than once, having hosted the Games in 1964. The other countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics are Belgium, China, Finland, Mexico, South Korea, Soviet Union, Sweden. Asia has hosted the Summer Olympics three times, in Tokyo, Seoul, South Korea, Beijing, China; the Summer Olympics has been held predominantly in English-speaking countries and European nations. Tokyo will be the first city outside these regions to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice; the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, were the first Summer Olympics to be held in South America and the first that were held during the local winter season. The only two countries in the Southern Hemisphere to have hosted the Summer Olympics have been Australia and Brazil. Africa has yet to host a Summer Olympics. Stockholm, has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having been sole host of the 1912 Games, hosting the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Amsterdam, has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having been sole host of the 1928 Games and hosting two of the sailing races at the 1920 Summer Olympics. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Hong Kong provided the venues for the equestrian events, which took place in Sha Tin and Kwu Tung; the modern Olympic Games were founded in 1894 when Pierre de Coubertin sought to promote international understanding through sporting competition. He based his Olympics on the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games, contested in Much Wenlock since 1850; the first edition of de Coubertin's games, held in Athens in 1896, attracted just 245 competitors, of whom more than 200 were Greek, only 14 countries were represented. No international events of this magnitude had been organised before. Female athletes were not allowed to compete, though one woman, Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course on her own, saying "If the committee doesn't let me compete I will go after them regardless"; the 1896 Summer Olympics known as the Games of the Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event, celebrated in Athens, from 6 to 15 April 1896.
It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era. About 100,000 people attended for the opening of the games; the athletes came with most coming from Greece. Although Greece had the most athletes, the U. S. finished with the most champions. 11 Americans placed first in their events vs. the 10 from Greece
