The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international sporting event which are held every four years by the International Olympic Committee. The "Games", as they are often called, are held in a different city each time. It is a great honour for a city to be "awarded" (given) the right to hold the Olympic Games. Two years after the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympic Games are held. The Winter Games were held in the same year as the summer Games from 1924 to 1992 and then switched to two years apart in 1994. These are always in a cold, mountainous place because the sports are all snow and ice sports such as skiing. Many more countries send athletes to the Summer Olympics than to the Winter Olympics

The Olympic Games were first held in Ancient Greece more than two thousand years ago. The first modern Summer Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. There were 200 athletes from Greece and 45 athletes from 13 other countries. Since 1904, medals have been given to the three best athletes or teams in each sport.

The earliest Games consisted of 42 events only, but it was expected that 10,500 athletes would compete in the 302 events on the program for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

List of modern Summer Olympic Games 

Games in italics were cancelled or have not yet been held.

 1896 – Games of the I Olympiad – Athens, Greece
 1900 – Games of the II Olympiad – Paris, France
 1904 – Games of the III Olympiad – St. Louis, Missouri, United States
 1906 – Intercalated Games – Athens, Greece
 1908 – Games of the IV Olympiad – London, United Kingdom
 1912 – Games of the V Olympiad – Stockholm, Sweden
 1916 – Games of the VI Olympiad – Berlin, Germany - Cancelled due to World War I 1920 – Games of the VII Olympiad – Antwerp, Belgium
 1924 – Games of the VIII Olympiad – Paris, France
 1928 – Games of the IX Olympiad – Amsterdam, Netherlands
 1932 – Games of the X Olympiad – Los Angeles, California, United States
 1936 – Games of the XI Olympiad – Berlin, Germany  
 1940 – Games of the XII Olympiad – Helsinki, Finland - Cancelled due to World War II 1944 – Games of the XIII Olympiad – London, United Kingdom - Cancelled due to World War II 1948 – Games of the XIV Olympiad – London, United Kingdom
 1952 – Games of the XV Olympiad – Helsinki, Finland
 1956 – Games of the XVI Olympiad – Melbourne, Australia / Stockholm, Sweden (Equestrian events)
 1960 – Games of the XVII Olympiad – Rome, Italy
 1964 – Games of the XVIII Olympiad – Tokyo, Japan
 1968 – Games of the XIX Olympiad – Mexico City, Mexico
 1972 – Games of the XX Olympiad – Munich, West Germany (now Munich, Germany)
 1976 – Games of the XXI Olympiad – Montréal, Quebec, Canada
 1980 – Games of the XXII Olympiad – Moscow, Soviet Union (now Moscow, Russia)
 1984 – Games of the XXIII Olympiad – Los Angeles, California, United States
 1988 – Games of the XXIV Olympiad – Seoul, South Korea
 1992 – Games of the XXV Olympiad – Barcelona, Spain
 1996 – Games of the XXVI Olympiad – Atlanta, Georgia, United States
 2000 – Games of the XXVII Olympiad – Sydney, Australia
 2004 – Games of the XXVIII Olympiad – Athens, Greece
 2008 – Games of the XXIX Olympiad – Beijing, China / Hong Kong, China (Equestrian events)
 2012 – Games of the XXX Olympiad – London, United Kingdom
 2016 – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 2020 – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Tokyo, Japan
 2024 – Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – Paris, France 2028 – Games of the XXXIV Olympiad – Los Angeles, California, United States 2032 – Games of the XXXV Olympiad – Brisbane, Australia Cancelled Games 
 The 1906 Summer Olympics or 1906 Intercalated Games were discounted ex post facto'' by the IOC. All medals awarded during these games have not since been counted officially on total medal counts.
 The following games were cancelled due to the World Wars. The 1916 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to the onset of WWI; both Summer Olympics of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled due to WWII.
 Some summer events were held by the IOC in celebration of its Jubilee in Lausanne, despite the war that cancelled the 1944 Summer Olympics, at the Jubilee Celebrations of the IOC.

Related pages
Athletics at the Summer Olympics

References 

 
Olympics-related lists