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The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories participating; by default the Games generally substitute for any World Championships the year in which they take place (however, each class usually maintains their own records). The Olympic Games are held every four years; since 1994, they have been alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year period.

Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, held in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, which encompasses all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games. The Olympic Charter defines their structure and authority.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in numerous changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Olympic Games for snow and ice sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities, the Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18, the five Continental games ( Pan American, African, Asian, European, and Pacific), and the World Games for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games. The IOC also endorses the Deaflympics and the Special Olympics. The IOC has needed to adapt to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. The abuse of amateur rules by the Eastern Bloc nations prompted the IOC to shift away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to the acceptance of professional athletes participating at the Games. The growing importance of mass media has created the issue of corporate sponsorship and general commercialisation of the Games. World Wars I and II led to the cancellation of the 1916, 1940, and 1944 Olympics; large-scale boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics; and the 2020 Olympics were postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Quietly Confident Quartet was the self-given name of the Australian men's 4 × 100 metres medley relay swimming team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and, through the 2016 Olympics, the Australian victory remains the only occasion the United States has not won the event at Olympic level since its inception in 1960. The quartet consisted of backstroker Mark Kerry, breaststroker Peter Evans, butterflyer Mark Tonelli, and freestyler Neil Brooks. The team was nominally led by its oldest member Tonelli, who was 23 and was also a spokesperson for the Australian athletes' campaign for their right to compete at the Olympics against the wishes of the Fraser government. The team was seen as an unlikely prospect to win; all four of the swimmers had clashed with swimming authorities over disciplinary issues and three experienced suspension or expulsion from the Australian team during their careers.

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A massive composite of the whole stadium just before the ceremonies began.
A massive composite of the whole stadium just before the ceremonies began.
Credit: Anthony M.

The Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on February 26, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET (19:00 UTC) at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.

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Jenner in 2015
Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949; known as Bruce Jenner until 2015) is an American media personality and former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete.

Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a knee injury that required surgery. Convinced by Olympic decathlete Jack Parker's coach, L. D. Weldon, to try the decathlon, Jenner had a six-year decathlon career, culminating in winning the men's decathlon event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, setting a third successive world record and gaining fame as "an all-American hero". Jenner established a career in television, film, writing, auto racing, business, and as a Playgirl cover model.

Current Events

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2 February 2024 – Ice hockey at the Olympic Games
In ice hockey, the National Hockey League announces that NHL players will be allowed to play at the Winter Olympics in 2026 and 2030, making it the first time the league has allowed its players to participate since 2014. (The Athletic)

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Upcoming Olympic Games

2024 Summer Olympics

The 2024 Summer Olympics ( French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (French: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade) and commonly known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in France, with Paris as the main host city and 16 other cities spread across metropolitan France, plus one subsite in Tahiti—an island within the French overseas country and overseas collectivity of French Polynesia.

Paris was awarded the Games at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on 13 September 2017. After multiple withdrawals that left only Paris and Los Angeles in contention, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a process to concurrently award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics to the two cities. Having previously hosted in 1900 and 1924, Paris will become the second city, after London (who were the hosts in 1908, 1948 and 2012) to host the Summer Olympics three times. Paris 2024 will mark the centenary of Paris 1924, and these Olympic Games will be the sixth hosted by France ( three in summer and three in winter), and the first French Olympics since the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. Following Paris 2024, the Summer Games will return to the traditional four-year Olympiad cycle, as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paris 2024 will feature the debut of breaking (also known as breakdancing) as an Olympic event, and it will be the final Olympic Games held during the presidency of IOC President Thomas Bach. The Games will be the first to feature identical number of athletes between men and women. The Games are expected to cost €8.3 billion.

All-time Combined Olympic Games Medal Table

Separate current and precursor NOCs (records not combined):

No. Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1   United States (USA) 1175 951 833 2959
2   Soviet Union (URS) 473 376 355 1204
3   Germany (GER) 305 305 312 922
4   Great Britain (GBR) 296 323 331 950
5   China (CHN) 285 231 197 713
6   France (FRA) 264 293 332 889
7   Italy (ITA) 259 231 269 759
8   Sweden (SWE) 212 228 239 679
9   Norway (NOR) 209 186 173 568
10   Russia (RUS) 194 165 186 545

2026 Winter Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics ( Italian: Olimpiadi invernali del 2026), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games (Italian: XXV Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Milano-Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The joint bid from the two cities beat another joint bid from Swedish cities StockholmÅre by 47–34 votes at the 134th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.

This will be the fourth Olympic Games hosted in Italy, which previously hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It will be the first Olympic Games officially featuring multiple host cities and will be the first Winter Olympics since Sarajevo 1984 where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held in different venues. Events will also take place in seven other north-northeastern Italian cities. The games will mark the 20th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Turin, the 70th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the first time that Milan will host an Olympic Games.

Olympic Sports

Summer sports
Winter sports

Olympic Games Countdown

Olympic Games
Paris
120 days left
2024
Summer
Milan & Cortina
680 days left
2026
Winter
Los Angeles
1569 days left
2028
Summer
TBD
2139 days left
2030
Winter
Brisbane
3039 days left
2032
Summer
Paralympic Games
Paris
153 days left
2024
Summer
Milan & Cortina
708 days left
2026
Winter
Los Angeles
1608 days left
2028
Summer
TBD
2167 days left
2030
Winter
Brisbane
3071 days left
2032
Summer
Youth Olympic Games
Dakar
947 days left
2026
Summer
TBD
1392 days left
2028
Winter

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