page_title: Summer Olympic Games
section_title: Hosting
hierarchical_section_title: Summer Olympic Games / Hosting
context_page_description: The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad, first held in 1896, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The most recent Summer Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 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 has been hosted on five continents by a total of nineteen countries. The Games have been held four times in the United States, three times in Great Britain, twice each in Greece, France, Germany, and Australia, and once each in Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Soviet Union, South Korea, Spain, China, and Brazil.
context_section_description: The United States has hosted the Summer Olympic Games four times: the 1904 Games was held in St. Louis, Missouri; the 1932 and 1984 Games were both held in Los Angeles, California, and the 1996 Games were held in Atlanta, Georgia. 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, London, which became the first city ever to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times. The cities of Los Angeles, Paris, 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 ever to have hosted three Summer Olympics. In 2028, Los Angeles will become the third city ever to have hosted the Games three times.
  Australia, France, Germany 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 already hosted the Games in 1964. The other countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics are Belgium, Brazil, China, Canada, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Soviet Union, and Sweden; each of these countries has hosted the Summer Games on just one occasion.
  Asia has hosted the Summer Olympics three times, in Tokyo, Japan (1964), Seoul, South Korea (1988), and Beijing, China (2008); Asia will host the Games for the fourth time. Tokyo was for the second time slated to be the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympics; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Summer Olympics have been postponed to twelve months from the original scheduled date. Historically, 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; it will also be the largest city ever to have hosted the Games, having grown considerably since 1964.
  The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were the inaugural Summer Olympics to be held in South America and the first that was held completely during the local "winter" season. The only two countries in the Southern Hemisphere to have hosted the Summer Olympics have been Australia (1956 and 2000) and Brazil (2016). Africa has yet to host a Summer Olympics.
  Stockholm, Sweden, has hosted events at two Summer Olympics, having been sole host of the 1912 Games, and hosting the equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics (which they are credited as jointly hosting with Melbourne, Australia). Amsterdam, Netherlands, has also hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having been sole host of the 1928 Games and previously 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.
caption: Map of Summer Olympic Games locations – countries that have hosted one Summer Olympics are shaded green, while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue
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