Sport and Leisure/Summer Olympics
Ancient Olympics
The original Olympic Games began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, as part of a festival to honour Zeus, and were celebrated until 393 AD when Emperor Theodosius the Great (I) banned the games as he considered them pagan
Held in Elis
In the first Olympic Games, the only event was the stadion, a sprint of 192.27m
The first recorded Olympic champion was Koroibos, a cook from Elis
The olive wreath, also known as kotinos, was the prize for the winner at the ancient Olympic Games
Pankration – a no-holds-barred combination of boxing and wrestling
Tethrippon – a four-horse chariot race of about 14km. Started in 689 BC
Pentathlon – stadion, long jump, discus, javelin, wrestling. Started in 708 BC
Apene – chariot race with mules
The most decorated champion was the runner Leonidas of Rhodes, who won 12 championships between 164 BC and 152 BC
The 6th century BC wrestler Milo of Kroton is the only athlete in history to win in six Olympics
The first female champion was Kyniska of Sparta, who won the tethrippon in 396 BC
The last recorded champion of the ancient Olympics was Varasdates, Prince of Armenia, who won the boxing in 369
The term halteres comes from the Greek word for dumbbells. In ancient Greek sports, halteres were used as lifting weights, and also as weights in their version of the long jump, which was probably a set of three jumps. Halteres were held in both hands to allow an athlete to jump a greater distance
The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, when a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, and it has been part of the modern Olympic Games ever since. The torch relay of modern times which transports the flame from Greece to the various designated sites of the games had no ancient precedent and was introduced by Carl Diem, with the support of Joseph Goebbels, at the Berlin Olympics in 1936
1896 Athens
At the inaugural meeting of the IOC held at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1894, Baron Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should be revived. The Greek delegate at the Congress, Demetrius Vikelas, was elected as the first president of the IOC, which had 13 members
Motto proposed in 1894 by de Coubertin
On 6 April 1896, King George I of Greece declared open the first modern Olympic Games. There were 245 athletes representing 14 nations, all of them men. 43 separate events were contested
Events were held at the Panathenaic Stadium. Alexandrian billionaire Georgios Averoff donated one million drachma towards the reconstruction of the stadium
The first race was a heat of the 100m dash, which was won by Francis Lane of USA
The first gold medal was in the triple jump, which was won by James Connolly of USA. Connolly performed two hops and a jump. Every other competitor performed a hop, a step and a jump
First place winners were awarded a silver medal, a crown of olive branches and a diploma
Second place winners were awarded a bronze medal, a crown of laurel and a diploma
The front of the medal had a picture of Zeus. The back of the medal had a picture of the Acropolis
USA won most gold medals. Many athletes were students from Princeton
Greece won most medals
At the closing ceremony George Robertson (GB) read an ode which he had written in ancient Greek to honour the Olympic Games
The 40km marathon race was won by Greek shepherd Spiridon Louis
Stamata Revithi (Greece) ran the marathon course one day after the men’s race. Women were excluded from competing in the Games
The swimming contests were held outdoors in open water, in the Bay of Zea
Alfred Hajos-Guttmann was the first-ever Olympic swimming champion and the first Hungarian Olympic gold medalist. He won two gold medals in Athens: the 100m freestyle, and the 1200m freestyle. Hajos-Guttmann became a world renowned architect, specializing in sport facilities. In a special arts competition at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, he was awarded an Olympic silver medal for architecture, the highest honour presented in that competition
100m freestyle for sailors – restricted to members of the Greek navy
100m – Thomas Burke (USA)
Cycling events included a 12-hour race, won by Adolf Schmal (Austria)
Regattas cancelled due to bad weather
Tennis – John Boland (GB / Ireland), who travelled to the Games as a spectator
Masters foil – Leonidas Pyrgos. Greece’s first modern Olympic champion
Carl Schuhmann won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete at the inaugural Olympics of the modern era. He also competed in weightlifting
One-handed weightlifting was an event for the only time
1900 Paris
Baron Pierre de Coubertin insisted that the 1900 games were held in Paris as part of the World’s Fair (Universal Exposition)
The events were spread over five months and went almost unnoticed
France won most medals and most gold medals
Women were allowed to compete for the first time. First women competitors represented France at croquet (Filleul Brohy and Marie Ohnier)
The first female champion was in tennis: Charlotte Cooper (GB)
Margaret Abbott was the first US woman to win an Olympic gold medal, in golf
Poster had a woman fencer, even though women were not allowed to compete in fencing
Helen de Pourtales was a member of the Swiss boat Lerina, which won the gold medal in the first race of 2-3 ton class and silver medal in the second race of 2-3 ton class. Her husband, Hermann, was also a crew member
Tennis was one of five sports in which athletes from different nations were allowed to compete on the same team
Several athletes from USA refused to compete on Sunday
Ray Ewry (USA) won three events in one day
The swimming obstacle race required the entrants to climb a pole, scramble over a row of boats and swim under another row of boats
Events included underwater swimming, equestrian high and long jumps
In the coxed pairs rowing event, the Dutch team chose a small French boy for their coxswain. He is probably the youngest Olympic champion
Professional races took place alongside the official amateur programme
Swimming races were held in the River Seine and swum with the current
Men’s 1500m freestyle – John Jarvis (GB)
4000m freestyle, 200m team swimming, 200m obstacle race, and underwater swimming raced for the only time
Water polo won by Osbourne Swimming Club, Manchester. GB also won water polo gold medals in 1908, 1912 and 1920
Alvin Kraenzlein (USA) was the first sportsman to win four Olympic titles in a single Olympic Games (60m, 110m hurdles, 200m hurdles, long jump), and is the only track and field athlete to achieve such a haul in individual events
4000m steeplechase – John Rimmer. GB won all three medals
Marathon – Michel Theato (France). Won by over 40 minutes
Standing high jump – Ray Ewry (USA). Retained the title in 1904, 1906 and 1908
Standing long jump – Ray Ewry. Retained the title in 1904, 1906 and 1908
Standing triple jump – Ray Ewry. Retained the title in 1904
Hammer – John Flanagan (USA). Retained the title in 1904 and 1908
Equestrian high jump and long jump events were held
Men’s singles – Laurie Doherty
Men’s doubles – Reg and Laurie Doherty, who were brothers
Mixed doubles – Reg Doherty and Charlotte Cooper
Football – GB (Upton Park Football Club)
Cricket – GB bt France. GB was represented by the Devon and Somerset Wanderers cricket club, France by a team made up of players from the British embassy in Paris
Three women took part in the croquet tournament
Polo – GB. Retained the title in 1908 and 1920
Pelota was held in 1900
Live pigeon shooting is not included in the official IOC Olympic results list
First black gold medalist – French rugby player Constantin Henrique de Zubiera
1904 St Louis
The 1904 Games were awarded to Chicago, but moved to St Louis to coincide with the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition. The games were spread over 4 ½ months
First Olympics at which gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded
Decathlon, boxing and freestyle wrestling made their debuts
George Eyser (USA) won six medals in gymnastics. He had a wooden leg
Fred Lorz won the 1904 Olympic marathon, but was disqualified as he hitched a lift. Thomas Hicks was awarded the gold medal – he had survived the hot, dusty conditions by drinking strychnine and brandy
Marathon runners Len Tau and Jan Mashiani of the Tswana tribe were in St Louis for the Exposition as part of a Boer War show, and became the first African athletes to compete at an Olympic Games
The Games were hijacked by two ‘Anthropological Days’, when native tribes were forced to make a humiliating exhibition of their links with sport
Six female athletes in 1904 – all archers
The most unusual event was the plunge for distance
Triathlon was part of a combined gymnastics and track and field competition
Men’s 50m freestyle was held, and was then discontinued until 1988
Men’s 200m freestyle was held, and was then discontinued until 1968
880 yard freestyle raced for the only time
Archie Hahn (USA) won the 100m, and also won in 1906
Archie Hahn also won the 60m. Known as ‘the Milwaukee Meteor’
200m was on a straight track
Americans took the first six places in the 400m
Jim Lightbody (USA) won gold medals in the 2500m steeplechase, 800m and 1500m
Decathlon – Thomas Kiely (Ireland). All 10 events were held on the same day
Football – Canada (Galt Football Club)
Rugby – France. Silver – GB, represented by Moseley Wanderers
Roque was an Olympic sport in the 1904 Summer Games, replacing croquet from the previous games
Three athletes representing Ireland participated, winning one gold and one silver medal; since Ireland was part of the United Kingdom at the time, the IOC classifies these athletes as British
Golf – George Lyon (Canada)
1906 Athens
Known as the Intercalated or Intermediary games. Not considered official by the IOC
Pierre de Coubertin permitted Greece to stage the Games as compensation for losing the right to host every Summer Olympics
First Olympics to limit entries to athletes sent by national Olympic committees and the first at which there was a Parade of Nations
Rowing events included six-man and seventeen-man naval rowing boats
The participants in the two dueling pistol events shot at dummies dressed in frock coats
Men’s pentathlon, held from 1906 to 1924, was decided according to placement points. Events were – standing long jump, discus (Greek-style), javelin, 192m race, and Greco-Roman wrestling)
GB won 8 gold, 11 silver and 6 bronze medals
1908 London
The 1908 Olympics were awarded to Rome. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906, the Italian government decided that their limited financial resources were needed to rebuild Naples. The Olympics were reassigned to London and White City stadium was built
The Games were opened by Edward VII
Parade of the Delegations (or Nations) took place for the first time
The Irish Whales was a nickname given to a group of Irish and Irish-American athletes who dominated weight-throwing events in the first two decades of the 20th century. The Irish Whales included John Flanagan and Martin Sheridan
It is often claimed that Martin Sheridan fueled a controversy, when USA flag bearer Ralph Rose refused to dip the flag to King Edward VII. Sheridan is supposed to have supported Rose by explaining "This flag dips to no earthly king"
Also missing was the Swedish flag, leading some Swedes to boycott the Games
Americans abandoned tug-of-war when one of the British team was found to be wearing spiked shoes to prevent slipping
Last Games in which the host country had full jurisdiction over all the sports
Australia and New Zealand competed as one team, known as Australasia
GB won 56 gold medals. USA were second with 23 gold medals
Bishop of Pennsylvania declared “The important thing about these Olympic Games is less the winning than the taking part”. This quote was later taken up by Baron de Coubertin
First appearance of diving, field hockey, and figure skating (which was transferred to the Winter Olympics in 1924)
Sophus Nielsen scored 10 goals for Denmark in a football match against France
Ray Ewry won the standing high jump and the standing long jump for the third time. He won 8 gold medals at the Olympic Games and 2 gold medals at the Intercalated Games
Ray Ewry is the only athlete to win eight gold medals in individual events
First marathon to be run over 26 miles 385 yards, extended so that the royal family would be able to get a good view of the start from the balcony at Windsor Castle
Dorando Pietri (Italy) was disqualified from the marathon as he was helped across the line. Johnny Hayes (USA) was awarded the gold medal
At the presentation ceremony, the Queen summoned Pietri, and presented him with a special gold cup
Henry Taylor (GB) won the 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle, and a third gold in the 4 x 200m relay
100m – Reggie Walker (South Africa)
Wyndham Halswelle (GB) won the 400m running the final alone after John Carpenter (USA) was disqualified and the other two Americans refused to race in a rerun. The controversy over this race resulted in the formation of the IAAF, and from 1912 onwards all 400m races were run in lanes
800m and 1500m – Melvin Sheppard (USA)
1500m. Silver – Harold Wilson (GB)
110m hurdles – Forrest Smithson (USA). There is a widespread story about Smithson winning the gold medal while carrying a Bible in his left hand (ostensibly to protest against the decision to run the 110m hurdles final on a Sunday). However, the final was held on a Saturday
In the men’s 4 x 400m relay, the first-ever Olympic relay race, the runners did not pass a baton, but touched hands instead
Featherweight – Richard Gunn (GB), aged 37
Middleweight – John Douglas. Captained the England cricket team 18 times
Archery York Round – Willy Dod
Women’s archery National Round – Sybil ‘Queenie’ Newell (GB). Silver – Lottie Dod
Sybil Newell is the oldest female medalist in Olympic history, aged 53
Archers Willy and Lottie Dod (GB) became the first brother and sister medalists in Olympic history
Tennis – Arthur Wentworth Gore
Individual all-around. Silver – Walter Tysall
Football – GB. Retained the title in 1912
Tug of war – GB (City of London Police)
Motor boating was held in 1908
Rackets was held in 1908
Jeu de Palme (Real Tennis) contested for the only time. Won by Jay Gould (USA)
Women’s tennis – Dorothea Chambers, who also won seven singles titles at Wimbledon
Heavyweight boxing – Albert Oldman
1912 Stockholm
Coubertin won the gold medal for literature at the 1912 Summer Olympics for his poem Ode to Sport
First use of unofficial electronic timing devices, a photo-finish machine, and a public address system
Modern pentathlon, women’s swimming and women’s diving were introduced
Equestrian events were introduced
Sweden would not allow boxing contests to he held
First Olympics in which Japan participated
Finland had to march under a Russian flag at the Parade of Nations, as Finland was ruled by Russia at the time
USA won most gold medals, Sweden won the most medals
Last Games at which solid gold medals were awarded
Winter sports not held as Swedish organizers preferred the Nordic Games
Oscar Swahn (Sweden) became the oldest person ever to win a gold medal when, aged 64, he was a member of the team that won the the single shot running deer shooting event
The course for the cycling road race was 196 miles, the longest race of any kind in Olympic history. Won by Okey Lewis (South Africa) in 10’ 42”
Hannes Kolehmainen (Finland) won three gold medals in long-distance running
Jim Thorpe won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon. He was disqualified (and later reinstated) as he has played professional baseball
Avery Brundage finished sixth in the pentathlon. Also entered high jump and long jump
“Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world” – King Gustav of Sweden to Jim Thorpe at the 1912 Olympics. Thorpe replied “Thanks, King”
Otto Herschmann, president of the Austrian Olympic Committee, won a silver medal in the team sabre fencing event
A Greco-Roman wrestling bout between Martien Klein and Alfred Asikainen lasted 11 hours and forty minutes – the world's longest wrestling match. After Klein finally took the victory, he was too tired to compete in the final
In the final of the light heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling, Anders Ahlgren and Ivar Bohling wrestled for nine hours until officials called the contest a double loss. As neither wrestler had won, they were both awarded silver medals
5000m and 10000m – Hannes Kolehmainen (Finland)
Marathon – Kenneth McArthur (South Africa)
Javelin – Eric Lemming (Sweden). First ever 60m throw. Also won in 1908
Modern pentathlon. 5th George Patton (USA)
Women’s 100m freestyle – Fanny Durack (Australia)
Belle White – first UK diving medal, bronze in 10m platform
Gottfried Fuchs scored 10 goals for Germany in a 16–0 win against Russia
England deliberately missed a penalty against Finland in semi-final as the team thought the decision of the referee too harsh
Women’s indoor singles – Edith Hannam
Francisco Lazaro (Portugal) was the first athlete to die during a modern Olympic event, after collapsing at the 30 km mark of the marathon
1916 Berlin
The 1916 Olympics were scheduled to be held in Berlin, but were cancelled due to World War I
1920 Antwerp
The 1920 Games were awarded to Antwerp to honour the suffering that had been inflicted on the Belgium people during the war
Candidate cities – Amsterdam and Lyon
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were not allowed to compete
Russia was absent due to the civil war
Olympic flag was adopted for the Olympic movement at the 1914 Congress
The Opening Ceremony was notable for the introduction of the Olympic flag and the presentation of the Athletes’ Oath, spoken by Victor Boin. Doves were released as a symbol of peace for the first time
The five rings signified the unity of the five continents
Games opened by King Albert
The Nadi brothers, Nedo and Aldo (Italy) won eight gold medals in fencing. Nedo Nadi won the individual sabre in 1920, the only break in Hungary’s 56-year domination of the event
Suzanne Lenglen won the tennis singles and mixed doubles (with Max Decugis), and a bronze medal in the women’s doubles
One of the members of the gold medal-winning USA rugby team was Daniel Carroll, who had also been a member of Australia’s winning team in 1908
American boxer Eddie Eagan triumphed in the light-heavyweight division. 12 years later he won Olympic gold in bobsledding. He is the only person to have won a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn earned a silver medal to become the oldest medalist ever, aged 72
Ice hockey was included in the Summer Games for the first and only time
Figure skating was included for the second and final time
The 12-foot dinghy yachting event was the only event in Olympic history to be held in two countries – Belgium and the Netherlands, because both entrants were Dutch
Just before the start of the 100m, the US sprint coach gave his athletes a mixture of sherry and raw egg
The diving events were held outdoors in a moat. Aileen Riggin (USA) won the women’s springboard gold medal, aged 14, 4’ 7” tall
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (USA) who was born in Honolulu defended his 100m freestyle title. Nicknamed ‘The Duke’ after the Duke of Edinburgh who visited Hawaii in 1869
800m and 1500m – Albert Hill
1500m. Silver – Philip Baker, who became MP and Nobel Peace Prize winner Philip Noel-Baker
5000m. Silver – Paavo Nurmi
10000m – Paavo Nurmi
Marathon – Hannes Kolehmainen
3000m steeplechase – Percy Hodge (GB)
Cross-country – Nurmi. Retained the title in 1924, the last time the event was run
Cross-country team race – Finland (including Nurmi)
Harry Mallin was world champion in the middleweight class between 1920 and 1928. He never lost an amateur bout and never turned professional. He won a gold medal in middleweight division in 1920. He went on to win another gold medal in the same weight class in boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Hockey – GB
Egypt were first non-European team to enter Olympic football
In the football final against Belgium, Czechoslovakia walked off the field when a player was sent off, and were disqualified
Tug of war – GB (the last time the event was held)
Rugby – USA
Morris Kirksey won two gold medals. (4 x 100m relay, and rugby). He is one of four athletes to win gold medals in two different Olympic sports
GB completed a hat-trick of wins in water polo
1924 Paris
The Olympic motto was introduced, as was the closing ceremony ritual of raising three flags: the flag of the IOC, the flag of the host nation and the flag of the next host nation
Events held at Colombes Stadium
Women’s fencing made its debut
Ireland competed for the first time. Prior to 1922, Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Irish competitors at earlier Games are counted as British in Olympic statistics
William DeHart Hubbard (USA) became the first black athlete to win an individual event, the long jump
Robert Legendre (USA) broke the long jump world record in the pentathlon
Johnny Weissmuller won three gold medals in swimming (100m, 400m, 4 x 200m freestyle relay) and a bronze medal in water polo
Benjamin Spock was a member of the Yale University crew that won the eights
Gertrude Ederle won a gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay, and bronze medals in the 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle
Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals in five events, including the 1500m, 5000m (with only 26 minutes between the final races; he broke the world record for both of them), the 3000 m team race, and both cross country events (10000m and team race). He also won three gold medals in 1920
Last Olympics to feature cross country events
Men’s plain high dive was discontinued
Marathon distance fixed at 42.195 km, the distance run in 1908
200m breaststroke – Lucy Morton
100m – Harold Abrahams. Eric Liddell withdrew as he refused to run on a Sunday
200m – Jackson Scholz (USA). Bronze – Eric Liddell. 6th Harold Abrahams
400m – Eric Liddell (last Briton to hold 400m Olympic record)
800m – Douglas Lowe. Retained the title in 1928
Solly Abrahams, older brother of Harold Abrahams, competed in the long jump in the 1912 Games
10000m – Ville Ritola (Finland)
3000m steeplechase – Ville Ritola
3000m team race – Finland (including Nurmi and Ritola)
Cross-country team race – Finland (including Nurmi and Ritola)
Middleweight – Henry Mallin. Lost to Roger Brousse (France) in the quarter-finals, but Brousse was later disqualified for biting
Light Heavyweight – Harry Mitchell (GB)
Women’s tennis – Helen Wills (USA)
Mixed doubles – USA (Hazel Wightman and Dick Williams). Williams was a passenger on the Titanic
Women’s doubles – Wills and Wightman
Football – Uruguay. Retained the title in 1928
Polo – Argentina. Retained the title in 1936 (the last time the event was held)
Rugby – USA (the last time the event was held)
Philip Neame was a member of Great Britain's Running Deer shooting team and is the only Victoria Cross recipient who has won an Olympic Gold Medal
Clay pigeon shooting held for the last time
1928 Amsterdam
Los Angeles was the only rival candidate city
At the opening ceremony, the team from Greece led the Parade of Nations and the host Dutch team marched in last
Olympic flame lit for the first time
Germany returned to the Games
Stadium designed by Jan Wils, who won the gold medal in architecture
Women were allowed to compete in gymnastics and track and field
Tennis was withdrawn
Several finalists collapsed with exhaustion in the 800m final, leading to a ban on all women’s races longer than 200m for 32 years
Discus was the first women’s track and field event to be decided in the history of the Olympics
Coca-Cola became the first sponsors, providing the American team with 1000 crates
India won the field hockey, the first of six straight gold medals
Hungary won the first of seven straight gold medals in team sabre fencing
Crown Prince Olav of Norway was part of the crew that won the six-metre yachting event
100m freestyle – Johnny Weissmuller
4 x 200m freestyle relay – USA, including Johnny Weissmuller
100m and 200m – Percy Williams (Canada)
100m. Silver – Jack London (GB)
5000m – Ville Ritola (Finland). Silver – Nurmi
10000m – Nurmi. Silver – Ritola. Nurmi’s ninth gold medal
Marathon – Boughera El Ouafi (France). Born in Algeria
400m hurdles – (Lord) David Burghley
3000m steeplechase. Silver – Nurmi
Triple jump – Mikio Oda (Japan). Asia’s first gold medal in an individual event. The pole that bore the Olympic flag during the 1964 Olympics was 15.21 metres high in honour of Oda’s jump
Hammer – Patrick O’Callaghan (Ireland). Retained the title in 1932
Women’s 100m – Betty Robinson (USA). The first women’s track event to be contested in the Olympics
Women’s high jump – Ethel Catherwood (Canada), known as ‘The Saskatoon Lily’
Single sculls – Henry ‘Bobby’ Pearce (Australia). Won his quarter-final despite stopping to let a family of ducks pass. Won the gold medal, and retained the title in 1932
1932 Los Angeles
Football tournament cancelled due to lack of entrants
First Games to make a profit
First Games to last 16 days. The duration of the Olympics has remained between 15 and 18 days ever since
Medal ceremonies took place shortly after each event has finished. Previously, the medals were presented at the closing ceremony
At the victory ceremonies the medal winners stood on a victory podium, the flag of the winner was raised, and the national anthem was played
Official automatic timing was introduced for the track events, as well as the photo-finish camera
Prohibition was suspended to allow foreign athletes to import and drink wine
Main stadium – Memorial Coliseum
Olympic Village for male athletes created for the first time
Demonstration sports – American football and lacrosse
In order to finance their visit, the Brazilians travelled with a cargo of coffee
Franz and Toni Schmid won an Olympic prize for mountaineering after they were the first to scale the north face of the Matterhorn
Nurmi was not allowed to compete, as he was classed as a professional
Sprinter Liu Changchun was the first and only representative of China
Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson Zaharias won two gold medals (80m hurdles, javelin) and one silver medal (high jump)
Bertil Sandstrom (Sweden) was relegated to last place in the dressage for encouraging his horse by making clicking noises
Men’s 400m freestyle – Clarence ‘Buster’ Crabbe, who was signed by Paramount Studios
Japanese swimmers won gold in all other men’s swimming events
1500m freestyle – Kusuo Kitamura (Japan). Aged 14, the youngest male to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event in any sport
Women’s 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle – Helene Madison (USA). Also won gold medal in 4 x 100m relay
Women’s 100m backstroke – Eleanor Holm (USA). Holm was banned from the 1936 Olympics due to indiscipline on the boat (SS Manhattan) to Germany
Maria Lenk was the first Brazilian and South American woman to participate in the Summer Olympic Games, in swimming
100m – Eddie Tolan (USA)
800m – Tommy Hampson
400m hurdles – Bob Tisdall (Ireland). Silver – Glenn Hardin (USA), who was awarded the world record as Tisdall knocked over a hurdle
3000m steeplechase – Volmari Iso-Hollo (Finland), who retained the title in 1936. Thomas Evenson (GB) won silver, but should have won bronze as an extra lap was run by mistake
50 km walk – Tommy Green
Gymnastics events included rope climbing, club swinging, and tumbling
Women’s 100m champion, Stanislawa Walasiewicz, known as Stella Walsh, was a Polish athlete with ambiguous genitalia and a condition known as mosaicism in which she had both male and female chromosomes
Freestyle wrestling light heavyweight – Pete Mehringer (USA). Perfected his technique by taking a correspondence course
1936 Berlin
A boycott proposal led by Ernest Jahnke in the USA was narrowly defeated
An alternative People’s Olympics was scheduled to take place in Barcelona, but was cancelled when the Spanish Civil War broke out
During the long jump competition, Owens’ German rival, Luz Long, publicly befriended him
Torch relay was introduced. Olympia to Berlin. Torch designed by Lemcke
25 large TV screens were set up throughout Berlin
Official film – Olympia, directed by Leni Riefenstahl
Basketball, canoeing and handball were introduced
Basketball final, won by USA, was played outdoors in heavy rain
Handball was played on a football patch with two teams of 11
Polo was included for the last time
13-year-old Marjorie Gestring (USA) won the gold medal in springboard diving
12-year-old Inge Sorenson (Denmark) won the bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke, making her the youngest medalist ever in an individual event
Hendrika Mastenbroek (Netherlands) won three gold medals in swimming
Jack Beresford (GB) won a gold medal in the double sculls event, marking the fifth Olympics at which he earned a medal
Jacob Thams (Norway) won a silver medal in yachting. In 1924 he won the ski jump at the first Winter Olympics
GB team ‘eyes right’ instead of Nazi salute at opening ceremony
100m – Jesse Owens. Silver – Ralph Metcalfe (USA), who also won silver in 1932
200m – Jesse Owens
400m. Silver – Godfrey Brown
1500m – Jack Lovelock (NZ)
Finland won all three10000m medals
Marathon – Sohn Kee-chung (Korea), who was forced to adopt a Japanese name as Korea was occupied by Japanese forces
4 x 100m relay – USA, including Owens
4 x 400m relay – GB. Godfrey Rampling was a member of the team
50 km walk – Harry Whitlock
Long jump – Jesse Owens. Silver – Luz Long
Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship
Decathlon – Glenn Morris (USA)
Women’s 4 x 100m relay – USA, including Betty Robinson, who was injured in a plane crash in 1931
Dora Ratjen competed in the high jump at the Olympics for Germany, but in 1938 was found to be a man called Heinrich Ratjen
Peru withdrew from the Games in protest at being ordered to replay a quarter-final football match after beating Austria
Rowing eights – USA. All members of the University of Washington
Ilona Elek (Hungary) was was the first woman to win two Olympic gold medals in the individual foil competition, in 1936 and 1948. Won silver in same event in 1952
Peter Scott, the son of Robert Falcon Scott, won a bronze medal in dinghy sailing, and was British gliding champion in 1963
Haiti and Liechtenstein realised they had same flag. The following year, a crown was added to Liechtenstein's to distinguish one flag from the other
K-1 and K-2 10,000m canoe races were held
200m. Silver – Mack Robinson (the brother of Jackie Robinson)
1940 Tokyo; Helsinki
The 1940 Olympics were awarded to Japan, but when Japan invaded China in 1937 the games were reassigned to Helsinki. When Soviet troops invaded Finland in 1939, the games were cancelled
1944 London
The 1944 Olympics were scheduled for London, but were cancelled due to World War II
1948 London
Germany and Japan were banned. A record 59 nations took part
Soviet Union were invited to compete, but declined
Opening ceremony in Wembley Stadium on 29 July. Games opened by King George VI
The first political defection took place. Marie Provaznikova, the president of women’s gymnastics, refused to return to Czechoslovakia
Women’s canoeing was held for the first time
First photo finish in Olympics
Starting blocks used for the first time
Demonstration sports – lacrosse and Swedish system team gymnastics
Rowing events were held at Henley
Audrey Patterson became the first black woman to earn an Olympic medal, in 200m
Alice Coachman (USA) became the first black woman to win a gold medal, in the high jump
Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals – 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles, 4 x 100m relay
Shirley Strickland won bronze in 100m and 80m hurdles
First time that the Women’s 200m was run
Concert pianist Micheline Ostermeyer (France) won the shot put and the discus
Sweden were disqualified from the dressage as one of their members was only a noncommissioned officer and thus ineligible to compete
Emil Zatopek won gold in 10000m and silver in 5000m
Vicki Draves (USA) became the first female diver to win two gold medals in one Olympics
100m – Harrison Dillard (USA)
5000m – Gaston Reiff (Belgium)
Hammer – Imre Nemeth (Hungary)
Decathlon – Bob Mathias (aged 17). Retained the title in 1952
Women’s 80m hurdles. Silver – Maureen Gardner (GB)
Women’s high jump. Silver – Dorothy Tyler, who won the silver medal in 1936 as Dorothy Odam
Middleweight – Laszlo Papp (Hungary)
Kayak singles 100m – Gert Fredriksson (Sweden). Retained the title in 1952 and 1956, and six gold medals in total
Cycling sprint. Silver – Reg Harris
Sailing events held in Torbay
Harold Sakata won the silver medal for USA in light heavyweight weightlifting. He wrestled professionally using the name Tosh Togo
GB gold medals in 1948 Olympics – Dickie Burnell and Bert Bushnell (double skulls),
Jack Wilson and William Laurie (coxless pairs), Morris and Bond (swallow class yachting)
Dickie Burnell and his father Charles Burnell are the only father and son in Olympic history to have won gold medals in rowing. First father and son to win Olympic gold medals
Burnell and Bushnell were coached by Jack Beresford
William Laurie is the father of Hugh Laurie
Star class yachting – gold and silver medals both won by father-son teams
1952 Helsinki
Germany invited back. West Germany competed as the Federal Republic of Germany. East Germany, as the German Democratic Republic, did not send any athletes to the 1952 Games
Japan invited back
The Soviet Union entered for the first time
Israel made their first appearance
China competed, but Taipei did not. China’s first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics
Saar Protectorate competed for the only time
Male civilians and women were allowed to enter dressage for the first time
Women’s individual gymnastics introduced
Flame lit by Nurmi and Kolehmainen
Demonstration sports – baseball and rugby
Zatopek won 10000m, 5000m and marathon. His wife, Dana, won the javelin
Aleksandra Chudina (Russia) won medals in the long jump, high jump and javelin
Lars Hall (Sweden) became the first non-military winner of the modern pentathlon. Retained the title in 1956
1500m – Josy Barthel (Luxembourg). 4th Roger Bannister
5000m – Emil Zatopek (Czechoslovakia). 4th Gordon Pirie. 5th Chris Chataway
Alain Mimoun (France) was second in 5000m and 10000m
4 x 400m relay – Jamaica
110m hurdles – Harrison Dillard (USA)
Pole vault – Bob Richards (USA). Known as ‘The Vaulting Vicar’. Retained the title in 1956
Triple jump – Adhemar da Silva (Brazil). Retained the title in 1956
Shot put – Parry O’Brien (USA). Retained the title in 1956
Women’s 100m and 200m – Marjorie Jackson (Australia)
Women’s 80m hurdles – Shirley Strickland de la Hunty (Australia). Retained the title in 1956
Pat McCormick (USA) won both women’s diving gold medals in 1952 and 1956
Light Middleweight – Laszlo Papp. Retained the title in 1956
Middleweight – Floyd Patterson
Heavyweight – Ed Sanders (USA) defeated Ingemar Johansson in the final. Johansson was disqualified for not ‘giving of his best’
Show jumping team – GB (Wilf White, Duggie Stewart, and Harry Llewellyn riding Foxhunter). Only gold medal won by GB
Football – Hungary. Team included Ferenc Puskas
Jacques Anquetil won a bronze medal as part of the French time trial team
Heavyweight wrestling. Bronze – Ken Richmond. Became a gongman seen on Rank films
Tommy Kono (USA) won a weightlifting gold medal at both the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, and a silver medal at the 1960 Olympics
100m – Lindy Remigino. Named after Charles Lindbergh
Maria Gorokhovskaya (Russia) won seven gymnastics medals (two gold and five silver)
Women’s long jump – Yvette Williams. First woman from New Zealand to win a gold medal
1956 Melbourne
Melbourne beat Buenos Aires by one vote
Equestrian events were held in Stockholm in May due to Australia’s six-month quarantine law imposed on foreign horses
Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon withdrew in protest at the Suez Canal invasion
Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland withdrew in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary
People’s Republic of China withdrew because the Republic of China (under the name Formosa) had been allowed to compete
West and East Germany entered a combined team
North Borneo competed for the only time
Games opened by Duke of Edinburgh in Melbourne Cricket Ground
Ron Clarke lit the Olympic flame
John Landy gave the Olympic oath
In the closing ceremony, the athletes entered the stadium together for the first time
Laszlo Papp of Hungary became the first boxer to win three gold medals
The butterfly stroke was separated from the breaststroke, and was contested over 200m
Underwater swimming was banned from the breaststroke after the Olympics
Australia won all the freestyle races
Hammer gold medalist Harold Connolly (USA) married discus gold medalist Olga Fikotova (Czechoslovakia)
The water polo semi-final between Hungary and the Soviet Union degenerated into a brawl, and is known as ‘the blood in the water match’. Ervin Zador had his eyebrow cut open
100m freestyle – Jon Henricks (Australia)
400m and 1500m freestyle – Murray Rose (Australia)
100m backstroke – David Thiele (Australia). Retained the title in 1960
Dawn Fraser won her first gold medal, in Women’s 100m freestyle
Women’s 100m backstroke – Judy Grinham
100m and 200m – Bobby Morrow (USA)
800m – Tom Courtney (USA). Silver – Derek Johnson (GB)
1500m – Ron Delany (Ireland)
5000m – Vladimir Kuts (Soviet Union). Silver – Pirie. Bronze – Ibbotson
10000m – Kuts
Marathon – Alain Mimoun, after a false start
Lee Calhoun (USA) won the 110m hurdles and retained the title in 1960
Glenn Davis (USA) won the 400m hurdles and retained the title in 1960
3000m steeplechase – Chris Brasher. First Briton to win a gold medal in track and field since 1932. GB’s only track and field gold medal
Discus – Al Oerter. Retained the title in 1960, 1964 and 1968
Women’s 100m and 200m – Betty Cuthbert (Australia)
Women’s 4 x 100m relay – Australia, including Shirley Strickland de la Hunty
Flyweight – Terry Spinks
Lightweight – Dick McTaggart. Won bronze in same event in 1960
Women’s foil – Gillian Sheen (GB)
Rings – Albert Azaryan (Soviet Union). Inventor of the Olympic cross
Women’s All-Around – Larissa Latynina. Retained the title in 1960
Team show jumping. Bronze – GB, including Pat Smythe
Football – Russia, with Lev Yashin in goal
1960 Rome
USSR won most gold medals
Gymnastics took place in the Caracalla Baths
Wrestling took place in the Basilica of Maxentius
Marathon finished beneath the Arch of Constantine
Official Olympic hymn adopted
Egypt and Syria, as the United Arab Republic, competed
Athletes from the West Indies Federation competed under the name Antilles
Knud Enemark Jensen of Denmark participated in the 1960 Games riding under the influence of amphetamines. He collapsed during the 100 km team time trial, fracturing his skull, and in a nearby Rome hospital shortly thereafter, he was pronounced dead
Dawn Fraser became the first woman to defend an Olympic swimming title
200m breaststroke – Anita Lonsbrough
100m – Armin Hary (Germany). Bronze – Peter Radford (GB). First non-American winner since 1928
200m – Livio Berruti (Italy). First non-American in Olympic history to win 200m
Peter Snell won the 800m and retained the title in 1964
1500m – Herb Elliott (Australia)
Marathon – Abebe Bikila. First black African Olympic champion
50 km walk – Don Thompson
Germany won the men’s 4 x 100m relay after the USA team was disqualified
Long jump – Ralph Boston
Triple jump – Josef Schmidt (Poland). Retained the title in 1964
Decathlon – Rafer Johnson
Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three track and field gold medals (100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay) at an Olympiad
Women’s 100m – Wilma Rudolph (USA). Silver – Dorothy Hyman
Women’s 200m – Wilma Rudolph. Bronze – Dorothy Hyman
Women’s 80m hurdles – Iryna Press (Soviet Union). Silver – Carole Quinton (GB)
Women’s high jump – Iolanda Balas (Romania). Retained the title in 1964
Women’s high jump. Silver – Dorothy Shirley (GB)
Women’s shot put – Tamara Press. Retained the title in 1964. Sister of Iryna Press
Light Heavyweight – Cassius Clay. Silver – Pietryskowsky (Poland)
Light-welterweight boxer Ike Quartey (Ghana) became the first black African Olympic medalist
Show jumping – Raimondo D’Inzeo. Silver – Piero D’Inzeo (brother of Raimondo). Bronze – David Broome
Danish cyclist Knud Jensen died from a drug overdose during the road race. His death led the International Olympic Committee to form a medical commission in 1967 and institute drug testing at the 1968 Summer Olympics
King Constantine II of Greece won a gold medal in sailing (Dragon Class)
Paul Elvstrom (Denmark) won the gold medal in Finn class yachting for the fourth successive games
Pakistan beat India in the final of the field hockey, to win their first ever gold medal
Boris Shakhlin won four gymnastics gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal to add to the two gold medals he had won in 1956
Weightlifting 90kg. Bronze – Louis Martin, who had represented Jamaica at the 1958 Commonwealth Games
Epee. Silver – Allan Jay
David Broome rode Sunsalve
1964 Tokyo
Final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai was born in Hiroshima on the day of the atomic bomb
South Africa were banned
Games opened by Emperor Hirohito
In 1962 Indonesia refused to let Israel and Taiwan compete in the Asian Games, and was suspended by the IOC. Indonesia withdrew its team from the Olympics, as did North Korea
Judo and volleyball were introduced. Women’s volleyball was the first ever women’s team sports event at an Olympic Games
Last Games to use a cinder running track
TV broadcast to USA was first TV programme to cross the Pacific Ocean
A qualifying football match between Peru and Argentina in Lima was suspended leading to riots in which 328 people died
Ewa Klobukowska (Poland) won the gold medal in the women's 4 x100m relay and the bronze medal in the women's 100m. Klobukowska failed a traditional gender test for European Cup women's track and field competition in Kiev in 1967 and was subsequently banned from competing in professional sports
Larysa Latynina brought her career medal total to 18
American swimmer Don Schollander won four gold medals (100m freestyle, 400m freestyle and two relays)
100m freestyle. Silver – Bobby McGregor (GB)
Dawn Fraser won the 100m freestyle for the third time
100m – Bob Hayes, in 10.0 seconds
1500m – Peter Snell
10000m – Billy Mills (USA). Bronze – Ron Clarke
3000m steeplechase – Gaston Roelants (Belgium). Silver – Maurice Herriott (GB)
400m hurdles. Silver – John Cooper
20 km walk – Ken Matthews
50 km walk. Silver – Paul Nihill
Marathon – Abebe Bikila. Silver – Basil Heatley (GB)
Abebe Bikila became the first repeat winner of the marathon, six weeks after having his appendix removed
High jump – Valery Brumel (Soviet Union)
Long jump – Lynn Davies. Silver – Ralph Boston
Women’s 100m – Wyomia Tyus (USA). Retained the title in 1968
Women’s 400m – Betty Cuthbert. Silver – Ann Packer. First time the event was held
Women’s 800m – Ann Packer
Women’s long jump – Mary Rand. First British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field
Women’s discus – Tamara Press
Pentathlon – Iryna Press. Silver – Mary Rand. 4th Mary Peters
Women’s 4 x 100m relay. Bronze – GB, including Mary Rand
Heavyweight – Joe Frazier
Women’s All-Around – Vera Caslavska (Czechoslovakia). Retained the title in 1968
Super heavyweight – Leonid Zhabotynsky. Retained the title in 1968
Football – Hungary. Retained the title in 1968
Volleyball – Soviet Union. Retained the title in 1968
Women’s volleyball – Japan
Featherweight wrestling – Osamu Watanabe (Japan). Won every match without conceding a point
Although Japan dominated three of the four judo weight divisions (light, middle and heavy), Anton Geesink (Netherlands) won the final of the open weight division, defeating Akio Kaminaga in front of his home crowd
Hockey – India
Epee. Silver – Bill Hoskyns. The last individual fencing medal won by GB
Weightlifting 90kg. Bronze – Louis Martin
First Olympics to use pictograms to represent each sport visually
1968 Mexico City
Detroit, Lyon and Buenos Aires bid unsuccessfully
The high altitude (2300m) proved disastrous for many endurance athletes but led to world records in all the men’s races of 400m or shorter
Bob Beamon’s world record long jump of 8.90m stood for 22 years
Lee Evan’s world record of 43.86 in the 400m stood for 19 years
First Games to a synthetic athletics track
Demonstration sport – Pelota basque
Norma de Sotelo was the first woman to light Olympic flame
First Summer Games to include sex testing for women
First Games to have a mascot – an unnamed red jaguar
Every gold medal winner was required to undergo a drug test
Wyomia Tyus (USA) became the first repeat winner of the 100m
Vera Caslavska (Czechoslovakia) won four gold medals and two silver medals. Married Josef Odlozil at the Olympics
Mikhail Voronin and his wife Zinaida Voronina won 10 gymnastics medals between them
Al Oerter (USA) won the discus for the fourth time
Protest by Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) at medal ceremony for 200m. Peter Norman (Australia) won the silver medal. All three athletes on the podium wore OPHR (Olympic Project for Human Rights) badges
First drug disqualification – modern pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall (Sweden) tested positive for excessive alcohol
Klaus Dibiasi became the first Italian to earn swimming or diving gold, winning the platform. He also won gold in the platform in 1972 and 1976
100m and 200m freestyle – Mike Wenden (Australia)
Mike Burton (USA) won gold in the 400m and 1500m freestyle, and in the 1500m at the 1972 Summer Olympics
100m backstroke – Roland Matthes (GDR). Matthes won four gold medals and married Kornelia Ender
200m butterfly. Silver – Martin Woodroffe
Debbie Meyer (USA) became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals in one Olympics (200m, 400m, and 800m)
Mark Spitz won two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal
100m – Jim Hines. First 100m final with eight black athletes
200m – Tommie Smith. Silver – Peter Norman. Bronze – John Carlos
400m – Lee Evans. USA won all three medals, and showed support for Tommie Smith on the podium
1500m – Kip Keino. Silver – Jim Ryun
5000m – Mohamed Gammoudi (Tunisia)
110m hurdles – Willie Davenport (USA)
400m hurdles – David Hemery. Bronze – John Sherwood
Hemery received his gold medal from David Burghley
High jump – Dick Fosbury
Pole vault – Bob Seagren
Long jump – Bob Beamon. Silver – Klaus Beer (GDR). Bronze – Ralph Boston
Triple jump – Victor Saneyev (Soviet Union). Retained the title in 1972 and 1976
Decathlon – Bill Toomey
Women’s 200m – Irena Szewinska (Poland)
Raelene Boyle (Australia) won silver in 200m, and silver in 100m and 200m in 1972
Women’s 400m – Colette Besson (France). Silver – Lillian Board
Women’s long jump. Silver – Sheila Sherwood
Middleweight – Chris Finnegan
Heavyweight – George Foreman
Three-day event. Silver – Derek Allhusen (GB)
Three-day event, team – GB (Allhusen, Richard Meade riding Cornishman V, Reuben Jones)
Show jumping – Bill Steinkraus (USA). Silver – Marion Coakes, riding Stroller. Bronze – David Broome, riding Mister Softee
Flying Dutchman – GB (Rodney Pattison, Iain Macdonald-Smith)
Rodney Pattisson also won a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics and a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics, all in the Flying Dutchman class. He was Great Britain’s most successful Olympic yachtsman until Ben Ainslie overtook him with three gold medals at three different Olympic Games at the 2008 Olympics
Trap – Bob Braithwaite
1972 Munich
Candidate cities – Detroit, Madrid and Montreal
On 5 September, eight Palestinian terrorists from the Black September faction broke into the Olympic village. Two Israelis were killed and nine taken hostage. At Furstenfeldbruck military airport, all nine Israeli hostages were killed, as were five of the terrorists and one policeman. Competition resumed after a pause of 34 hours. Avery Brundage insisted “The Games must go on!”
Archery and handball were re-introduced
Athletes’ oath sworn by a woman for the first time
Officials’ oath taken for the first time
Official emblem – the ‘Bright Sun’
Official slogan – ‘the Happy Games’
Slalom canoeing was introduced
Women’s 1500m run for the first time
First games to have a named mascot – Waldi the dachshund
Mark Spitz won seven gold medals (100, 200m, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 4 x 100 freestyle relay, 4 x 200m freestyle relay, 4 x 100m medley relay)
The last gold medal won by Spitz was the 100m freestyle, beating Jerry Heidenreich (USA)
Wrestler Chris Taylor (USA) weighed 412 pounds, and is the heaviest athlete in Olympic history
British horse Cornishman V appeared in Dead Cert and International Velvet
Aged 69, Lorna Johnstone became the oldest ever British competitor to appear in the Olympic Games, in the Dressage
Since 1936, USA teams had won 62 straight basketball games and seven straight gold medals before losing the final to USSR. Aleksandr Belov scored the winning basket in a 51-50 victory in the last second
Rick DeMont (USA) won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle, but was disqualified as his asthma medicine, Marax, contained ephedrine. The gold medal was awarded to Brad Cooper (Australia)
200m breaststroke – John Hencken (USA). Silver – David Wilkie
Women’s 200m freestyle – Shane Gould. Silver – Shirley Babashoff
Women’s 400m freestyle – Shane Gould
After winning the 200m individual medley, Shane Gould was presented with a worn-out toy kangaroo by Dawn Fraser
100m – Valeriy Borzov. Some American athletes missed their heats as their coaches failed to inform them of a change in start time
200m – Valeriy Borzov
400m – Vince Matthews (USA). Silver – Wayne Collett (USA). Both athletes were banned from further competition for lack of respect during the medal ceremony
800m – Dave Wottle (USA). Wore a golf cap. Known as “The Head Waiter” and “the Throttle”
1500m – Pekka Vasala (Finland). Silver – Keino. 5th Brendan Foster
5000m – Lasse Viren. Silver – Gammoudi. Bronze – Ian Stewart
10000m – Viren. Silver – Emiel Puttemans. 6th Dave Bedford. Viren fell during the race
Marathon – Frank Shorter (USA). A hoaxer ran a full lap of the track
110m hurdles – Rod Milburn (USA)
400m hurdles – John Akii-Bua (Uganda). Bronze – Hemery
3000m steeplechase – Kip Keino
4 x 400m relay – Kenya. Silver – GB (Martin Reynolds, Alan Pascoe, David Hemery, David Jenkins)
Dwight Stones won bronze in the high jump in 1972 and 1976
Pole vault – Wolfgang Norgwig (GDR). Silver – Seagren. First non-US winner. Controversy over banning of the new model of Cata-Poles
Women’s 100m and 200m – Renate Stecher (GDR)
Women’s 4 x 100m relay – Germany, including Heide Rosendahl
Women’s high jump – Ulrike Meyfarth (Germany). Aged 16, Meyfarth became the youngest person to win an individual track and field gold medal in the Olympics
Women’s long jump – Heide Rosendahl
Women’s javelin – Ruth Fuchs (GDR). Retained the title in 1976
Pentathlon – Mary Peters. Silver – Heide Rosendahl
Light Middleweight. Bronze – Alan Minter
Heavyweight – Teofilo Stevenson. Retained the title in 1976 and 1980
Half-heavyweight judo. Silver – Dave Starbrook. Won bronze in same event in 1976
Three-day event – Richard Meade, riding Laurieston
Three-day event, team – GB (Richard Meade, Mary Gordon-Watson riding Cornishman V, Bridget Parker)
Show jumping. Silver – Ann Moore, riding Psalm
High bar – Mitsuo Tsukahara. Retained the title in 1976. First gymnast to perform the vault sideways
Women’s All-Around – Lyudmila Turischeva
Olga Korbut from Belarus won gold medals in floor and beam, and in the team event. Known as ‘the sparrow from Minsk’
Uneven bars – Karin Janz (GDR). Silver – Korbut
Sailing events held at Kiel, along with water skiing (demonstration sport)
Flying Dutchman – GB (Rodney Pattison, Chris Davies)
After the Tempest event, Allen Warren and David Hunt set their boat (Gift ‘Orse) on fire after performing poorly
Super heavyweight – Vassily Alekseyev. Retained the title in 1976
Wim Ruska (Netherlands) was the first athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories
This was the last year that the clean and press was included as one of the lifts
1976 Montreal
Candidate cities – Los Angeles and Moscow
Many citizens regard the Olympiad as a financial disaster for the city as it faced debts for 30 years after the Games had finished
Julius Nyerere of Tanzania called for a boycott because the New Zealand rugby team had toured South Africa. 26 African nations, Iraq and Guyana boycotted the games
The Republic of China (Taiwan) team withdrew after Canada's government informed it that it could not compete under the name ‘Republic of China’
Mascot – Amik, a beaver
Games opened by the Queen
Olympic flame was sent in the form of electronic signal to a receiver where it was restored to a physical flame
Canada remains the only host nation of a Summer Olympics that did not win at least one gold medal in its own games
Women’s events were included for the first time in basketball, rowing and handball
Irena Szewinska (Poland) won the 400m, bringing her career total to seven medals (three gold medals), in five different events (100m, 200m, 400m, 4 x 100m and long jump)
Miklos Nemeth (Hungary) won the javelin to become the first son of a track and field gold medalist to win a gold medal – his father, Imre, had won the hammer in 1948
Clarence Hill won a bronze medal in boxing to give Bermuda the honour of being the least populous nation ever to win a medal in the Summer Olympics
Cycling events held indoors for the first time
USA won 12 of the 13 men’s swimming events
James Montgomery (USA) became the first person to swim under 50 seconds in the 100m freestyle final. Jack Babashoff (brother of Shirley) won the silver medal
100m backstroke – John Naber (USA)
200m backstroke – John Naber broke the two-minute barrier
100m breaststroke – John Hencken (USA). Silver – David Wilkie
200m breaststroke – David Wilkie. Silver – John Hencken
East Germany won 11 of the 13 women’s swimming events. East German men only won one swimming medal, a bronze for Roland Matthes in the 100m backstroke
Kornelia Ender won four gold medals
100m freestyle – Kornelia Ender. Bronze medal won by Enith Brigitha (Netherlands), the first black swimmer to win an Olympic medal. Born in Curacao
200m freestyle – Kornelia Ender, silver – Shirley Babashoff. Ender won the 100m butterfly 27 minutes earlier
Babashoff won one gold medal (freestyle relay) and four silver medals
100m – Hasely Crawford (Trinidad). Silver – Don Quarrie (Jamaica)
200m – Don Quarrie
Alberto Juantorena (Cuba) became the first person to win the 400m and 800m double. Known as ‘White Lightning’
Ivo van Damme won silver in the 800m and 1500m
1500m – John Walker
5000m – Viren. 5th Brendan Foster
10000m – Viren. Bronze – Foster. Viren accused of advertising after taking off his shoes, so the logo of the manufacturer could be seen
Marathon – Waldemar Cierpinski (GDR). Retained the title in 1980
Frank Shorter won silver in the marathon. Lasse Viren was fifth
110m hurdles – Guy Drut
400m hurdles – Ed Moses
Victor Saneyev of Soviet Georgia won his third triple jump gold medal
Geoff Capes finished 6th in the shot put, and finished 5th in 1980
Decathlon – Bruce Jenner
3000m steeplechase – Anders Garderud (Sweden)
Women’s 100m – Annegret Richter (West Germany). Only female athlete from outside Eastern Europe to win a track gold medal
Women’s 200m – Barbel Eckert (Wockel). Retained the title in 1980
Women’s 400m – Irena Szewinska
Women’s 800m and 1500m – Tatyana Kazankina (Soviet Union)
Women’s high jump – Rosemarie Ackermann (GDR)
Light Welterweight – Sugar Ray Leonard
Middleweight – Michael Spinks
Light Heavyweight – Leon Spinks
Open Class judo. Silver – Keith Remfry
Show jumping – Alwin Schockemohle
Women’s All-Around – Nadia Comaneci (aged 14). Silver – Nelli Kim. Comaneci scored the first 10, on the uneven bars. Comaneci scored seven 10s (shown as 1.00 as the scoreboard could only display three figures), and Kim scored two
Nadia Comaneci won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze
Women’s floor – Nelli Kim
Shun Fujimoto achieved fame by continuing to compete in the team event right after breaking his knee during the floor exercise, helping Japan to win gold in the team competition
Modern pentathlon – GB (Adrian Parker, Danny Nightingale, Jim Fox). Boris Onyschenko (Soviet Union) disqualified for having a push-button circuit breaker in his epee sword
Sailing events held at Kingston
Tornado – GB (Reg White, John Osborn)
Women’s basketball – Soviet Union, including Uļjana Semjonova, born in Latvia, who was 2.13m (6’ 11”) tall
Double sculls. Silver – GB (Mike Hart and Chris Bailliau)
Princess Anne rode Goodwill
800m. 5th Steve Ovett
1980 Moscow
Los Angeles was the only other candidate city
65 nations turned down their invitations, due to a USA-led boycott over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
15 national teams (including GB) marched under the Olympic flag, and had the Olympic hymn played at medal ceremonies
Mascot – Misha, a bear cub
Games opened by Leonid Brezhnev
Flame lit by Aleksandr Belov
Russian gymnast Nikolai Andrianov took the Athletes’ Oath and won five medals to bring his career total to 15 (seven gold, five silver and three bronze)
Alexandr Dityatin won eight gymnastic medals, and became the first male gymnast to receive a 10 in an Olympic competition, in the vault
Cuban super-heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson became the first boxer to win the same weight division three times
Vladimir Salnikov (Russia) broke the 15 minute barrier in the 1500m freestyle. He retained the title in 1988
Zimbabwe won the first women’s field hockey competition. The team was selected the weekend before the Olympics opened
100m breaststroke – Duncan Goodhew. GB’s first gold medal
200m butterfly. Silver – Philip Hubble
East Germany won 11 of the 13 women’s swimming events. East German men only won one swimming gold medal, Jorg Woithe in the 100m freestyle
Christiane Knacke (GDR) won bronze in the 100m butterfly. In 1998 she became the first Olympic athlete to volunteer to return her medals because she had been doped. The British representatives in the race were Ann and Janet Osgerby, 17-year-old twins
400m individual medley – Petra Schneider (GDR). Silver – Sharron Davies
100m – Allan Wells. Silver – Silvio Leonard
200m – Pietro Mennea (Italy). Silver – Allan Wells
800m – Ovett. Silver – Coe. 8th Dave Warren
1500m – Coe. Silver – Jurgen Straub (GDR). Bronze – Ovett. 8th Steve Cram
5000m and 10000m – Miruts Yifter (Ethiopia)
400m hurdles. Bronze – Gary Oakes
3000m steeplechase – Bronislaw Malinowski (Poland). Silver – Filbert Bayi
Decathlon – Daley Thompson
Heather Hunte (Oakes) reached the final of the 100m at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics
Three GB girls in 200m final – Smallwood, Goddard and Lannaman
Women’s 400m – Marita Koch (GDR). Silver – Kratochvilova (Czechoslovakia)
Women’s 1500m – Tatyana Kazankina
Women’s high jump – Sara Simeoni (Italy)
Nadia Comaneci won two gold medals and two silver medals
Heavyweight judo – Angelo Parisi (France), formerly a member of the British team
Open Class judo. Bronze – Arthur Mapp
Sailing events held at Tallinn
Basketball – Yugoslavia
Rowing eights – GB, coxed by Colin Moynihan
Coxless pairs – gold and silver teams were both identical twins
Individual sprint cycling – Lutz Hesslich (East Germany). Retained the title in 1988
Medal table – 1st Soviet Union 80 golds, 195 medals 2nd East Germany 47 golds, 126 medals, 3rd Bulgaria 8 golds
1984 Los Angeles
No other cities bid for the Games
Profit of $223 million
Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) oversaw the 1984 Games
14 nations stayed away as a result of a Soviet-led boycott, and held their own Friendship Games at the same time as the Olympics
The only Warsaw Pact country to compete was Romania, who finished second in the medal table
Iran and Libya also boycotted the Games, citing reasons other than Soviet support
During the opening ceremony Bill Suitor flew into the Coliseum powered by a Jet Pack
Mascot – Sam the Eagle. Games opened by Ronald Reagan. Oath taken by Ed Moses. Flame lit by Rafer Johnson (winner of decathlon in 1960)
Women’s 400m hurdles held for the first time
Men’s windsurfing (sailboard) included for the first time
Women’s events were included for the first time in rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming and the cycling road race
Athletics
Carl Lewis matched Jesse Owens’ 1936 feat of winning the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay
100m. Bronze – Ben Johnson
800m – Joaquim Cruz (Brazil). Silver – Coe
1500m – Coe. Silver – Cram. First time an athlete has retained the 1500m
5000m – Said Aouita (Morocco)
10000m. Silver – Mike McLeod
Martti Vainio (Finland) finished second in the 10000m but was disqualified due to a failed drugs test
Marathon – Carlos Lopes (Portugal). Silver – John Treacy (Ireland). Bronze – Charlie Spedding. Lopes was hit by a car two weeks before the Olympics
110m hurdles – Roger Kingdom. Silver – Greg Foster
Nigel Walker represented GB in the 110m hurdles and later played rugby for Wales
400m hurdles – Ed Moses. Silver – Danny Harris. Second gold medal for Ed Moses
4 x 400m relay. Silver – GB (Kriss Akabusi, Gary Cook, Todd Bennett, Phil Brown)
Triple jump – Al Joyner. Bronze – Keith Connor
Al Joyner married Florence Griffith in 1987
Javelin. Silver – Dave Ottley
Pole vault – Pierre Quinon (France)
Decathlon – Daley Thompson. Silver – Jurgen Hingsen (Germany). Thompson failed to beat Hingsen’s world record by one point
Women’s 100m – Evelyn Ashford
Women’s 200m – Valerie Brisco-Hooks. Silver – Florence Griffith. 4th Kathy Cook
Women’s 400m – Valerie Brisco-Hooks. Bronze – Cook
First 200m / 400m double in Olympic history
Women’s 800m – Doina Melinte (Romania)
Women’s 100m hurdles. Silver – Shirley Strong
Women’s 400m hurdles – Nawal El Moutawakel (Morocco). First Muslim and first African Olympic champion
Women’s 3000m – Maricica Puica (Romania). Silver – Wendy Sly. 7th Zola Budd, who collided with Mary Decker
Joan Benoit (USA) won the first women’s marathon, ahead of Grete Waitz and Rosa Mota
Women’s high jump – Ulrike Meyfarth, to become the oldest person to win an Olympic high jump competition
Women’s shot put. 4th Judy Oakes
Women’s javelin – Tessa Sanderson. Silver – Tina Lillak (Finland). Bronze – Fatima Whitbread
First heptathlon won by Glynis Nunn (Australia). Silver – Jackie Joyner
Chandra Cheesborough (USA) became the first woman to win gold medals in both Olympic relays
USA won all four Olympic relays
Swimming
100m freestyle – Ambrose ‘Rowdy’ Gaines (USA)
200m freestyle – Michael Gross (Germany), 6’7”, known as ‘The Albatross’
The winner of the ‘B’ final in the 400m freestyle, Thomas Fahrner (Germany) posted a faster time than the gold medal winner, George DiCarlo (USA)
100m butterfly – Michael Gross
Women’s 400m freestyle – Tiffany Cohen (USA). Silver – Sarah Hardcastle, bronze – June Croft
Women’s 800. Bronze –Sarah Hardcastle
Women’s 100m and 200m butterfly – Mary Meagher. Known as ‘Madame Butterfly’
Tracy Caulkins won three gold medals (200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4 x 100m medley relay)
Boxing
Evander Holyfield won a bronze medal after a controversial disqualification in the second round of the Light Heavyweight semi-final against New Zealand's Kevin Barry. Barry was knocked out by Holyfield's illegal punch; under IABA health regulation he was not allowed to box for 28 days, so scratched from the final. Anton Josipovic (Yugoslavia) was awarded the gold medal without having to box
Super Heavyweight – Tyrell Biggs (USA). Biggs beat Lennox Lewis in the quarter-finals
Rowing
Coxed pairs – Abbagnale brothers (Italy). Retained the title in 1988
Coxed fours – GB (Martin Cross, Richard Budgett, Holmes, Redgrave; cox – Adrian Ellison)
Ann Callaway rowed in the women's eight. Married Steve Redgrave in 1988
Gymnastics
Parallel bars – Bart Conner (USA), who married Nadia Comaneci
Li Ning (China) won three gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal
Mary Lou Retton (USA), aged 16, first female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title
Ecaterina Szabo (Romania) won three of the four apparatus finals
Equestrian
Three-day event – Mark Todd, riding Charisma. Bronze – Virginia Holgate
Sailing
Sailing events held at Long Beach
Finn – Russell Coutts (NZ), who won the America’s Cup three times
Paul Elvstrom and his daughter Trine finished fourth in the Tornado class
Half-middleweight judo. Silver – Neil Adams
Super heavyweight wrestling – Bruce Baumgartner (USA). Retained the title in 1992 and won medals in 1988 and 1996
Modern pentathlon. 4th Richard Phelps
Small-bore rifle, three positions – Malcolm Cooper. Retained the title in 1988
Hockey. Bronze – GB
USA won men’s volleyball for the first time
David Mercer – last UK weightlifting medal, bronze
Tracy Ruiz (USA) won two gold medals in synchronized swimming
For the first time, professionals were allowed in the football tournament, as long as they had not played in the World Cup. France beat Brazil in the final, watched by 101,799 spectators at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Wrestling 90kg. Bronze – Noel Loban
Baseball was a demonstration sport
1988 Seoul
Nagoya was the only other candidate city
South Korea turned democratic in order to host the Summer Games
North Korea boycotted, and was joined by Cuba, Ethiopia and Nicaragua
At the Opening Ceremony the torch was run into the stadium by Sohn Kee-chung, the winner of the 1936 marathon. In 1936 Sohn had been forced to enter using a Japanese name because Korea was occupied by Japan
North Yemen competed as the Yemen Arab Republic
South Yemen competed as the Yemen Democratic Republic
One Moment In Time – official song
Mascots – Hodori and Hosuni, two tigers
Table tennis was introduced
Tennis returned to the Olympics, having been left out since the 1924 Summer Olympics
Fencer Kerstin Palm (Sweden) became the first woman to take part in seven Olympics
Jan Boersma is the only Netherlands Antillean athlete to win an Olympic medal, a silver medal in sailing in 1988
Athletics
Ben Johnson won the 100m, but tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol. Carl Lewis was awarded the gold medal, Linford Christie was awarded the silver medal, and Calvin Smith was awarded the bronze medal
Lewis became the first athlete to retain the 100m title
Christie tested positive for the banned stimulant pseudophredine but was cleared by the IOC when it was discovered that the substance could have come from ginseng
200m – Joe DeLoach (USA). Silver – Carl Lewis
400m – Steven Lewis (USA). Silver – Butch Reynolds
1500m – Peter Rono (Kenya). Silver – Peter Elliott
5000m – John Ngugi (Kenya)
110m hurdles – Roger Kingdom. Silver – Colin Jackson
Colin Jackson competed in the next three Olympic finals
400m hurdles – Andre Phillips. Silver – Dia Ba (Senegal). Bronze – Ed Moses
3000m steeplechase. Bronze – Mark Rowland
4 x 100m relay. Silver – GB (Elliott Bunney, John Regis, Mike McFaralane, Linford Christie)
Pole vault – Sergei Bubka, his only Olympic medal
Long jump – Lewis. Silver – Mike Powell
Javelin – Tapio Korjus (Finland). Silver – Jan Zelezny (Czechoslovakia)
Decathlon. Silver – Torsten Voss (GDR), who switched to bobsleigh in 1994
Daley Thompson finished fourth in decathlon after his pole snapped in pole vault
Women’s 100m – Florence Griffith-Joyner. Silver – Ashford
Women’s 200m – Florence Griffith-Joyner
Women’s 1500m – Paula Ivan (Romania). 4th Christina Cahill (Boxer)
Women’s 3000m. Silver – Paula Ivan. Bronze – Yvonne Murray
Women’s 10000m held for the first time. Gold – Olga Bondarenko (Soviet Union). Silver – Liz McColgan
Women’s 400m hurdles – Debbie Flintoff-King (Austrtalia)
Women’s marathon – Rosa Mota
Women’s long jump – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Women’s javelin – Petra Felke (GDR). Silver – Whitbread
Heptathlon – Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Retained the title in 1992
Florence Griffith-Joyner is the sister-in-law of Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Swimming
Kristin Otto became the first woman to win six gold medals (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, and two relays) at an Olympic Games. Born in East Germany
Matt Biondi (USA) won seven medals including five gold medals (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, and three relays)
100m breaststroke – Adrian Moorhouse
200m breaststroke. Silver – Nick Gillingham
100m butterfly – Anthony Nesty (Suriname). First black swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal
Janet Evans (USA) won three gold medals (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 400m individual medley) and also won the 800m freestyle in 1992
200m individual medley – Tamas Darnyi (Hungary)
400m individual medley – Tamas Darnyi
Boxing
After a bantamweight fight against Hristov (Bulgaria), Byun Jong-il sat in the ring for 67 minutes and staged a silent protest. Referee Keith Walker (New Zealand) was attacked
Heavyweight – Ray Mercer
Super Heavyweight – Lennox Lewis (Canada). Silver – Riddick Bowe
Light Middleweight – Park Si-hun. Silver – Roy Jones Jr. Park won all his fights on dubious decisions
Rowing
Pair-oared shell without coxswain, i.e. coxless pairs – GB (Holmes and Redgrave)
Coxed pair. Bronze – GB (Holmes and Redgrave)
Equestrian
Three-day event – Mark Todd, riding Charisma. Silver – Ian Stark. Bronze – Virginia Holgate
Sailing
Sailing events were held in Pusan
Canadian sailor Lawrence Lemieux saved two sailors in a Finn class race, and was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship
Star – GB (Michael McIntyre, Philip Bryn Vaile)
Tennis
Men’s single final – Mecir bt Mayotte
Women’s singles final – Graf bt Sabatini
Men’s doubles – USA (Flach and Seguso)
Women’s doubles – USA (Shriver and Garrison)
Greg Louganis (USA) became the first man to win both diving events twice, despite hitting his head on the springboard. Louganis tested HIV-positive six months before the Olympics
British judo player Kerrith Brown was stripped of his bronze medal after showing up positive for a diuretic
Super Heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling – Alexandr Karelin (Soviet Union). Retained the title in 1992 and 1996
Women’s 1000m cycling sprint introduced
Modern pentathlon. Bronze – GB (Richard Phelps, Dominic Mahony, Graham Brookhouse)
Featherweight weightlifting – Naim Suleymanoglu (Turkey), who was born Naim Suliemanov in Bulgaria but defected to Turkey. Retained the title in 1992 and 1996
Super heavyweight – Aleksandr Kurlovich. Retained the title in 1992
Basketball – Soviet Union
Hockey – GB. Imran Sherwani scored two goals in the final against Germany
Honours for hockey team – OBE Richard Dodds (captain), MBE Sean Kerly, Stephen Martin
Women’s volleyball – Soviet Union. Silver – Peru
Bulgaria withdrew its athletes after two weightlifters were stripped of their gold medals after failing drugs tests
Hungarian fencer Pal Szekeres won a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics, then was disabled in a bus accident, and went on to win three gold medals and three bronze in wheelchair fencing at the Paralympics. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games
1992 Barcelona
Birmingham and Brisbane bid unsuccessfully
Games opened by King Juan Carlos I
Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, formerly known as the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuic or Barcelona Olympic Stadium , was main stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympics
Cauldron lit by arrow fired by paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo
Independent teams from Estonia and Latvia made their first appearance since 1936, and Lithuania fielded its first team since 1928
The remaining ex-Soviet republics competed as the ‘Unified Team’, although individual winners were honoured by the raising of the flag of their own republic
Yugoslavia was banned from taking part in any team sports, but individual Yugoslav athletes were allowed to compete as ‘independent Olympic participants’
South Africa and unified Germany and Yemen teams participated
Mascot – Cobi, a cubist Catalan sheepdog
Musical theme – Barcelona, written by Freddie Mercury, and sung by Montserrat Caballe
Badminton and women’s judo were added to the Olympic programme
Baseball, which had appeared as a demonstration sport at six Olympic Games, received full accreditation as a medal sport
Modern pentathlon team event contested for the last time
Women’s windsurfing (sailboard) included for the first time. Won by Barbara Kendall (New Zealand), brother of Bruce won won gold in 1988
Men’s basketball was opened to all professionals for the first time, leading to the creation of the US ‘Dream Team’
Athletics
Linford Christie became the oldest winner of the men’s 100m, aged 32. Silver – Frankie Fredericks (Namibia), who also won silver in the 200m
200m – Mike Marsh (USA)
400m – Quincy Watts (USA)
Derek Redmond was helped across the line in the 400m semi-final by his father after tearing a hamstring
1500m – Fermin Cacho Ruiz (Spain)
10000m – Khalid Skah (Morocco), with assistance from lapped teammate Hammou Boutayeb
400m hurdles – Kevin Young, beating Moses’ world record. Bronze – Kriss Akabusi
4 x 400m relay. Bronze – GB (Black, David Grindley, Akabusi, Regis)
High jump – Javier Sotomayor (Cuba)
Sergei Bubka failed to clear a height in the pole vault
Long jump – Lewis. Silver – Mike Powell
Triple jump – Mike Conley (USA)
Javelin – Zelezny, Bronze – Steve Backley
Women’s 100m – Gail Devers. Retained the title in 1996
Women’s 200m – Gwen Torrence
Juliet Cuthbert (Jamaica) won silver medal in 100m and 200m
Women’s 400m – Marie-Jose Perec (France)
Women’s 800m – Ellen van Langen (Holland)
Women’s 1500m – Hassiba Boulmerka (Algeria)
Derarta Tulu (Ethiopia) won the women’s 10000m, the first black African female gold medalist in Olympic history
Women’s 400m hurdles – Sally Gunnell. Silver – Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)
Evelyn Ashford was the oldest US women’s gold medalist in track and field, aged 35, in 4 x 100m relay. She is one of only six women to have won four gold medals in track and field Olympic history
Women’s 4 x 400m. Bronze – GB (Sally Gunnell, Phyllis Smith, Sandra Douglas, Jennifer Stoute)
Women’s long jump – Heike Drechsler (Germany)
Women’s javelin – 4th Tessa Sanderson
Swimming
Kieran Perkins (Australia) won the 1500m freestyle and retained the title in 1996
200m breaststroke. Bronze – Nick Gillingham
Krisztina Egerszegi (Hungary) won three gold medals (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 400m individual medley)
200m individual medley – Tamas Darnyi (Hungry)
400m individual medley – Tamas Darnyi
Boxing
Bantamweight. Silver – Wayne McCullough (Ireland)
Lightweight – Oscar De La Hoya. Only USA gold medal in boxing
Welterweight – Michael Carruth (Ireland). First Irish Olympic champion since Ron Delany in 1956
Light Middleweight. Bronze – Robin Reid
Heavyweight – Felix Savon (Cuba). Retained the title in 1996 and 2000
Rowing
Coxless pairs – GB (Redgrave and Pinsent)
Coxed pairs – GB (Johnny and Greg Searle; cox – Garry Herbert). Silver – Abbagnale brothers
Coxed pairs and coxed fours rowed for the last time
Spain’s cox in the eights, 11-year-old Carlos Front, was the youngest competitor in the Summer Games since 1900
Gymnastics
Vitaly Scherbo (Belarus) won six gold medals including a record four in one day
Women’s All-Around. Silver – Shannon Miller
Equestrian
Show jumping – Ludger Beerbaum (Germany). Also won three gold medals in three team competitions (1988, 1996, and 2000)
Cycling
Individual pursuit – Chris Boardman, riding a bike designed by Mike Burrows and built by Lotus. Silver – Jens Lehmann (Germany)
Road race – Fabio Casartelli (Italy). Died in a crash during the 1995 Tour de France
Tennis
Men’s singles – Marc Rosset (Switzerland)
Men’s doubles – Germany (Becker and Stich)
Women’s singles – Jennifer Capriati. Silver – Graf
Women’s doubles – USA (Gigi and Mary Joe Fernandez)
The gold and silver medals in the duet synchronized swimming were both won by identical twin sisters
Half-heavyweight judo. Silver – Ray Stevens
Women’s half-lightweight judo. Bronze – Sharon Rendle
Women’s lightweight judo. Silver – Nicola Fairbrother
Women’s middleweight judo. Bronze – Kate Howey
Archery individual. Bronze – Simon Terry (GB)
Table tennis singles – Jan-Ove Waldner (Sweden). He is known as "the Mozart of table tennis"
Deng Yaping (China) won the women’s table tennis singles and doubles, and repeated the feat in 1996
Light heavyweight weightlifting – Pyrros Dimas (Greece). Ibragim Samadov dropped his bronze medal and walked away from the presentation ceremony. He was banned for life. Dimas retained the title in 1996 and 2000
Baseball – Cuba. Retained the title in 1996
Basketball – USA. ‘Dream Team’ managed by Chuck Daly, included Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley
Women’s hockey – Spain. Bronze – GB
Women’s volleyball – Cuba. Retained the title in 1996 and 2000
1996 Atlanta
Manchester bid unsuccessfully
Bill Clinton opened the Games at the Centennial Olympic Stadium
The cauldron at the Opening Ceremony was lit by Muhammad Ali
On 27 July a bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person
Beach volleyball, mountain biking, lightweight rowing, women’s football (won by USA), and softball were added to the Olympic programme
Professional cyclists allowed to race for the first time
Mascot – Izzy, an abstract figure
Official song – Reach
Bruce Baumgartner carried US flag at opening ceremony
At the closing ceremony, Samaranch said “Well done Atlanta”, rather than calling the Olympiad the best yet, which he had done at every other previous Games under his presidency
Athletics
100m – Donovan Bailey. Linford Christie was disqualified for two false starts
Frankie Fredericks won silver in 100m and 200m
200m – Michael Johnson, in 19.32 seconds
400m – Michael Johnson. Silver – Roger Black
1500m – Morceli (Algeria)
El Guerrouj fell in 1500m
5000m – Niyongabo (Burundi)
10000m – Gebreselassie. Silver – Paul Tergat (Kenya)
110m hurdles – Allen Johnson (USA)
Marathon – Josia Thugwane. First black South African to win a gold medal
4 x 100m relay – Canada. Donovan Bailey ran the anchor leg
4 x 400m relay. Silver – GB (Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulsh, Mark Richardson, Roger Black)
Carl Lewis won the long jump for the fourth time, becoming only the fourth person to win nine career gold medals
Triple jump – Kenny Harrison. Silver – Jonathan Edwards
Discus – Lars Riedel (Germany). Five times world champion
Javelin. Silver – Backley
Decathlon – Dan O’Brien (USA)
Devers became first woman to retain 100m since Tyus
Marie-Jose Perec (France, born in Guadeloupe) won the women’s 200m and 400m. First female athlete to defend the 400m title
Women’s 400m. Silver – Cathy Freeman
Women’s 800m – Svetlana Masterkova (Russia). Silver – Quirot (Cuba). Bronze – Mutola (Mozambique). 4th – Kelly Holmes
Women’s 1500m – Svetlana Masterkova
Women’s 5000m held for the first time. 5th Paula Radcliffe
Women’s 400m hurdles – Deon Hemmings
Women’s high jump – Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria)
Women’s long jump – Ajunwa (Nigeria). Silver – Fiona May (Italy)
Women’s triple jump held for the first time. 4th Ashia Hansen
Heptathlon – Ghada Shouaa (Syria). Bronze – Denise Lewis
Swimming
Alexsandr Popov (Russia) won the 50m and 100m freestyle in 1992 and 1996. One month after the Olympics he was stabbed on the streets of Moscow
Popov was the first man to retain the 100m since Weissmuller in 1928
Gary Hall was second in the 50m and 100m freestyle
Paul Palmer (GB) won the silver medal in the 400m freestyle
Nick Gillingham finished fourth in the 200m breaststroke, but was moved up to third when Andrei Korneyev (Russia) tested positive for a stimulant. The following week the ban on bromantan was lifted and Korneyev was reinstated
Amy van Dyken became the first American woman to win four gold medals in one Olympics (50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, two relays)
Women’s 200m freestyle – Claudia Poll Ahrens (Costa Rica)
Michelle Smith (Ireland) won three gold medals (400m, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley) and a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly. Married to Dutch discus thrower Erik de Bruin
100m breaststroke – Penny Heyns. First South African gold medalist since 1952. Heyns 200m breaststroke – Penny Heyns
Krisztina Egerszegi (Hungary) won the 200m backstroke for the third time, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five gold medals in individual events
Boxing
Welterweight – Oleg Saitov (Russia). Retained the title in 2000
Super Heavyweight – Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine). Silver – Paea Wolfgramm from Tonga, who became the smallest nation to win a medal in the Summer Olympics
Featherweight. Bronze – Floyd Mayweather
Rowing
Coxless pairs – GB (Redgrave and Pinsent). GB’s only gold medal
Gymnastics
Uneven bars – Svetlana Khorkina (Russia). Retained the title in 2000
Beam – Shannon Miller. First American woman gymnast to win an individual gold medal in an unboycotted Olympics
USA won the team event after Kerri Strug vaulted when injured
Equestrian
For the first time, kur, or freestyle dressage to music, was added to the competition
Sailing
Sailing events held at Savannah
Yachtsman Hubert Raudaschl (Austria) became the first person ever to compete in nine Olympics, between 1964 and1996
470. Silver – GB (John Merricks, Ian Walker)
Laser – Robert Scheidt (Brazil). Silver – Ben Ainslie
Sailboard – Lee Lai Shan, Hong Kong’s first ever gold medal
Cycling
Inaugural Road time trial – Miguel Indurain. Bronze – Chris Boardman
Road race. Bronze – Max Sciandri (GB)
Women’s road race – Jeannie Longo (France)
Tennis
Men’s singles – Andre Agassi. His father boxed for Iran in the 1948 and 1952 Games
Men’s doubles – Australia (Woodbridge and Woodforde). Silver – GB (Neil Broad and Tim Henman)
Women’s singles – Lindsay Davenport
Women’s doubles – USA (Gigi and Mary Joe Fernandez)
Birgit Schmidt (Germany) won her fifth gold medal in kayak canoeing, 16 years after her first victory
Football teams were allowed to include three professionals regardless of their age or of their World Cup experience. Nigeria beat Argentina in the final, to become the first African country to win the title
Heavyweight judo – David Douillet (France). Retained the title in 2000
Heavyweight freestyle wrestling – Kurt Angle. Went on to star in WWE
Modern pentathlon changed from a five-day event to a one-day event
Hockey – Netherlands. Retained the title in 2000
Women’s hockey – Australia. Retained the title in 2000
Women’s handball – Denmark. Retained the title in 2000
Softball – USA. Retained the title in 2000 and 2004
Paola Pezzo (Italy) became first Olympic champion in mountain biking. Retained the title in 2000
2000 Sydney
Manchester bid unsuccessfully
Afghanistan was the only IOC nation not to participate
South Korea and North Korea marched together under the same flag but the athletes competed separately
East Timor competed under the IOA (Individual Olympic Athletes) banner
Tests to detect EPO and blood tests were introduced
Triathlon, taekwondo, trampoline and synchronized diving were added to the Olympic programme
Women’s events were added in weightlifting (China won four gold medals), water polo, and modern pentathlon
Modern pentathlon swimming cut from 300m to 200m
Mascots – Olly (Olympics) the kookaburra, Syd (Sydney) the platypus, and Millie (Millennium) the echidna
Birgit Fischer (Germany) won two gold medals in canoeing to become the first woman in Olympic history to win medals 20 years apart
Birgit Fischer was married to canoeist Jorg Schmidt from 1984 to 1993
Women’s 20 km walk and hammer held for the first time
For the first time in Olympic history, a married couple played against each other, in the women’s handball match between Denmark and Norway
Colombia won their first gold medal, in women’s weightlifting
Vietnam won their first medal, in taekwondo
Athletics
100m – Maurice Greene
200m – Konstantinos Kenteris (Greece). Silver – Darren Campbell
400m – Michael Johnson, aged 33. First athlete to retain 400m title
1500m. Silver – Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco)
5000m – Millon Wolde (Ethiopia)
10000m – Haile Gebreselassie. Silver – Paul Tergat
400m hurdles – Angelo Taylor (USA). Also won in 2008
High jump – Charles Austin (USA). Bronze – Steve Smith
Long jump – Ivan Pedroso (Cuba)
Triple jump – Jonathan Edwards
Javelin – Jan Zelezny, Silver – Steve Backley
Backley is the only British track and field competitor to win medals at three different Olympic Games
Decathlon – Erki Nool (Estonia). Silver – Roman Sebrle (Czech Republic). 4th Dean Macey
Marion Jones won three gold medals (100m, 200m, 4 x 400m relay) and two bronze medals (long jump and 4 x 100m relay)
Women’s 100m – Marion Jones. Silver – Katerini Thanou. Bronze – Merlene Ottey
Ottey won three silver medals and six bronze medals between 1980 and 2000
Women’s 200m – Marion Jones
Women’s 400m – Cathy Freeman. Bronze – Katharine Merry. 4th Donna Fraser
Prior to the Olympics, Marie-Jose Perec left the Olympic Village in a cloud of controversy and did not compete in the 400m
Cathy Freeman was the first athlete to light the Olympic flame and go on to win a gold medal at the same Games
Women’s 800m – Maria Mutola. Silver – Stephanie Graf (Austria). Bronze – Holmes
Women’s 5000m – Gabriela Szabo (Romania). Silver – Sonia O’Sullivan
Women’s 10000m – Derarta Tulu. 4th Radcliffe
Women’s 400m hurdles – Irina Privalova, who won 100m bronze medal in 1992. Silver – Deon Hemmings
Women’s 4 x 100m relay – Bahamas
Women’s pole vault held for the first time. Gold – Stacy Dragila (USA)
Women’s long jump – Heike Drechsler. Silver – May. Bronze – Marion Jones
Heptathlon – Denise Lewis
Swimming
50m freestyle won by Anthony Ervin, the first black swimmer to represent USA, in a dead heat with Gary Hall
100m freestyle – Peter van den Hoogenband (Netherlands). Silver – Popov. Eric Moussambani (Equatorial Guinea) completed the course in 1:52.72. However, because the other two swimmers in his heat made false starts, and were thus disqualified, he won the heat unopposed. Known as ‘Eric the Eel’
200m freestyle – Peter van den Hoogenband. Silver – Ian Thorpe
400m freestyle – Ian Thorpe
1500m freestyle – Grant Hackett. Silver – Kieran Perkins
Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands) won three gold medals (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly)
Paula Barila Bolopa (Equatorial Guinea) swam the 50m in 64 seconds. Known as ‘Paula the Crawler’
Brooke Bennett (USA) won the women’s 400m and 800m
Diana Mocanu (Romania) won the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke
Women’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay – USA. With this race, Jenny Thompson became the first female swimmer to win seven career gold medals
Boxing
Super Heavyweight – Audley Harrison
Light Middleweight. Bronze – Jermain Taylor. Known as ‘Bad Intentions’
Rowing
Coxless pairs. 4th GB (Ed Coode and Greg Searle)
Coxless fours – GB (Cracknell, Redgrave, Foster, Pinsent)
Eights – GB
Gymnastics
Vault – Gervasio Deferr. Spain’s first gymnastics medalist
Dong Fangxiao originally won a bronze medal in gymnastics with the Chinese team. After an investigation, the International Gymnastics Federation ruled that Dong had lied about her age in 2000, and was probably 14, and not 17. Her scores were canceled and the International Olympic Committee stripped the Chinese team of its medal in 2010
Equestrian
Pippa Funnell won silver medals in 2000 and 2004 in team eventing
Sailing
Finn – Iain Percy
Star. Silver – GB (Ian Walker, Mark Covell)
Europe – Shirley Robertson
Laser – Ainslie. Silver – Robert Scheidt (Brazil)
49er class sailed for the first time. Silver – GB (Ian Barker, Simon Hiscocks)
Cycling
Road time trial – Ekimov (Russia). Silver – Jan Ullrich. Bronze – Lance Armstrong (disqualified in 2013)
Road race – Jan Ullrich
Women’s 500m time trial introduced. Won by Felicia Ballanger (France), who also won the 1000m sprint
Time trial – Jason Queally
Individual pursuit. 4th Rob Hayles
Olympic sprint introduced into cycling programme. Silver – GB (Hoy, Craig MacLean, and Queally)
Madison (named after Madison Square Garden) and Keirin (means ‘racing wheels’) introduced. Wiggins and Hayles finished fourth
Individual pursuit. Bronze – Yvonne McGregor
Dutch cyclist Leontien van Moorsel won gold medals on the road (road race and time trial), and on the track (3 km pursuit). At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she defended her time trial title
Tennis
Men’s singles – Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Men’s doubles – Canada (Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor)
Women’s singles – Venus Williams
Women’s doubles – USA (Serena Williams and Venus Williams)
Women’s middleweight judo. Silver – Kate Howey
Badminton mixed doubles. Bronze – Jo Goode and Simon Archer
Kayak slalom singles. Silver – Paul Ratcliffe
Women’s modern pentathlon – Stephanie Cook. Bronze – Kate Allenby
Double trap – Richard Faulds
Triathlon – Simon Whitfield (Canada)
Women’s triathlon – Brigitte McMahon (Switzerland)
Baseball – USA. First time Cuba had not won the gold medal
Basketball final – USA bt France
Cameroon beat Spain in a penalty shootout in the football final
Dagny Mellgren scored the golden goal for Norway against USA in women’s football final
Taekwondo middleweight – Steven Lopez (USA). Retained the title in 2004
Australia won the first ever women’s water polo tournament
Rulon Gardner (USA) handed Aleksandr Karelin (Russia) his first defeat in Greco-Roman wrestling in 13 years
2004 Athens
Athens defeated Rome on the final ballot
Mascots – Athena and Phevos
Katerina Thanou lit the torch outside the Panathinaiko (Panathenaic) Stadium on 31 March
Afghanistan's first return to the Games since 1996
Kiribati and East Timor entered for the first time
UAE won first ever gold medal, in trap shooting (Sheikh Al Maktoum of Dubai)
USA topped the medal table from China and Russia
Women’s wrestling was added to the programme
Women’s individual sabre held for the first time
Windsurfer Gal Fridman won Israel's first-ever gold medal
Argentina won their first ever team gold medals on same day, in football and basketball
Athletics
100m – Justin Gatlin
200m – Shawn Crawford
400m – Jeremy Wariner
1500m and 5000m – Hicham El Guerrouj. First 1500m / 5000m double since Nurmi in 1924
5000m. Silver – Kenenisa Bekele
10000m – Bekele
110m hurdles – Liu Xiang
400m hurdles – Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic)
4 x 100m – GB (Gardener, Campbell, Devonish, Lewis-Francis). First win since 1912
Marathon – Stefano Baldini (Italy). Bronze – Vanderlei da Lima (Brazil), who was grabbed by Cornelius Horan, an Irish protester
Vanderlei de Lima won the Pierre de Coubertin medal
High jump – Stefan Holm (Sweden)
Long jump – Dwight Philips
Triple jump – Christian Olsson (Sweden)
Pole vault – Tim Mack (USA)
Javelin – Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway)
Decathlon – Roman Sebrle (Czech Republic). Silver – Bryan Clay (USA)
Women’s 100m – Yulia Nestsiarenka (Belarus)
Women’s 200m – Veronica Campbell (Jamaica)
Women’s 400m – Tonique Williams-Darling (Bahamas). Silver – Ana Guevara (Mexico)
Women’s 800m and 1500m – Kelly Holmes
Women’s 5000m – Meserat Defar
Women’s 400m hurdles – Fani Chalkia (Greece)
Women’s 4 x 100m – Jamaica
Women’s marathon – Mizuki Noguchi (Japan)
Women’s triple jump – Francoise Etone (Cameroon). Retained the title in 2008
Women’s long jump – Lebedeva
Women’s pole vault – Isinbeyeva. Retained the title in 2008
Women’s javelin – Osleidys Menendez (Cuba)
Heptathlon – Carolina Kluft. Bronze – Kelly Sotherton
Swimming
50m freestyle – Gary Hall
100m freestyle – Pieter van den Hoogenband
200m and 400m freestyle – Ian Thorpe
1500m freestyle – Grant Hackett. Bronze – David Davies
100m and 200m backstroke – Aaron Peirsol (USA)
100m and 200m breaststroke – Kosuke Kitajima (Japan)
100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley – Michael Phelps
200m butterfly. Bronze – Stephen Parry
Phelps won eight medals (six gold and two bronze), becoming the first athlete to win eight medals in a non-boycotted Olympics
Women’s 50m freestyle – Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands)
Women’s 200m backstroke – Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe)
Boxing
Lightweight – Mario Kindelan (Cuba). Silver – Amir Khan
Cuba won five boxing gold medals
Rowing
Romania's Elisabeta Lipa won her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal and fifth overall. Lipa, who was part of Romania's women's eight, won her first in Los Angeles in 1984 followed by gold medals in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, a record span of 20 years between her first and last gold medal
Matthew Pinsent won his fourth consecutive medal. The British men's coxless four was Steve Williams, James Cracknell, Ed Coode with Pinsent at stroke
United States won the men's eight for the twelfth time overall and the first time since 1964
Women’s quadruple sculls. Silver – GB (including Rebecca Romero)
Gymnastics
Individual all- around – Paul Hamm (USA)
Women’s individual all- around – Carly Patterson (USA)
Equestrian
Individual eventing – Leslie Law on Shear L’Eau. Bronze – Pippa Funnell on Primmore’s Pride. German rider Bettina Hoy accidentally crossed the start flags twice
Individual jumping – Rodrigo Pessoa (Brazil). Son of Nelson Pessoa. Waterford Crystal, the mount of Ireland’s Cian O'Connor, finished first, but tested positive for drugs and was disqualified
Sailing
Sailing events were split into four classes for men, four for women, and three mixed classes that were open to both men and women. Since the previous Games, the open keelboat event in the Soling class was removed, while the women's keelboat event in the Yngling class was added. The Star class was converted from a mixed event to a men's-only event
Finn – Ben Ainslie
470. Silver – Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield
Yngling – GB (Shirley Robertson, Sarah Webb, Sarah Ayton) "Three blondes in a boat"
Laser – Robert Scheidt
49er. Bronze – GB (Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks)
Mistral sailboard. Bronze – Nick Dempsey
Cycling
Pursuit – Bradley Wiggins
Wiggins won silver in team pursuit and bronze in Madison (with Rob Hayles)
Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games, the last being Mary Rand at the 1964 Olympic Games
Time trial – Chris Hoy
Women’s time trial – Anna Meares (Australia)
Sarah Ulmer became the first New Zealander to win an Olympic cycling gold medal, which she won in the individual pursuit
Tennis
Men’s singles – Nicolas Massu (Chile)
Men’s doubles – Chile (Gonzalez and Massu). First-ever gold medal won by Chile
Fernando Gonzalez is the only person to win gold, silver and bronze medals in tennis
Women’s singles – Justine Henin
Women’s doubles – China (Li and Sun)
Baseball – Cuba. United States did not make it to Athens after losing a qualifying game to Mexico
United States lost for the first time in Olympic men's basketball since NBA players were permitted to play in the Games. This defeat came at the hands of Puerto Rico. USA head coach was Larry Brown
Argentina defeated USA in basketball semi-final, and went on to win the gold medal
K-1 slalom canoeing. Silver – Campbell Walsh
K-1 canoeing sprint. Bronze – Ian Wynne
Birgit Fischer won gold in the K-4 500 m and silver in the K-2 500 m. In so doing, she became the first woman in any sport to win gold medals at six different Olympics, the first woman to win gold 24 years apart and the first person in Olympic history to win two or more medals in five different Games. Won eight gold medals
Mountain biking – Julien Absalon (France). Retained the title in 2008
10m platform. Silver – Pete Waterfield and Leon Taylor
China won six of the eight diving gold medals
Hockey – Australia
Women’s hockey – Germany
Football – Argentina. Golden boot – Carlos Tevez. German Lux did not concede a goal in the tournament
Women’s football – USA
There was controversy in the men's judo competition, when Iranian competitor and two-times world champion Arash Miresmaeili weighed in overweight and was disqualified before a match in which he would have faced Israeli judoka Ehud Vaks. Miresmaeili's comments strongly suggested that he had intentionally disqualified himself so as not to compete against an Israeli
Women’s modern pentathlon. Bronze – Georgina Harland
50m rifle prone – Matthew Emmons (USA)
Triathlon – Hamish Carter (New Zealand)
Women’s triathlon – Kate Allen (Austria)
Volleyball – Brazil
Women’s volleyball – China
Misty May-Treanor and teammate Kerri Walsh were the gold medalists in beach volleyball at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. They have been called ‘the greatest beach volleyball team of all time’
A total of twelve weightlifters were disqualified for doping, amongst them Greek star Leonidas Sampanis, who had won two silver medals in previous Olympics
Japan won two of the four gold medals in women’s wrestling
Irini Merlini (Ukraine) was the first female to win a wrestling gold medal
Women’s archery. Bronze – Alison Williamson
2008 Beijing
Beijing was elected as the host city in 2001, during the IOC Session in Moscow, defeating Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka
There were 28 sports and 302 events. Nine new events were held, including two from the new cycling discipline of BMX. Women competed in the 3000m steeplechase for the first time. Open water swimming events for men and women, over the distance of 10 kilometres, were added to the swimming discipline. Team events (men and women) in table tennis replaced the doubles events. In fencing, women's team foil and women's team sabre replaced men's team foil and women's team epee. Two sports were open only to men, baseball and boxing, while one sport and one discipline were open only to women, softball and synchronized swimming. Equestrian and Mixed Badminton are the only sport in which men and women compete together
In addition to the official Olympic sports, the Beijing Organizing Committee was given special dispensation by the IOC to run a wushu competition in parallel to the Games
Aquatics ‘sport’ consists of diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo
Athletes from China won 51 gold medals, the most of any nation at these Olympics, becoming the first nation other than the United States and Russia to do so since the 1936 Summer Olympics. Athletes from the United States won the most total medals, with 110. Afghanistan, Mauritius, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Togo won their first Olympic medals. Athletes from Mongolia and Panama won their nation's first gold medals. An athlete from Serbia won its first medal under that name, having previously won medals as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro
‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium designed by Herzog and de Meuron
Artistic consultant – Al Weiwei
Zhang Yimou directed the opening and closing ceremonies
All but one of the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics, the exception being Brunei. Three countries participated in the Olympic Games for their first time: the Marshall Islands, Montenegro and Tuvalu. The states of Serbia and Montenegro, which participated at the 2004 Games jointly as Serbia and Montenegro, competed separately for the first time
As in Olympics Games since 1984, athletes from the Republic of China (Taiwan) competed at the 2008 Games as Chinese Taipei
The 2008 Summer Olympics emblem was known as Dancing Beijing
The slogan for the 2008 Olympics was ‘One World, One Dream’
The mascots of Beijing 2008 were the five Fuwa (‘good-luck dolls’), each representing both a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture
Official emblem – ‘Chinese Seal – Dancing Beijing’. Depicts a dancing human figure resembling the Chinese character ‘jing’
Natalie du Toit was one of two Paralympians to compete; the other being table tennis player Natalia Partyka
Latvian shooter Afanasijs Kuzmins made his eighth appearance at the Olympics
Rohullah Nikpai became the first Afghan Olympics medalist, in Taekwondo
Abhinav Bindra won India's first ever individual Olympic gold, in the 10m Air Rifle
Togo won first ever Olympic medal, bronze in kayak
Pakistan was the largest nation (in terms of population) not to win a medal in 2008
Judoka Naidangiin Tuvshinbayar was the first Mongolian ever to win a gold medal at the Olympics
French racing cyclist Jeannie Longo competed for France in her seventh Olympic Games
Final medal table. 1st China (51-21-28) 100, 2nd USA (36-38-36) 110, 3rd Russia (23-21-28) 72, 4th GB (19-13-15) 47
55 countries won gold medals, 87 countries won medals
Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice was the most successful female athlete, winning three gold medals. Natalie Coughlin (USA) won six swimming medals
Athletics
100m and 200m – Bolt
Controversy arose within minutes after the 200m medal race when Wallace Spearmon, who finished third, was disqualified for stepping out of his lane. United States officials filed a protest, but conceded after seeing the video and noticing that silver medalist Churandy Martina who had celebrated the second ever Olympic medal for the Netherlands Antilles, also may have stepped out of his lane. They filed an appeal to disqualify Martina, which after more than an hour of deliberation was granted, through which the United States obtained both the silver and bronze medals (Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix)
400m – LaShawn Merritt. 6th Martyn Rooney
5000m and 10000m – Kenenisa Bekele
110m hurdles – Dayron Robles (Cuba)
400m hurdles – Angelo Taylor (USA)
Marathon – Sammy Wanjiru (Kenya)
4x100m relay – Belgium. Oliver Borlee was in the team
High jump – Andrey Silnov (Russia). Silver – Germaine Mason
Long jump – Irving Saladino (Panama). First gold medal for Panama
Triple jump – Nelson Evora (Portugal). Silver – Philips Idowu
Pole vault – Steve Hooker (Australia)
Javelin – Thorkildsen. Bronze – Pitamaki
Decathlon – Bryan Clay
Women’s 100m – Shelly-Anne Fraser (Jamaica)
Women’s 200m – Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica). Also won in 2004
Women’s 400m – Christine Ohuruogu
Women’s 5000m and 10000m – Tirunesh Dibaba
Women’s 100m hurdles – Dawn Harper (USA)
Women’s 400m hurdles – Melaine Walker (Jamaica). Bronze – Tasha Danvers
Women’s marathon – Constantina Dita-Tomescu (Romania)
Women’s 4x400m – Belgium. Russian disqualified for doping
Women’s high jump – Tia Hellebaut (Belgium). Silver – Blanka Vlasic
Women’s long jump – Maurren Maggi (Brazil)
Lebedeva won silver medals in long jump and triple jump
Women’s shot put – Valerie Vili (Adams)
Women’s javelin – Barbora Spotakova
Heptathlon – Natalya Dobrynska (Ukraine)
Lyudmila Blonska of Ukraine originally won the silver medal in the women's heptathlon, but was disqualified after she tested positive for drugs
Swimming
50m freestyle – Cesar Filho (Brazil)
100m freestyle – Alain Bernard (France)
100m backstroke – Aaron Peirsol
200m backstroke – Ryan Lochte (USA)
100m and 200m breaststroke – Kosuke Kitajima (Japan)
200m freestyle, 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley, three relays – Michael Phelps
1500m freestyle – Oussama Mellouli (Tunisia). First African male swimmer to ever win an Olympic gold medal in an individual swimming event
10km open water. Silver – David Davies
Women’s 50m and 100m freestyle – Britta Steffen (Germany)
Women’s 200m freestyle – Federica Pellegrini (Italy)
Women’s 400m freestyle – Rebecca Adlington. Silver – Katie Hoff (USA). Bronze – Jo Jackson
Women’s 800m freestyle – Rebecca Adlington
Women’s 200m backstroke – Kirsty Coventry
Women’s 100m breaststroke – Liesel Jones (Australia)
Women’s 200m and 400m individual medley – Stephanie Rice (Australia)
Women’s 10km open water – Larisa Ilchenko (Russia). Silver – Keri-Anne Payne. Bronze – Cassie Patten
Many swimmers wore Speedo LZR Racer swim suits. This and other high performance body suits have since been banned from FINA competitions
Boxing
Middleweight – James DeGale
Light Heavyweight. Bronze –Tony Jeffries
Super Heavyweight. Bronze – David Price
Deontay Wilder was the only American boxer to win a medal
Rowing
Men’s coxless fours. Gold – GB (Hodge, Reed, Williams, James)
Lightweight double sculls – GB (Purchase and Hunter)
Gymnastics
Pommel horse. Bronze – Louis Smith
Women’s individual all-around – Nastia Liukin (USA), the daughter of Olympic gold medalist Valeri Liukin – the first man to do a triple backflip – and World Champion rhythmic gymnast Anna Kotchneva. Born in Moscow
Equestrian
The equestrian competitions were held apart from the main games in Hong Kong
Individual show jumping – Eric Lamaze (Canada)
Individual eventing – Hinrich Romeike (Germany). Bronze – Tina Cook on Miners Frolic
Sailing
The Neil Pryde RS:X was selected to replace the Mistral for both Men's and Women's sailboard, and the Laser Radial replaced the Europe as the Women's single-handed dinghy
Laser – Paul Goodison
Star – Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson
Yngling – GB (Sarah Webb, Sarah Ayton, Pippa Wilson)
Finn – Ben Ainslie
Sailboard – Tom Ashley (New Zealand)
Cycling
Road race – Samuel Sanchez (Spain)
Time trial – Fabian Cancellara
Women’s road race – Nicole Cooke
Women’s time trial – Kristin Armstrong (USA). Silver – Emma Pooley
Pursuit – Wiggins
Sprint, Keirin – Hoy
Women’s pursuit – Romero
Rebecca Romero became only the second woman of any country (after Roswitha Krause of East Germany, in swimming and handball) to win a medal in two different sports at Summer Games
Women’s sprint – Pendleton
Mark Cavendish was the only GB track cyclist to return from Beijing without a medal
BMX replaced time trials
Men’s BMX – Maris Strombergs (Latvia)
Women’s BMX – Anne-Caroline Chausson (France)
Tennis
Men’s singles final – Nadal bt Fernando Gonzalez
Men’s doubles final – Switzerland (Federer and Wawrinka) bt Sweden (Aspelin and Johansson)
Women’s singles final – Dementieva bt Safina
Women’s doubles final – USA (Williams and Williams) bt Spain (Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pasqual)
Baseball – South Korea
C-1 slalom. Silver – David Florence
K-1 500m. Bronze – Tim Brabants
K-1 1000m – Tim Brabants
Peter Hochschorner and Pavol Hochschorner from Slovakia became the first slalom canoeists to win three Olympic gold medals
Football final – Argentina bt Nigeria
Women’s football final – USA bt Brazil
Handball – France
Women’s handball – Norway
Women’s modern pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, riding, running). Silver – Heather Fell
Katerina Emmons equaled the world record with a perfect 400 in the women's air rifle competition
Matthew Emmons lost a large lead in the very last shot of the men's three positions – just as he had in Athens four years earlier
Softball – Japan
Sarah Stevenson won a controversial quarter-final match in the Women's +67 kg Taekwondo against China's Chen Zhong, but was beaten in the semi-final
Volleyball final – USA bt Brazil
Women’s volleyball final – Brazil bt USA
China won eight of the 15 weightlifting events
Ara Abrahamian of Sweden originally won one of the two bronze medals in the 84 kg Greco-Roman wrestling weight class but was disqualified by the IOC after he stepped off the podium and dropped his medal in the centre of the mat to protest the officiating
Matthew Mitcham (Australia) was the only non-Chinese winner of a diving event. He was the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal
2012 London
London was elected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris after four rounds of voting
Amber Charles – schoolgirl involved in London 2012 Olympic bid
John Armitt – chairman of the ODA
David Higgins was Chief Executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority
Barbara Cassani – founder of ‘Go’ airline, became chairperson of UK 2012 Olympic Games bid. Replaced by Lord Coe after the shortlist of five was announced
‘Back the Bid’ posters by M&C Saatchi
Softball and baseball dropped
Due to IOC sponsorship regulations, the O2 Arena was known as North Greenwich Arena
Olympic Stadium designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport). Structural engineers – Buro Happold
Logo designed by Wolff Olins. The word ‘london’ appears on the first digit. The five Olympic rings are included on the second digit
Basketball arena – temporary structure, known as ‘the Marshmallow’. Designed by WilkinsonEyre architects
Venues outside Olympic Park –
- Earls Court – Volleyball
- ExCeL – Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting, Wrestling (Freestyle and Greco-Roman)
- Greenwich Park – Equestrian
- Horse Guards Parade – Beach Volleyball
- Hyde Park – Swimming (Marathon), Triathlon
- Lord’s Cricket Ground – Archery
- North Greenwich Arena – Basketball, Gymnastics (Artistic and Trampoline)
- Royal Artillery Barracks – Shooting
- Wembley Arena – Badminton, Gymnastics (Rhythmic)
- Wimbledon – Tennis
- Lee Valley White Water Centre – Canoeing
- Hadleigh Farm, Essex – Cycling (Mountain Bike)
- Eton Dorney – Rowing
- Weymouth and Portland – Sailing
- Coventry, Cardiff, Glasgow (Hampden Park), Manchester (Old Trafford), Newcastle, Wembley Stadium – Football
For the first time, women's boxing was included in the Olympic programme with female boxers able to participate in three events – flyweight, lightweight, and middleweight
The men’s 500 metre canoe races were replaced by 200m. In addition, men’s C2 500m was replaced by women’s K1 200m
The sailing classes had two changes from the Beijing 2008 sailing events. The women's Match Race competition (Elliott 6m keelboat) replaced the Yngling competition and the Tornado Class Catamaran competition has been dropped
For the first time since 1924 mixed doubles tennis was officially included
The 2012 Summer Olympic programme featured 26 sports and a total of 38 disciplines
Women from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei competed for the first time
Women-only events – synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics
Seven Cameroon athletes deserted their Olympic squad
GB won six gold medals on ‘Super Saturday’ (4 August), including three gold medals in athletics (Ennis, Rutherford, Farah in 10000m) in the space of 46 minutes
The women's athletics schedule lacked the 50 km race walk and included 100 m hurdles and heptathlon as opposed to the men's 110 m hurdles and decathlon
Pavlos Kontides won the first Olympic medal in Cyprus’s history, silver in Laser class
Erick Barrando won Guatemala’s first-ever Olympic medal, silver in 20km walk
Canadian showjumper Ian Millar set a new record for Olympic appearances by taking part in his 10th Games
Final medal table – 1st USA (46-29-29) 104 2nd China (38-27-23) 88 3rd GB (29-17-19) 65 4th Russia (24-26-32) 82
54 countries won gold medals. 85 countries won medals
44 world records broken
Sebastian Coe appointed as Legacy Ambassador
Athletics
100m – Usain Bolt (9.63 seconds). Silver – Yohan Blake. Bronze – Justin Gatlin. Seven men went under 10 seconds, with only the injured Asafa Powell failing to break that mark
200m – Usain Bolt. Silver – Yohan Blake. Bronze – Warren Weir. Jamaican clean sweep
400m – Kirani James – First Olympic medal in Grenada’s history
800m – David Rudisha, in world record time. Silver – Nigel Amos, winning Botswana’s first-ever Olympic medal
1500m – Taoufik Makhloufi (Algeria), who was reinstated after being disqualified for not trying in a heat of the 800m
5000m – Mo Farah
10000m – Mo Farah. Silver – Galen Rupp (USA)
110m hurdles – Aries Merritt
400m hurdles – Felix Sanchez
American runner Manteo Mitchell ran the last 200m of the men's 4x400m relay heats with a broken left leg
4 x 100m relay – Jamaica (Carter, Frater, Blake, Bolt), in a world record time of 36.84 seconds. Tyson Gay was stripped of his silver medal due to doping violations. Following consideration by the IOC, the United States team were disqualified, and their results expunged
4 x 400m relay – Bahamas
Decathlon – Ashton Eaton (USA)
Discus – Robert Harting (Germany), who celebrated by ripping the shirt off his chest, and jumping over a number of hurdles
Cuban pole vaulter Lazaro Borges’s pole broke in three during qualifying
Pole vault – Renaud Lavillenie (France)
Javelin – Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago). A lighthouse in Trinidad was named after Keshorn Walcott
Long jump – Greg Rutherford (8.31m). 6th Chris Tomlinson
Marathon – Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda)
Women’s 100 – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Retained the title. Silver – Carmelita Jeter. Bronze – Veronica Campbell-Brown
Women’s 200m – Allyson Felix
Women’s 400m – Sanya Richards-Ross. Silver – Ohuruogu
Women’s 800m – Mariya Savinova (Russia). Silver – Caster Semenya (South Africa)
Following her victory at the 2009 World Championships, it was announced that Caster Semenya been subjected to gender testing. She was withdrawn from international competition until July 2010
Sarah Attar, the first female Saudi Arabian track and field athlete at the Olympic Games, ran in the 800m
Women’s 1500m – Asli Alptekin. Turkey's first ever track and field Olympic gold medal
Bahraini runner Mariam Jamal becme the first Gulf female athlete to receive a medal, winning the bronze medal in the 1500m
Women’s 5000m – Meseret Defar
Women’s 10000m – Tirunesh Dibaba
Women’s 100m hurdles – Sally Pearson. Silver – Dawn Harper
Women’s 4x100m – USA, breaking the world record had been set 27 years previously by East German. Anchor leg run by Jeter
Allyson Felix won a gold medals in the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays
Women’s marathon – Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia)
Women’s long jump – Brittney Reese (USA)
Women’s pole vault – Jenn Suhr (USA)
Women’s shot put – Valerie Adams
Women’s javelin – Barbora Spotakova
Heptathlon – Jessica Ennis (6955 points)
Swimming
100m freestyle – Nathan Adrian (USA)
200m freestyle – Yannick Agnel (France)
200m individual medley – Phelps. First man to win same swimming event at three consecutive Olympics
400m and 1500m freestyle – Sun Yang (China)
400m individual medley – Ryan Lochte. 4th Phelps
200m butterfly – Chad Le Clos (South Africa). Silver – Phelps. Le Clos’s father Bert interviewed by Clare Balding
Phelps won 19th Olympic medal in 4x200m relay
Phelps won18th gold medal in 4 x100m medley relay, his last Olympic race
Michael Phelps emerged as the most decorated Olympian of all time after winning six more medals at these Games to end his Olympic career with a tally of 22 (18 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze)
Men’s 10km marathon swim – Ous Mellouli (Tunisia), the first swimmer to win Olympic medals in the pool and open water
Women’s 50m and 100m freestyle – Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands)
Women’s 400m freestyle – Camille Muffat (France). Bronze – Adlington
Camille Muffat died when two helicopters filming the TV survival show Dropped collided in Argentina in 2015
Women’s 400m individual medley – Ye Shiwen, who swam the last 50m faster than Ryan Lochte
Women’s 100m breaststroke – Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania), who attended the same Plymouth college as Tom Daley and was coached by John Rudd
Women’s 100m backstroke – Missy Franklin (USA)
Women’s 200m backstroke – Missy Franklin. 4th Lizzie Simmonds
Missy Franklin won four gold medals and one bronze medal
Women’s 800m freestyle – Katie Ledecky (USA). Bronze – Adlington
Australia only won one swimming gold medal, in women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay
Boxing
Azerbaijan bantamweight Magomed Abdulhamidov knocked down six times by Japan's Satoshi Shimizu, only for the Turkmenistan referee to ignore each one
Bantamweight – Luke Campbell. Silver – Joe Nevin (Ireland)
Superheavyweight final – Anthony Joshua beat reigning Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle of Italy
Welterweight. Silver – Fred Evans
Middleweight. Bronze – Anthony Ogogo
Russia's Elena Savelyeva became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing match
Natasha Jonas became the first British woman to win an Olympic boxing match
Lightweight quarter-final – Katie Taylor bt Natasha Jonas
Nicola Adams became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal, in the flyweight competition
Lightweight – Katie Taylor (Ireland)
Rowing
Coxless four – GB (Gregory, James, Reed, Triggs-Hodge)
Eights – Germany. Bronze – GB, including Greg Searle and Alex Partridge
Lightweight four. Silver – GB. Richard and Peter Chambers became first British brothers to win an Olympic medal since Searle brothers in 1996
Lightweight double sculls – Denmark. Silver – Purchase and Hunter. The race was stopped when Purchase's seat broke but the pair were allowed to restart as it happened within 100m of the start
Niger rower Hamadou Djibo Issaka completed the 2000m course in just under 9 minutes
Women’s pair – Helen Glover and Heather Stanning. GB’s first gold medal. First British women to win gold in rowing since 1976
Women’s double sculls – Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger
Women’s lightweight double sculls – Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking
Gymnastics
Horizontal bar – Epke Zonderland (Netherlands)
Men’s individual all-around – Kohei Uchimura (Japan)
Women's individual all-around – Gabby Douglas (USA)
Equestrian
Team show jumping – GB (Peter Charles, Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash) bt Netherlands in jump-off. First gold since 1952
Nick Skelton (aged 54) competed at his sixth Olympic Games, riding Big Star
Peter Charles rode for Ireland between 1992 and 2007
Three day eventing team. Silver – GB (Zara Phillips, Mary King, Tina Cook, Nicola Wilson, William Fox-Pitt). Medals presented by Princess Royal. Individual gold – Michael Jung (Germany)
Zara Phillips rode High Kingdom
Individual dressage – Charlotte Dujardin, riding Valegro. Bronze – Laura Bechtolsheimer
Team dressage – GB (Carl Hester, Bechtolsheimer, Dujardin)
Damon Hill ridden by Helen Langehanenberg (Germany) won a silver medal in dressage
Sailing
Finn – Ainslie
Ben Ainslie took his fifth consecutive sailing medal, and his fourth consecutive gold, after a battle with Jonas Hogh Christensen of Denmark that was only decided at the last mark of the medal race
GB won four silver medals in sailing
Cycling
Road race – Alexander Vinokourov (Kazakhstan)
Women’s road race – Marianne Vos (Netherlands). Silver – Lizzie Armitstead. First GB medal
Time trial (Hampton Court) – Bradley Wiggins. Silver – Tony Martin. Bronze – Chris Froome
Wiggins became Britain’s most decorated Olympian with seven medals
Women’s time trial – Kristin Armstrong (USA)
Pendleton and Varnish relegated in women’s sprint against Ukraine. Germany win gold medal after China relegated in final
Men’s team sprint – GB (Hindes, Kenny, Hoy)
Philip Hindes deliberately crashed after a slow start in a qualifying race to get a restart
Men’s team pursuit – GB
Keirin – Victoria Pendleton
Women’s team pursuit final – GB (King, Roswell, Trott) bt USA
Sprint – Jason Kenny
Omnium – Laura Trott. Silver – Sarah Hammer (USA)
Sprint – Anna Meares. Silver – Victoria Pendleton
Blackin – Chris Hoy
GB won 12 cycling medals (8 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze). No other nation won more than one gold medal
Women’s BMX – Mariana Pajon (Colombia)
Tennis
Second round – Tsonga bt Raonic 25-23 in final set of longest-ever Olympic match
Semi-final – Federer bt Del Potro 19-17 in final set. Match lasted 4 hours 26 minutes
Singles final – Murray bt Federer
Doubles final – USA (Bryan and Bryan) bt France (Tsonga and Llodra)
Women’s singles final – Serena Williams bt Sharapova
Women’s doubles final – USA (Williams and Williams) bt Czech Republic (Hlavackova and Hradecka)
Mixed doubles final – Belarus (Mirnyi and Azarenka) bt GB (Murray and Robson)
Murray was the only British athlete to win two medals on the same day
Triathlon – Alistair Brownlee. Silver – Gomez (Spain). Bronze – Jonathan Brownlee
Women’s triathlon – Nicola Spirig (Switzerland). Silver – Lisa Norden (Sweden), who was given the same time
Men’s football quarter-final – South Korea bt GB. Sturridge missed penalty in shoot-out
Men’s football final – Mexico bt Brazil. Referee – Mark Clattenburg
GB beat Brazil in women’s football group stages
Women’s football quarter-final – Canada bt GB
Women’s football final – USA bt Japan. Winning goal scored by Carli Lloyd, who also scored the winning goal in the 2008 final
Stephan Feck (Germany) landed on his back in the 3m springboard competition
10m platform – David Boudin (USA). Bronze – Tom Daley
Daley allowed a re-dive due to flash photography
South Korea fencer Shin A-lam remained on the piste for 75 minutes following a controversial defeat
North Korean weightlifter Om Yun Choi lifted three times his own bodyweight
Nasser Al-Attiyah, who won the Dakar Rally in 2011, won a bronze medal for Qatar in skeet shooting
Double Trap – Peter Wilson. Coached by Sheikh Al Maktoum of Dubai
Eight Olympic badminton players disqualified with ‘not using one's best efforts to win a match’. Two pairs from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia
Canoe Slalom – Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott. Silver – David Florence and Richard Hounslow. Bronze – Hochshorner brothers
Men’s K1 200m – Ed McKeever
Men’s trampoline – Dong Dong (China)
Judo 78kg – Kayla Harrison (USA). Silver – Gemma Gibbons, coached by Kate Howey
Judo heavyweight (+78kg). Bronze – Karina Bryant
Guam judoka Ricardo Blas Jr. weighed 218 kg (480 lb)
Men’s hockey semi-final – Netherlands 9 GB 2
Men’s hockey final – Germany bt Netherlands
Women’s hockey – Netherlands bt Argentina
Women’s taekwondo -57 kg – Jade Jones. Youngest GB gold medal winner, aged 19
Japanese female freestyle wrestlers Kaori Icho and Saori Yoshida both won their third successive gold medals
May-Treanor and Walsh won women’s beach volleyball for third consecutive Olympics
Men’s basketball final – USA bt Spain
Women’s modern pentathlon. Silver – Samantha Murray. Final event of the Olympics
Modern pentathlon – fencing, swimming (200m), horse riding, combined running (3km) / shooting
2016 Rio de Janeiro
Rio was elected as the host city on 2 October 2009 during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, defeating Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid after three rounds of voting
On 9 October 2009 the IOC voted to include rugby sevens and golf on the program for the Games in Rio
More than 11,000 athletes from 207 National Olympic Committees, including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team, took part. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf, which were added to the Olympic program in 2009
Independent Olympic Athletes is composed of Kuwaiti athletes who compete under the Olympic flag, as the Kuwait Olympic Committee had been suspended by the IOC due to governmental interference
Mascot – Vinicius, a mix of different Brazilian animals, named after the Brazilian musician Vinicius de Moraes
Motto – “A new world”
Opening and closing ceremonies held in the Maracana Stadium
The Barra Olympic Park is a cluster of nine sporting venues including the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre
Athletics events held at Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium, also known as Nilton Santos Stadium. Home stadium of the football club Botafogo
Sailing events were held at at Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay.
Final medal table – 1st USA (46-37-38) 121 2nd GB (27-23-17) 67 3rd China (26-18-26) 70 4th Russia (19-18-19) 56
Vietnam, Kosovo, Fiji, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Bahrain, Jordan, Tajikistan and Ivory Coast won their first Olympic gold medals (however, Bahrain retroactively won a gold medal for the 2012 Summer Olympics due to medals reallocation). They were also Kosovo's, Fiji's, and Jordan's first Olympic medals
Saudi Arabia were only G20 country not to win a medal
USA won its 1,000th Olympic gold medal
Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino were awarded the International Fair Play Committee Award after colliding with each other on the track during the 5000m event at the Olympics and assisting each other to continue the race
59 countries won gold medals. 87 countries won medals
Brazil won seven gold medals, their most at any single Summer Olympics
27 world records were broken
Athletics
100m – Usain Bolt. Silver – Justin Gatlin. Bronze – Andre De Grasse (Canada)
200m – Usain Bolt. Silver – Andre De Grasse. Bronze – Christophe Lemaitre
400m – Wayde van Niekerk. Silver – Kirani James. Bronze – LaShawn Merritt. Van Niekerk set a new world record of 43.03 seconds, beating Michael Johnson’s previous record set at the 1999 World Championships by 0.15 seconds. No other athlete had won a major championship from lane 8
800m – David Rudisha
1500m – Matthew Centrowitz. First American gold in the event since 1908
5000m – Mo Farah
10000m – Mo Farah
110m hurdles – Omar McLeod (Jamaica)
400m hurdles – Kerron Clement (USA)
4 x 100m relay – Jamaica (Powell, Blake, Ashmeade, Bolt). Bolt completes ‘triple triple’ of three sprint gold medals in last three Olympics
4 x 400m relay – USA. 4th Belgium, including the Borlee brothers Jonathan, Kevin and Dylan
GB controversially disqualified from heat of 4 x 400m relay
Marathon – Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya). Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia was the silver medalist and as he neared the line he crossed his arms above his head – a political gesture in solidarity with Oromo protests in Ethiopia. 9th Callum Hawkins. His brother, Derek Hawkins, also competed in the race
Pole vault – Thiago Braz da Silva (Brazil). Silver – Lavillenie, who was booed throughout the competition
Long jump – Jeff Henderson (USA). Bronze – Greg Rutherford
Triple jump – Christian Taylor
Discus – Christoph Harting (Germany). Brother of Robert Harting, who won in 2012
Hammer – Dilshod Nazarov. First-ever medal for Tajikistan
Decathlon – Ashton Eaton
Women’s 100m – Elaine Thompson (Jamaica). Silver – Tori Bowie (USA). Bronze – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Women’s 200m – Elaine Thompson. Silver – Daphne Schippers. Bronze – Tori Bowie. Thompson is the first woman to win sprint double since Flo-Jo in 1988
Women’s 400m – Shaunee Miller (Bahamas). Silver – Allyson Felix. Miller dived across the line
Women’s 800m – Caster Semenya
Women’s 5000m – Vivian Cheruiyot
Women’s 10000m – Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) in 29’ 17”, breaking the world record by 14 seconds
Women’s 100m hurdles – Brianna Rollins. USA won all three medals
Sisters Cindy Ofili and Tiffany Porter ran in 100m hurdles final for GB
Women’s 400m hurdles – Dalilah Muhammad (USA)
Women’s 300m steeplechase – Ruth Jebet. First-ever gold medal for Bahrain
Women’s 4x100m relay – USA. Bronze – GB (Philip, Henry, Asher-Smith, Neita)
Women’s 4x400m relay – USA. Bronze – GB (Ohuruogu, Diamond, Doyle, Onuora)
Ohuruogu becomes first British woman to win athletics medals in three Olympics
Allyson Felix ran in both winning relay teams and now has nine Olympic medals
Women’s marathon – Jemima Sumgong (Kenya). Three sets of twins finished the marathon; two of the Luik triplets from Estonia, the Hahner twins from Germany and the Kim sisters from North Korea
Women’s shot put – Michelle Carter (USA). Silver – Valerie Adams
Women’s discus – Sandra Perkovic (Croatia). Only female athlete to retain title
Women’s hammer. Anita Wlodarczyk (Poland). Bronze – Sophie Hitchon. Włodarczyk broke the world record
Darya Klishina, Russia's sole track and field competitor at the Rio Olympics, has her exemption to Russia's blanket ban revoked and finishes ninth in the long jump
Heptathlon – Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium). Silver – Ennis-Hill. 6th Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Swimming
100m freestyle – Kyle Chalmers (Australia)
200m freestyle – Sun Yang (China)
100m backstroke – Ryan Murphy (USA)
200m backstroke – Ryan Murphy
100m breaststroke – Adam Peaty, in a world record time of 57.1 seconds. First GB male swimming gold since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988
100m butterfly – Joseph Schooling (Singapore). Silver – three-way tie including Michael Phelps. First ever gold medal for Singapore
200m butterfly – Michael Phelps
200m individual medley – Michael Phelps, who became the first swimmer to win gold medals in the same event at four successive Olympic Games
Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay – USA. Silver – GB (Scott, Guy, Milne, Wallace)
4x100m medley relay – USA. Silver – GB (Guy, Peaty, Scott, Walker-Hebborn)
Michael Phelps won five gold medals and one silver medal, taking his tally to 23 gold medals, and 28 medals in total
Women’s 100m freestyle – Simone Manuel (USA) and Penny Oleksiak (Canada) tie for gold medal. Manuel was the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming
Women’s 200m freestyle – Katie Ledecky
Women’s 400m freestyle – Katie Ledecky (USA). Silver – Jazz Carlin
Women’s 800m freestyle – Katie Ledecky (USA). Silver – Jazz Carlin
Women’s 200m individual medley – Katinka Hosszu. Silver – Siobhan-Marie O’Connor
Katinka Hosszu also won both individual medley events
USA won 16 of the 35 gold medals in swimming
Cycling
Road race – Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium). 11th Chris Froome
Women’s road race – Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands). 5th Lizzie Armitstead
Time trial – Fabian Cancellara. Bronze – Froome
Women’s time trial – Kristin Armstrong (USA). Third successive gold medal
Sprint – Jason Kenny. Silver – Callum Skinner
Blacken – Jason Kenny
Omnium. Silver – Mark Cavendish
Team sprint – GB (Kenny, Hindes, Skinner)
Team pursuit – GB (Wiggins, Clancy, Doull, Burke). Eighth Olympic medal for Wiggins
Jason Kenny has now won six gold medals, drawing him level with Chris Hoy as GB’s greatest Olympian
Women’s sprint – Kristina Vogel. Silver – Becky James. Bronze – Katy Marchant
Women’s Blacken – Elis Lighlee. Silver – Becky James
Women’s omnium – Laura Trott
Women’s team pursuit – GB (Trott, Rowsell Shand, Barker, Archibald)
Laura Trott has now won four gold medals
All 11 members of GB’s track cycling team won a medal
Women’s BMX – Mariana Pajon (Colombia)
Boxing
Light heavyweight. Bronze – Joshua Buatsi
Super-heavyweight – Tony Yoka (France). Silver – Joe Joyce
Women’s flyweight – Nicola Adams
Several judges and referees were removed following a series of controversial decisions
Michael Conlan (Ireland) reacted to losing a bantamweight contest by raising his middle finger at the judges and delivering a strongly-worded live television interview to RTE, accusing officials in amateur boxing of corruption
Uzbekistan and Cuba both won three gold medals in boxing
Rowing
Single sculls – Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand)
Coxless four – GB (Gregory, Louloudis, Nash, Sbihi). Fifth consecutive win for GB in this event
Coxed eight – GB. Andrew Triggs Hodge and Pete Reed won their third gold medals
Lightweight double sculls. Silver – Ireland (Gary O’Donovan and Paul O’Donovan)
Women’s coxless pair – GB (Helen Glover and Heather Stanning)
Women’s double sculls Silver – GB (Katherine Grainger and Victoria Thornley). Fifth Olympic medal for Grainger in her fifth Olympics
Women’s coxed eight – USA. Silver – GB
Gymnastics
Team all-around – Japan. GB finished fourth after Louis Smith fell off the pommel horse
Individual all-around – Kohei Uchimura. Bronze – Max Whitlock. GB’s first medal in the event for 108 years
Floor – Max Whitlock. First GB gold in gymnastics
Pommel horse – Max Whitlock. Silver – Louis Smith
Horizontal bar. Bronze – Nile Wilson
Women’s team all-around – USA
Women's individual all-around – Simone Biles (USA)
Women’s floor – Simone Biles. Bronze – Amy Tinkler, aged 16
Women’s vault – Simone Biles
Simone Biles won four gold medals and a bronze medal
Women’s trampoline. Silver – Bryony Page
Equestrian
Show jumping – Nick Skelton, riding Big Star. Aged 58, riding in his seventh games
Team show jumping – France
Individual eventing – Michael Jung
Team eventing – France
Individual dressage – Charlotte Dujardin, riding Valegro. Third gold medal
Team dressage – Germany. Silver – GB (Bigwood, Wilton, Dujardin, Hester)
Sailing
Finn – Giles Scott. Fifth consecutive win for GB in this event
RS:X windsurfing. Silver – Nick Dempsey
Women’s 470 – GB (Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark)
Laser Radial. Silver – Annalise Murphy (Ireland)
Nacra 17 was the only mixed sailing competition
Star class was dropped
Tennis
Men’s singles first round – Del Potro bt Djokovic
Men’s singles final – Murray bt Del Potro
Men’s doubles first round – Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa (Brazil) bt Andy Murray and Jamie Murray
Men’s doubles – Spain (Lopez and Nadal)
Women’s singles third round – Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) bt Serena Williams
Women’s singles quarter-final – Kerber bt Konta
Women’s singles final – Monica Puig bt Kerber. Puerto Rico's first ever Olympic gold medal
Women’s doubles – Russia (Makarova and Vesnina)
Mixed doubles – USA (Sock and Mattek-Sands)
First gold medal – Virginia Thrasher (USA) in 10m air rifle
Triathlon – Alistair Brownlee. Silver – Jonny Brownlee. First brothers to win gold and silver in the same event since the D’Inzeo brothers in equestrian in 1960
Women’s triathlon – Gwen Jorgensen. Bronze – Vicky Holland
Synchronised 10m platform. Bronze – Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow
Synchronised 3m springboard – Jack Laugher and Chris Mears. GB’s first ever gold medal in diving
3m springboard. Silver – Jack Laugher
China won seven of the eight gold medals in diving
Trap shooting. Bronze – Ed Ling
Double trap – Fehaid Al-Deehani. Bronze – Steven Scott. Al-Deehani, from Kuwait, was the first independent athlete to win a gold medal
C2 canoe slalom. Silver – GB (David Florence and Richard Hounslow)
K1 canoe slalom – Joe Clarke
K1 canoe 200m sprint – Liam Heath
K2 canoe 200m sprint. Silver – GB (Liam Heath and Jon Schofield)
Danuta Kozak (Hungary) became the only female athlete to win K1, K2 and K4 at the same Olympics
Men’s heavyweight judo – Teddy Riner (France)
Women’s 52 kg judo – Majlinda Kelmendi. First ever medal for Kosovo
Women’s 57 kg judo – Rafaela Silva. First gold medal for Brazil at this Olympics
Women’s 70 kg judo. Bronze – Sally Conway
Women’s 78 kg judo – Kayla Harrison (USA)
Women’s hockey semi-final – GB by New Zealand
Women’s hockey final – GB bt Netherlands. Maddie Hinch unbeaten in penalty shootout. Hollie Webb scored the winning penalty
Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh become the first same-sex married couple to win Olympic medals
Taekwondo -80kg. Silver – Lutalo Muhammed
Women’s taekwondo -57 kg – Jade Jones
Women’s taekwondo -67kg. Bronze – Bianca Walkden
Justin Rose hit the first-ever hole-in-one in Olympic golf
Golf – Justin Rose. Silver – Henrik Stenson
Women’s golf – Inbee Park (South Korea)
Rugby sevens final – Fiji 43 GB 7. First ever medal for Fiji
Women’s rugby sevens final – Australia bt New Zealand. Bronze medal match – Canada bt GB
Men’s football final – Brazil bt Germany. Neymar scored winning penalty in shootout
Sweden beat USA in quarter-finals and Brazil in semi-finals in women’s football
Women’s football final – Germany bt Sweden
Badminton men’s singles – Chen Long (China)
Badminton women’s singles – Carolina Marin (Spain)
Badminton men’s doubles. Bronze – GB (Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge)
Table tennis men’s singles – Ma Long (China)
Table tennis women’s singles – Ding Ning (China)
Kerri Walsh-Jennings won a bronze medal, her fourth Olympic medal, making her the most decorated beach volleyball player - male or female - in Olympic history
Mongolian wrestling coaches stripped off in anger at a judges’ decision
2020 Tokyo
Tokyo was announced as the host city at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, on 7 September 2013. No city won over 50% of the votes in the first round, and Madrid and Istanbul were tied for second place. A run-off vote between these two cities was held to determine which would be eliminated. In the final vote, a head-to-head contest between Tokyo and Istanbul, Tokyo was selected by 60 votes to 36. The games were rescheduled for 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. All events were held without spectators
Karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding made their Olympic debuts
Baseball and softball returned for the first time since 2008
More than 11,500 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees took part, including the Refugee Olympic team (EOR) and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Taiwan competed as Chinese Taipei
With 339 sets of medals, the games featured 33 Olympic sports
Mascot – Miraitowa. Based on the Japanese words "mirai", meaning “future”, and "towa", meaning “eternity”
Motto – “United by Emotion”
Opening ceremony took place on 23 July 2021 at National Stadium and was formally opened by Emperor Naruhito. For the first time, each team had the option to allow two flag bearers, one male and one female. Cauldron lit by Naomi Osaka. 1,800 drones made a 3D rendition of the Games logo over the stadium. Speeches were given by Seiko Hashimoto, President of the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Thomas Bach, IOC president
At the Parade of Nations, the Greek team entered first, followed by the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. Japan entered last, preceded by France and USA (hosts of the next two Games). Other teams followed the Gojūon order, based on the names of countries in Japanese. British flag carried by Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi
Closing ceremony took place on 8 August. British flag carried by Laura Kenny
Track cycling events were held at the Izu Velodrome
Sailing events were held at Enoshima
Bermuda, the Philippines, and Qatar won their first-ever Olympic gold medals
Burkina Faso, San Marino, and Turkmenistan won their first-ever Olympic medals
Final medal table – 1st USA (39-41-33) 113 2nd China (32-38-18) 88 3rd Japan (27-14-17) 58 4th GB (22-21-22) 65
65 countries won gold medals. 93 countries won medals
Most gold medals – Caleb Dressel (5), Emma McKeon (4), Kaylee McKeown (3), An San (3), Lisa Carrington (3), Elaine Thompson-Herah (3)
Archery
An San from South Korea won three gold medals, in the women's team, mixed team and Individual events, becoming the first archer in Olympic history to do so at a single Games
Artistic swimming
Duet – ROC
Team – ROC
Athletics
A mixed 4x400m mixed relay was added to the program
Men
100m – Marcel Jacobs (Italy). Silver – Fred Kerley (USA). Bronze – Andre de Grasse (Canada)
Zharnel Hughes was disqualified in the final for a false start
200m – Andre de Grasse
400m – Steven Gardiner (Bahamas)
800m – Emmanuel Korir (Kenya)
1500m – Jakob Ingebritsen (Norway). Silver – Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya). Bronze – Josh Kerr
Josh Kerr won GB’s first medal in the event since 1988
5000m – Joshua Teptegei (Uganda)
10000m – Selemon Barega (Ethiopia)
110m hurdles – Hansle Parchment (Jamaica)
400m hurdles – Karsten Warholm (Norway). Silver – Rai Benjamin (USA)
Warholm set a new world record of 45.94 seconds. Benjamin also beat the old world record
3000m steeplechase – Soufiane El Bakkali (Morocco)
Soufiane El Bakkali was the first non-Kenyan-born athlete to win a gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Olympics or World Championships since 1987
4 x 100m relay – Italy. Silver – GB (Ujah, Hughes, Kilty, Mitchell-Blake)
4 x 400m relay – USA
Marathon – Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya)
Kipchoge defended his title. The race was moved from Tokyo to Sapporo due to hot weather in Tokyo
High jump – Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) and Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar)
Tamberi and Barshim agreed to share the gold medal rather than have a jump off
Long jump – Miltos Tentoglou (Greece)
Triple jump – Pedro Pichardo (Portugal). Bronze – Hugues Fabrice Zango (Burkina Faso)
Burkina Faso’s first-ever Olympic medal
Pole vault – Armand Duplantis (Sweden)
Javelin – Neeraj Chopra (India)
Neeraj Chopra is one of only two Indians to have won an individual Olympic gold medal, the other being Abhinav Bindra who won the 10m air rifle event in 2008
Shot put – Ryan Crouser (USA)
Discus – Daniel Stahl (Sweden)
Hammer – Wojciech Nowicki (Poland)
Decathlon – Damian Warner (Canada)
Women
100m – Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica). Silver – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Bronze – Shericka Jackson (Jamaica)
200m – Elaine Thompson-Herah. Silver – Christine Mbona (Namibia). Bronze – Gabrielle Thomas (USA)
Thompson-Herah retained the sprint double
Christine Mbona became the second athlete from Namibia to win an Olympic medal. Frankie Fredericks won four silver medals
Krystina Timanovskaya from Belarus refused her team's order to fly home early from the Olympics, and was granted a humanitarian visa by Poland
400m – Shaunee Miller-Uibo (Bahamas). Silver – Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic). Bronze Allyson Felix (USA)
Miller-Uibo retains her title
800m – Athing Mu (USA). Silver – Keely Hodgkinson
1500m – Faith Kipyegon (Kenya). Silver – Laura Muir. Bronze – Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
5000m – Sifan Hassan
10000m – Sifan Hassan
100m hurdles – Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (Puerto Rico)
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn became the second Puerto Rican to win an Olympic gold medal after Monica Puig won the women’s tennis in 2016
400m hurdles – Sydney McLaughlin (USA). Silver – Dalilah Muhammad (USA)
McLaughlin set a new world record of 51.46 seconds. Muhammad also beat the old world record
3000m steeplechase – Pereth Chemutai (Uganda)
4x100m relay – Jamaica. Silver – USA. Bronze – GB (Philip, Lansiquot, Asher-Smith, Neita)
4x400m relay – USA
USA team included Allyson Felix
Allyson Felix took her tally of Olympics medals to 11 (five individual and six relay)
Marathon – Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya). Silver – Brigid Kosgei (Kenya)
High jump – Mariya Lasitskene (ROC)
Long jump – Malaika Mihambo (Germany)
Triple jump – Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela)
Rojas set a new world record of 15.67m
Pole vault – Katie Nageotte (USA). Bronze – Holly Bradshaw
Javelin – Liu Shijing (China)
Shot put – Gong Lijiao (China). Bronze – Valerie Adams (New Zealand)
Adams’ fourth Olympic medal
Discus – Valarie Allman (USA)
Hammer – Anita Włodarczyk (Poland)
Włodarczyk becomes the first woman to win a specific individual athletics event three times in a row at the Olympic Games
Heptathlon – Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium)
Thiam retains her title. Katarina Johnson-Thompson withdrew after suffering a calf injury in the 200m
Mixed
4x400m relay – Poland
Each team consists of two men and two women. The team members can run in any order
Badminton
Men’s singles – Victor Axelsen (Denmark). Silver – Chen Long (China)
Baseball
Japan beat USA in the final. Dominican Republic won the bronze medal
Basketball
Men’s – USA. Silver – France
Women’s – USA. Silver – Japan
Men’s 3x3 – Latvia. Silver – ROC
Women’s 3x3 – USA. Silver – ROC
3x3 is played on a half-court with one basket. The game is a single period of 10 minutes. The winner is the first team to score 21 or the team with the higher score at the end of the 10 minutes. Each team has one substitute
Boxing
The number of weight classes for men was reduced from ten to eight, with a featherweight class introduced and events at light-flyweight, bantamweight and light-welterweight were removed. The women's weight classes were increased from three to five, with featherweight and welterweight categories introduced
Men
Flyweight – Galal Yafai. Silver – Carlo Palaam (Philippines)
Featherweight – Albert Batyrgaziev (ROC)
Lightweight – Andy Cruz (Cuba)
Welterweight – Roliel Iglesias (Cuba). Silver – Pat McCormack
Middleweight – Hebert Conceicao (Brazil)
Light heavyweight – Arlen Lopez (Cuba). Silver – Ben Whittaker
Heavyweight – Julio Cesar La Cruz (Cuba)
Super heavyweight – Bakhodir Jalolov (Uzbekistan). Bronze – Frazer Clarke
Women
Flyweight – Stoyka Krasteva (Bulgaria)
Featherweight – Sena Irie (Japan). Bronze – Karriss Artingstall
Lightweight – Kellie Harrington (Ireland)
Welterweight – Busenaz Surmeneli (Turkey)
Middleweight – Lauren Price. Silver – Li Qian (China)
Canoeing
Men’s K-1 200m. Bronze – Liam Heath
Women’s C-1. Silver – Mallory Franklin
Lisa Carrington (New Zealand) won three gold medals, in the K-1 200m, K-1 500m, and K-2 500m with teammate Caitlin Regal. She also won the K-1 200m in 2012 and 2016
Cycling
BMX freestyle was added in the program for the first time and there was a return of madison events on the track that had been removed from the Olympic program in 2008
The format for the omnium was changed from six race types over two days to four race types over one day. The races are Scratch, Tempo (a new race for 2020), Elimination, and Points
Men
Road race – Richard Carapaz (Ecuador). Silver – Wout van Aert (Belgium). Bronze – Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)
Time trial – Primoz Roglic (Slovenia). Silver – Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands). Bronze – Rohan Dennis (Australia)
Sprint – Harry Lavreysen (Netherlands). Bronze – Jack Carlin
Keirin – Jason Kenny
Jason Kenny is now the record holder for most Olympic golds (7) and medals (9) for a British athlete
Omnium – Matthew Walls
Madison – Denmark. Silver – GB (Hayter and Walls)
Team sprint – Netherlands. Silver – GB (Carlin, Kenny, Owens)
Team pursuit – Italy
Mountain biking – Tom Pidcock
BMX race – Niek Kimmann (Netherlands). Silver – Kye White
BMX freestyle – Logan Martin (Australia). Bronze – Declan Brooks
Women
Road race – Anna Kiesenhofer (Austria). Silver – Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands). Bronze – Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)
Time trial – Annemiek van Vleuten. Silver – Marlen Reusser (Switzerland). Bronze – Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands)
Sprint – Kelsey Mitchell (Canada)
Keirin – Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands)
Omnium – Jennifer Valente (USA)
Madison – GB (Archibald and Kenny)
Laura Kenny now has six Olympic medals (five gold and one silver) and is the most successful female cyclist in Olympic history
Team sprint – China
Team pursuit – Germany. Silver – GB (Archibald, Kenny, Evans, Knight)
Mountain biking – Jolanda Neff (Switzerland)
BMX race – Bethany Shriever. Silver – Mariana Pajon (Colombia)
BMX freestyle – Charlotte Worthington
Worthington became the first woman in history to land a 360-degree backflip in competition
Diving
Men’s 3m springboard. Bronze – Jack Laugher
Men’s 10m platform. Bronze – Tom Daley
Men’s synchronized 10m platform – Tom Daley and Matty Lee
Tom Daley the first British diver to win four Olympic medals (one gold and three bronze)
China won seven of the eight gold medals
Equestrian
Individual dressage – Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Germany). Silver – Isabell Werth (Germany). Bronze – Charlotte Dujardin
Team dressage – Germany. Bronze – GB (Fry, Hester, Dujardin)
Individual eventing – Julia Krajewski (Germany). Silver – Tom McEwen riding Toledo De Kerse
Team eventing – GB (Collett, McEwen, Townend)
Individual jumping – Ben Maher riding Explosion W
Team jumping – Sweden. Silver – USA (including Jessica Springsteen)
Isabell Werth holds the record for the most Olympic medals (12) won by any equestrian athlete (seven gold and five silver)
Charlotte Dujardin has now won six Olympic medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze)
Jessica Springsteen is the daughter of musicians Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa
Fencing
Team and individual events were held in all three weapons for both men and women
ROC won 8 medals
Field hockey
Men’s – Belgium. Silver – Australia. Bronze – India
England were beaten by India in the quarter-final
Women’s – Netherlands. Silver – Argentina. Bronze – GB
GB lost 5-1 to Netherlands in the semi-final, but won the bronze medal match against India 4-3
Football
Men’s final – Brazil 2 (Cunha, Malcom) Spain 1 (Oyarzabal)
Men’s bronze medal match – Mexico 3 Japan 1
Women’s final – Canada 1 Sweden 1. Canada won on penalties
Women’s bronze medal match – USA 4 Australia 3
England lost 4-3 to Australia in the quarter-final. Ellen White scored a hat-trick
Both finals were played in Yokohama
Golf
Men’s – Xander Schauffele (USA). Silver – Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia). Bronze – Pan Chent-tsung (Chinese Taipei)
Pan Cheng-tsung won the bronze medal after a seven-man sudden death playoff involving Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Sebastian Munoz, Mito Pereira, Paul Casey, and Hideki Matsuyama
Women’s – Nelly Korda (USA). Silver – Mone Inami (Japan). Bronze – Lydia Ko (New Zealand)
Gymnastics
Men
Team all-around – ROC
Individual all-around – Daiki Hashimoto (Japan)
Pommel horse – Max Whitlock
Floor - Artem Dolgopyat (Israel)
Dolgopyat scored 14.933, the same as Rayderley Zapata (Spain), but finished first due to a higher difficulty score
Women
Team all-around – ROC. Silver – USA. Bronze – GB (Jennifer Gadirova, Jessica Gadirova, Alice Kinsella, Amelie Morgan)
Individual all-around – Sunisa Lee (USA). Silver – Rebeca Andrade (Brazil). Bronze – Angelina Melnikova (ROC)
Floor – Jade Carey (USA)
Vault – Rebeca Andrade
Uneven Bars – Nina Derwael (Belgium)
Beam. Bronze – Simone Biles
Simone Biles has now won seven Olympic medals. She withdrew from the finals of the individual all-around competition and all individual finals, citing mental health concerns, but returned for the beam final on the last day of competition
Women's rhythmic individual all-around – Linoy Ashram. First Israeli woman to win an Olympic gold medal
Trampoline. Bronze – Bryony Page
Handball
Men’s final – France bt Denmark
Women’s final – France bt ROC
Judo
There were seven events for both men and women as well as a new mixed team event
Japan won nine gold medals
Kosovo won two gold medals
Women’s 52kg. Bronze – Chelsie Giles
Mixed team – France
Brother and sister Hifumi Abe and Uta Abe (Japan) both won Judo gold medals, becoming the first brother-sister duo to win Olympic gold medals in individual sports on the same day
Karate
Debut appearance at the Olympics. Two disciplines were featured: kumite was the sparring discipline and had three weight classes each for men and women; kata was the solo form discipline, and had one event each for men and women
Men’s kata – Ryo Kiyuna (Japan)
Women’s kata – Sandra Sanchez (Spain)
Modern pentathlon
Men’s – Joe Choong
Women’s – Kate French
Rowing
The men's lightweight four was dropped and the women's coxless four was added, so there were seven events for both men and women in identical boat classes
Men
Single sculls – Stefanos Ntouskos (Greece)
Quadruple sculls – Netherlands. Silver – GB (Lease, Groom, Barras, Beaumont)
Coxless four – Australia
GB finished fourth after having problems with the steering which almost caused them to crash into the Italian boat. The coxless four had been won by GB in the previous five Olympics
Coxed eight – New Zealand. Bronze – GB
Lightweight double sculls – Ireland (Finlan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan)
Paul O’Donovan also won a silver medal in this event in 2016, partnered by his brother Gary
Women
Single sculls – Emma Twigg (New Zealand)
Coxless pair – New Zealand
Helen Glover came out of retirement, and finished fourth in the coxless pair with Polly Swann
Rugby Sevens
Men’s final – Fiji bt New Zealand
Men’s bronze medal match – Argentina bt GB
Women’s final – New Zealand bt France
Women’s bronze medal match – Fiji bt GB
Sailing
Men
Finn – Giles Scott
Giles Scott defended his title. GB has now won this event at the last six Olympics
49er – GB (Fletcher and Bithell)
Women
RS:X. Bronze – Emma Wilson
470 – GB (Mills and McIntyre)
Hannah Mills also won a silver medal in 2012 and a gold medal in 2016 in the 470 class
Mixed
Nacra 17 – Italy. Silver – GB (John Gimson and Anna Burnet)
Shooting
Mixed team competitions in 10m air pistol, 10m air rifle, and trap were introduced
Men’s trap. Bronze – Matthew Coward-Holley
Women’s 10m air rifle – Yang Qian (China). First gold medal awarded at the Games
Amber Hill had to withdraw from the women’s skeet after testing positive for Covid-19
A bronze medal, San Marino’s first Olympic medal, was won by female trap shooter Alessandra Perilli. With this San Marino became the smallest country, by population, ever to have won any Olympic medal, Perilli and Gian Marco Berti won the country's second medal, a silver in the mixed trap shooting event. The country also won a bronze medal in wrestling
Skateboarding
Skateboarding made its debut appearance
Men’s park – Keegan Palmer (Australia)
Men’s street – Yuto Horigome (Japan)
Women’s park – Sakura Yosozumi (Japan). Bronze – Sky Brown. Aged 13
Women’s street – Momiji Nishiya (Japan). Aged 13
Brazil won three silver medals in the four skateboarding events
Softball
The tournament consisted of six teams
Japan beat USA in the gold medal match
Sport climbing
Sport climbing made its debut appearance, with one event for both men and women. The format consisted of one combined event with three disciplines: lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering. This was controversial, as speed climbing is usually seen as a separate discipline
Men’s combined – Alberto Gines Lopez (Spain)
Women’s combined – Jana Garnbret (Slovenia)
Aleksandra Mirosław (Poland) broke the world record in speed climbing
Surfing
Surfing made its debut appearance
Men’s shortboard – Italo Ferreira (Brazil)
Women’s shortboard – Carissa Moore (USA)
Swimming
Swimming featured a record total of 37 events, with the addition of the men's 800m freestyle, women's 1500m freestyle, and the mixed 4x100m medley relay
Men
50m freestyle – Caeleb Dressel (USA)
100m freestyle – Caeleb Dressel
200m freestyle – Tom Dean. Silver – Duncan Scott
400m freestyle – Ahmed Hafnaoui (Tunisia)
800m freestyle – Robert Finke (USA)
1500m freestyle – Robert Finke
100m backstroke – Evgeny Rylov (ROC)
200m backstroke – Evgeny Rylov (ROC). Silver – Ryan Murphy (USA). Bronze – Luke Greenbank
100m breaststroke – Adam Peaty
Peaty became the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title
200m breaststroke – Zac Stubblety-Cook (Australia)
100m butterfly – Caeleb Dressel
Caeleb Dressel set a new world record of 49.45 seconds
200m butterfly – Kristof Milak (Hungary)
200m individual medley – Wang Shun (China). Silver – Duncan Scott
400m individual medley – Chase Kalisz (USA)
4x100m freestyle relay – USA
USA team included Caeleb Dressel
4x200m freestyle relay – GB (Dean, Guy, Richards, Scott)
4x100m medley relay – USA. Silver – GB (Greenbank, Peaty, Guy, Scott)
USA team included Caeleb Dressel
Duncan Scott won four medals, more than any other British athlete at a single Olympic Games
10km open water – Florian Wellbrock (Germany)
Women
50m freestyle – Emma McKeon (Australia)
100m freestyle – Emma McKeon. Silver – Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong)
Emma McKeon won seven medals, the most by any female swimmer at a single Games and the equal most by a female athlete at a single Games (tied with Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952)
200m freestyle – Ariane Titmus (Australia). Silver – Siobhan Haughey
400m freestyle – Ariane Titmus. Silver – Katie Ledecky (USA)
800m freestyle – Katie Ledecky
1500m freestyle – Katie Ledecky
100m backstroke – Kaylee McKeown (Australia)
200m backstroke – Kaylee McKeown
100m breaststroke – Lydia Jacoby (USA)
200m breaststroke – Tatjana Schoenmaker (South Africa)
Schoenmaker set a new world record of 2 minutes 18.95 seconds
100m butterfly – Maggie Mac Neil (Canada). Bronze – Emma McKeon
200m butterfly – Zhang Yufei (China)
200m individual medley – Yui Ohashi (Japan)
400m individual medley – Yui Ohashi
4x100m freestyle relay – Australia
4x200m freestyle relay – China
4x100m medley relay – Australia
10km open water – Ana Marcela Kunha (Brazil)
Mixed
4x100m medley relay – GB (Dawson, Peaty, Guy, Hopkin)
First mixed-gender swimming event. Each team decides whether a man or a woman will swim a specific stroke. Strokes order are in the same order as in a traditional medley race
Table tennis
Men’s singles – Ma Long (China)
Men’s team – China
Women’s singles – Chen Meng (China)
Women’s team – China
Mixed doubles – Japan
Hend Zaza from Syria, aged 12, was the youngest competitor at the 2020 Games
Taekwondo
Men’s featherweight. Silver – Bradly Sinden
Women’s welterweight. Silver – Lauren Williams
Women’s heavyweight. Bronze – Bianca Walkden
Jade Jones lost in the first round of the featherweight class to Kimia Alizadeh from Iran, representing the Refugee Olympic Team
Tennis
Men
Men’s singles final – Alexander Zverev (Germany) bt Karen Khachanov (ROC)
Men’s singles bronze medal match – Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain) bt Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Djokovic was beaten in the semi-finals by Zverev
Andy Murray withdrew before his first-round match, due to injury
Men’s doubles – Croatia (Mektic and Pavic)
Women
Women’s singles final – Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) bt Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic)
Naomi Osaka was beaten in the third round by Vondrousova
Women’s singles bronze medal match – Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) bt Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Women’s doubles – Czech Republic (Krejcikova and Siniakova)
Mixed
Mixed doubles – ROC (Rublev and Pavyluchenkova)
Triathlon
A mixed team relay event was added to the programme
Men’s individual – Kristian Blummenfelt (Norway). Silver – Alex Yee
The event had to be restarted after a boat blocked about half of the athletes as they entered the water
Women’s individual – Flora Duffy (Bermuda). Silver – Georgia Taylor-Brown
Bermuda became the smallest nation ever to win an Olympic gold medal
Mixed relay – GB (Learmonth, Jonny Brownlee, Taylor-Brown, Yee)
Each athlete in the team performs a triathlon of 300 m swim, 8 km cycle, and a 2 km run
Volleyball
Men’s indoor – France
Women’s indoor – USA
Men’s beach – Norway
Women’s beach – USA
Water polo
Men’s – Serbia
Women’s – USA
Weightlifting
Men's 96kg - Fares Ibrahim (Qatar)
First ever Olympic gold medal for Qatar
Women’s 55kg – Hidilyn Diaz (Philippines)
First ever Olympic gold medal for the Philippines
Women’s 59kg. Silver – Polina Guryeva (Turkmenistan)
First ever Olympic medal for Turkmenistan
Women’s 87+kg. Silver – Emily Campbell. First British woman to win an Olympic medal in weightlifting
Lauren Hubbard was the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic Games. She represented New Zealand in the +87kg class, but failed with three snatch lifts
China won seven of the 14 gold medals
Wrestling
Men competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman, whereas women only participated in the freestyle events
Men’s 86kg. Bronze – Myles Amine (San Marino)
2024 Paris
In July 2017, the IOC agreed a deal that would see Paris host the Games in 2024 and Los Angeles four years later
Breaking made its Olympic debut
Baseball, softball and karate were not included
More than 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees took part, including the Refugee Olympic team (EOR). Athletes from Russia and Belarus competed at the Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN). As individual athletes, the delegation did not take part in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony and was not listed as a delegation in the official medal tables. Taiwan competed as Chinese Taipei
With 329 sets of medals, the games featured 32 Olympic sports
Mascot – Phryge, an anthropomorphic Phrygian cap
Emblem – a representation of Marianne
The medals feature tokens of scrap iron that had been taken from the original construction of the Eiffel Tower, with the logo of the Games engraved into it. The gold medals are made with 98.8% silver and 1.1% gold
The opening ceremony took place on 26 July along the River Seine. Games opened by President Macron. The opening and closing ceremonies were directed by Thomas Jolly. At the Parade of Nations, the Greek team entered first, followed by the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. France entered last, preceded by USA and Australia (hosts of the next two Games). British flag carried by Tom Daley and Helen Glover. Cauldron with a hot air balloon-inspired design lit by Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec
The closing ceremony took place on 11 August at Stade de France. British flag carried by Alex Yee and Bryony Page
Botswana, Dominica, Guatemala and Saint Lucia won their first-ever Olympic gold medals
Albania, Cape Verde, Dominica, Refugee Olympic Team and Saint Lucia won their first-ever Olympic medals
Final medal table – 1st USA (40-44-42) 126 2nd China (40-27-24) 91 3rd Japan (20-12-13) 45 7th GB (14-22-29) 65
Individual Neutral Athletes won five medals but were excluded from the medal table
63 countries won gold medals. 91 countries won medals
Most gold medals – Leon Marchand (France) 4
Most medals – Zhang Yufai (6). Chinese swimmer
Archery
Location: Les Invalides
South Korea won all five gold medals
South Korea archer Lim Si-hyeon was the first person to break a world record at the Games
Artistic swimming
Men were allowed to compete, but none were selected
Location: Paris Aquatic Centre
Duet – China. Silver – GB (Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe)
Team – China
Athletics
The marathon race walk mixed relay through a marathon course was contested for the first time, replacing the men's 50 km race walk. A repechage round was introduced in all individual track events from 200 to 1500m and the hurdles events
USA won 14 gold medals
Location: Stade de France
Men
100m – Noah Lyles (USA). Silver – Kishane Thompson (Jamaica). Bronze – Fred Kerley (USA)
200m – Letsile Tebogo (Botswana). Silver – Kenneth Bednarek (USA). Bronze – Noah Lyles (USA). Lyles tested positive for Covid before the final
400m – Quincy Hall (USA). Silver – Matthew Hudson-Smith
800m – Emmanuel Wanyoni (Kenya)
1500m – Cole Hocker (USA). Silver – Josh Kerr
5000m – Jakob Ingebritsen (Norway)
10000m – Joshua Cheptegui (Uganda)
110m hurdles – Grant Holloway (USA)
400m hurdles – Rai Benjamin (USA). Silver – Karsten Warholm (Norway)
3000m steeplechase – Soufiane El Bakkali (Morocco). Retained the title
4 x 100m relay – Canada. Silver – South Africa. Bronze – GB (Jeremiah Azu, Louie Hinchliffe, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Zharnel Hughes)
4 x 400m relay – USA. Silver – Botswana. Bronze – GB (Alex Haydock-Wilson, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Lewis Davey, Charlie Dobson)
Marathon – Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia)
20km walk – Brian Pintado (Ecuador)
High jump – Hamish Kerr (New Zealand)
Long jump – Miltos Tentoglou (Greece). Retained the title
Triple jump – Jordan Diaz (Spain
Pole vault – Armand Duplantis (Sweden). New world record of 6.25 metres. Retained the title
Javelin – Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan). Silver – Neeraj Chopra (India)
Shot put – Ryan Crouser (USA). Retained the title
Discus – Roje Stona (Jamaica)
Hammer – Ethan Katzberg (Canada)
Decathlon – Markus Rooth (Norway)
Women
100m – Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia). Silver – Sha’Carri Richardson (USA). Bronze – Melissa Jefferson (USA). First-ever Olympic medal for Saint Lucia
200m – Gabrielle Thomas (USA). Silver – Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia). Bronze – Brittany Brown
400m – Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic)
800m – Keely Hodgkinson. Silver – Tsige Duguma (Ethiopia). Bronze – Mary Moraa (Kenya)
1500m – Faith Kipyegon (Kenya). Jessica Hull (Australia). Bronze – Georgia Bell
5000m – Beatrice Chebet (Kenya). Silver – Faith Kipyegon (Kenya). Bronze – Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
10000m – Beatrice Chebet (Kenya). Silver – Nadia Battocletti (Italy). Bronze – Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
100m hurdles – Masai Russell (USA)
400m hurdles – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA). Retained the title
3000m steeplechase – Winfred Yavi (Bahrain)
4x100m relay – USA. Silver – GB (Dina Asher-Smith, Imani Lara Lansiquot, Amy Hunt, Daryll Neita)
4x400m relay – USA. Silver – Netherlands. Bronze – GB (Victoria Ohuruogu, Laviai Nielsen, Nicole Yeargin, Amber Anning)
Marathon – Sifan Hassan (Netherlands). Silver – Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia)
20km walk – Yang Jiayu (China)
High jump – Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine)
Long jump – Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA)
Triple jump – Thea LaFond (Dominica). First-ever Olympic medal for Dominica
Pole vault – Nina Kennedy (Australia). Silver – Katie Moon (USA)
Javelin – Haruka Kitaguchi (Japan)
Shot put – Yemisi Ogunleye (Germany)
Discus – Valarie Allman (USA). Retained the title
Hammer – Camryn Rogers (Canada)
Heptathlon – Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium). Silver – Katarina Johnson-Thompson. Thiam retained the title
Mixed
4x400m relay – Netherlands. Silver – USA. Bronze – GB (Samuel Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Amber Anning)
Mixed marathon walk relay – Spain
One male and one female athlete take turns to racewalk four stages of approximately 10km each
Badminton
Location: Adidas Arena
Men’s singles – Victor Axelsen (Denmark). Retained the title
Basketball
Location: Accor Arena
Men’s – USA. Silver – France
Women’s – USA. Silver – France. USA won the gold medal match 67-66
Men’s 3x3 – Netherlands
Women’s 3x3 – Germany
Boxing
Location: Preliminary boxing matches occurred at Arena Paris Nord, with the medal rounds staged at the Stade Roland Garros
Uzbekistan topped the medal count in boxing, winning five gold medals (all men's). China was second with three (all women's)
Men
Welterweight. Bronze – Lewis Richardson, who was the only British boxer to win a bout
Women
Featherweight – Lin Yu-Ting (Chinese Taipei)
Lightweight – Kellie Harrington (Ireland). Retained the title
Welterweight – Imane Khelif (Algeria)
Middleweight. Bronze – Cindy Ngamba (Refugee Olympic Team). First-ever medal for Refugee Olympic Team
Lin and Khelif were controversially allowed to compete in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s World Championships after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests
Breaking
Location: Place de la Concorde
B-Boys – Phil Wizard (Philip Kim) (South Korea)
B-Girls – Ami (Ami Yuasa) (Japan)
The event was marred by the controversy generated on social media by the performance and choice of clothing of Australian breaker Raygun (Rachael Gunn)
Canoeing
Location: National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France
The men's and women's slalom kayak cross event substituted the men's and women's K-1 200-metre sprint races
Men’s C-1. Silver – Adam Burgess
Men’s kayak cross. Silver – Joe Clarke
Women’s K-1 – Jessica Fox (Australia). Bronze – Kimberley Woods
Women’s kayak cross – Noemie Fox (Australia). Bronze – Kimberley Woods
Lisa Carrington (New Zealand) won three gold medals, in the K-1 500m, K-2 500m and K-4 500m. She has now won a total of eight gold medals and one bronze medal
Cycling
Location: Cycling occurred at four different venues
Great Britain won the most overall medals, with 11, but won just two gold medals
Men
Road cycling
Road race – Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
Time trial – Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
Track cycling
Sprint – Harry Lavreysen (Netherlands). Bronze – Jack Carlin
Keirin – Harry Lavreysen (Netherlands)
Omnium – Benjamin Thomas (France)
Madison – Portugal
Team sprint – Australia. Silver – GB (Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull, Jack Carlin)
Team pursuit – Netherlands. Silver – GB (Ethan Hayter, Daniel Tanfield, Charlie Bigham, Ethan Vernon)
Mountain biking
Cross-country – Tom Pidcock. Retained the title
BMX
Men’s race – Joris Daudet (France). This was the only podium sweep during the Games
Men’s freestyle – Jose Torres Gil (Argentina). Silver – Kieran Reilly
Women
Road cycling
Road race – Kristen Faulkner (USA). Silver – Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
Time trial – Grace Brown (Australia). Silver – Anna Henderson
Track cycling
Sprint – Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand). Bronze – Emma Finucane
Keirin – Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand). Bronze – Emma Finucane
Omnium – Jennifer Valente (USA). Retained the title
Madison – Italy. Silver – GB (Elinor Barker and Neah Evans)
Team sprint – GB (Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane)
Team pursuit – USA. Bronze – GB (Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Jessica Roberts)
Mountain biking
Cross-country – Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (France)
BMX
Women’s race – Saya Sakakibara (Australia)
Diving
Location: Paris Aquatics Centre
China won all eight gold medals
Men’s 10m platform. Bronze – Noah Williams
Men’s synchronized 3m springboard. Bronze – GB (Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher)
Men’s synchronized 10m platform. Silver – GB (Tom Daley and Noah Williams)
Women’s synchronized 3m springboard. Bronze – GB (Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen)
Women’s synchronized 10m platform. Bronze – GB (Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson)
Equestrian
Location: Palace of Versailles
Individual dressage – Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Germany). Silver – Isabell Werth (Germany). Bronze – Charlotte Fry
Team dressage – Germany. Bronze – GB (Charlotte Fry, Carl Hester, Becky Moody)
Individual eventing – Michael Jung (Germany). Bronze – Laura Collett
Team eventing – GB (Laura Collett, Tom McEwen, Ros Canter)
Individual jumping – Christian Kukuk (Germany)
Team jumping – GB (Ben Maher, Harry Charles, Scott Brash)
Isabell Werth has competed at the last seven Olympics, winning the gold medal in the team dressage event in all seven, and one gold and six silver medals in the individual event
Fencing
Location: Grand Palais
Ukrainian four-time world individual sabre champion Olga Kharlan was allowed to fence by Thomas Bach despite being disqualified at the World Fencing Championships for not shaking the hand of her defeated Russian opponent
Japan topped the fencing medal table
Field hockey
Location: Stade Yves-du-Manoir
Men’s – Netherlands. Silver – Germany. Bronze – India
Women’s – Netherlands. Silver – China. Bronze – Argentina
Football
Location: throughout France. Finals were played at Parc des Princes
Argentina and Morocco's opening men’s football match was suspended for nearly two hours due to crowd trouble
Canada's women's football team were deducted six points from their group and coach Bev Priestman is banned for one year after a drone was used to spy on a rival team's training sessions
Men’s final – Spain 5 France 3
Women’s final – USA 1 Brazil 0
Golf
Location: Le Golf National
Men’s – Scottie Scheffler (USA). Silver – Tommy Fleetwood. Bronze – Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)
Women’s – Lydia Ko (New Zealand). Silver – Esther Henseleit (Germany). Bronze – Lin Xiyu (China)
Gymnastics
Location: Accor Arena
Men
Team all-around – Japan
Individual all-around – Shinnosuke Oka (Japan)
Floor – Carlos Yulo (Philippines). Silver – Artem Dolgopyat (Israel). Bronze – Jake Jarman
Pommel horse – Rhys McClenaghan (Ireland)
Vault – Carlos Yulo (Philippines). Bronze – Harry Hepworth
Women
Team all-around – USA
Individual all-around – Simone Biles (USA). Silver – Rebeca Andrade (Brazil). Bronze – Sunisa Lee (USA)
Floor – Rebeca Andrade (Brazil). Silver – Simone Biles (USA). Bronze – Ana Barbosu (Romania)
Jordan Chiles (USA) was originally awarded the bronze medal but the inquiry into her score was filed after the one minute deadline
Vault – Simone Biles (USA). Silver – Rebeca Andrade (Brazil)
Trampoline
Women’s individual – Bryony Page
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Location: Porte de La Chapelle Arena
Group all-around – China
Handball
Location: Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille
Men’s final – Denmark bt Germany
Women’s final – Norway bt France
Judo
Location: Grand Palais Éphémère in Champ de Mars
Japan topped the judo medal table
Men’s heavyweight – Teddy Riner (France)
Mixed team – France
Modern pentathlon
Location: Palace of Versailles
Men’s – Ahmed El-Gendy (Egypt)
Women’s – Michelle Gulyas (Hungary)
Rowing
Location: National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France
Netherlands topped the rowing medal table
Men
Single sculls – Oliver Zeidler (Germany)
Double sculls. Bronze – Ireland (Lynch and Doyle)
Quadruple sculls – Netherlands
Coxless pair – Croatia (Martin and Valent Sinkovic). Silver – GB (Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Thomas George)
Coxless four – USA. Bronze – GB (Oliver Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge, Fteddie Davidson)
Eight – GB
Lightweight double sculls – Ireland (Finlan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan). Retained the title
Women
Single sculls – Karolien Florijn (Netherlands)
Double sculls. Bronze – GB (Matilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Becky Wilde)
Quadruple sculls – GB (Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, Georgina Brayshaw)
Coxless four – Netherlands. Silver – GB (Helen Glover, Esme Booth, Samantha Redgrave, Rebecca Shorten)
Eight – Romania. Bronze – GB
Lightweight double sculls – GB (Emily Craig and Imogen Grant)
Rugby Sevens
Location: Stade de France
Rugby sevens matches commenced two days before the opening ceremony with the men's preliminary and quarter final stages
Men’s final – France bt Fiji
Women’s final – New Zealand bt Canada
Sailing
Location: Marseille Marina
Women’s iQFoil. Bronze – Emma Wilson. Windsurfer event
Women’s Formula Kite – Ellie Aldridge. Kiteboarding event
Nacra 17 – Italy. Mixed catamaran event
Shooting
Location: National Shooting Centre in Châteauroux
China topped the shooting medal table
Men’s trap – Nathan Hales
Women’s skeet – Francisca Crovetto (Chile). Silver – Amber Rutter
Amber Rutter was controversially denied a chance to shoot for gold when she was called to have missed a shot which slow motion replays appeared to show she hit
Mixed 10m air rifle team – China. First gold medal awarded at the Games
Skateboarding
Location: Place de la Concorde
Men’s park – Keegan Palmer (Australia). Retained the title
Men’s street – Yuto Horigome (Japan). Retained the title
Women’s park – Arisa Trew (Australia). Bronze – Sky Brown
Women’s street – Coco Yoshizawa (Japan). Aged 14
Zhang Haohao (China), the youngest competitor at the Games, was aged 11
Sport climbing
Location: Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Saint-Denis
The total number of medal events was doubled from two in the previous Games because the boulder-and-lead combined was separated from the speed format
Men’s combined – Toby Roberts
Men’s speed – Veddriq Leonardo (Indonesia)
Women’s combined – Jana Garnbret (Slovenia)
Women’s speed – Aleksandra Miroslaw (Poland)
Surfing
Location: Teahupoʻo reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia. Tahiti is 15,000 km (9,300 miles) from Paris, setting a new record for greatest physical distance of a medal event from the host city
Competitors stayed on the ship M/V Aranui 5 anchored off Tahiti as the first floating Olympic village
Men’s shortboard – Kauli Vaast (France)
Women’s shortboard – Caroline Marks (USA)
Swimming
Location: Paris La Défense Arena
Marathon swimming (10km open water) was staged at Pont Alexandre III through the Seine River
USA topped the swimming medal table
Leon Marchand won four gold medals and one bronze medal
Men
50m freestyle – Cameron McEvoy (Australia). Silver – Ben Proud
100m freestyle – Pan Zhanle (China)
Pan broke the world record in a time of 46.40 seconds
200m freestyle – David Popovici (Romania). Silver – Matt Richards
400m freestyle – Lukas Martens (Germany)
800m freestyle – Daniel Wiffen (Ireland)
1500m freestyle – Robert Finke (USA). Bronze – Daniel Wiffen (Ireland). Finke retained the title
100m backstroke – Thomas Ceccon (Italy)
200m backstroke – Hubert Kos (Hungary)
100m breaststroke – Nicol Martinenhgi (Italy). Silver – Adam Peaty tied with Nic Fink (USA)
200m breaststroke – Leon Marchand (France)
100m butterfly – Kristof Milak (Hungary)
200m butterfly – Leon Marchand (France)
Marchand won the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly on the same night
200m individual medley – Leon Marchand (France). Silver – Duncan Scott
400m individual medley – Leon Marchand (France)
4x100m freestyle relay – USA
4x200m freestyle relay – GB (James Guy, Tom Dean, Matt Richards, Duncan Scott)
4x100m medley relay – China. Bronze – France
France team included Leon Marchand
10km open water – Kristof Ravzovsky (Hungary)
Women
50m freestyle – Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden)
100m freestyle – Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden)
200m freestyle – Mollie O’Callaghan (Australia)
400m freestyle – Ariane Titmus (Australia). Retained the title
800m freestyle – Katie Ledecky (USA). Fourth successive win
1500m freestyle – Katie Ledecky (USA). Retained the title
100m backstroke – Kaylee McKeown (Australia). Retained the title
200m backstroke – Kaylee McKeown (Australia). Retained the title
100m breaststroke – Tatjana Smith (South Africa). Bronze – Mona McSharry (Ireland)
200m breaststroke – Kate Douglass (USA)
100m butterfly – Tori Huske (USA)
200m butterfly – Summer McIntosh (Canada)
200m individual medley – Summer McIntosh (Canada)
400m individual medley – Summer McIntosh (Canada)
4x100m freestyle relay – Australia
4x200m freestyle relay – Australia
4x100m medley relay – USA
10km open water – Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands)
Mixed
4x100m medley relay – USA
Table tennis
Location: Paris Expo Porte de Versailles
Men’s singles – Fan Zhendong (China)
Men’s team – China
Women’s singles – Chen Meng (China). Retained the title
Women’s team – China
Mixed doubles – China
Taekwondo
Location: Grand Palais
Men’s heavyweight. Silver – Caden Cunningham
Tennis
Location: Stade Roland Garros
Men
Men’s singles second round – Novak Djokovic bt Rafael Nadal
Men’s singles final – Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Carlos Alcaraz (Spain). Bronze – Lorenzo Musetti (Italy)
Men’s doubles – Australia (Matthew Ebden and John Peers) bt USA (Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram)
Partnered by Dan Evans, Andy Murray retired after losing in the quarter finals to Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul (USA)
Women
Women’s singles final – Zheng Qinwen (China) bt Donna Vekic (Croatia). Bronze – Iga Swiatek (Poland)
Women’s doubles – Italy (Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini) bt AIN (Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider)
Mixed
Mixed doubles – Czech Republic (Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova) bt China (Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu)
Triathlon
Location: Pont Alexandre III
Men's individual triathlon was postponed for one day because of poor water quality levels in River Seine
Men’s individual – Alex Yee. Silver – Hayden Wilde (New Zealand)
Women’s individual – Cassandre Beaugrand (France). Bronze – Beth Potter
Mixed relay – Germany. Bronze – GB (Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson, Beth Potter)
Volleyball
Location: Paris Expo Porte de Versailles
Men’s indoor – France
Women’s indoor – Italy
Beach volleyball
Location: Eiffel Tower Stadium in Champ de Mars
Men’s beach – Sweden
Women’s beach – Brazil
Water polo
Location: Paris aquatic Centre. Playoffs were staged at the Paris La Défense Arena
Men’s – Serbia. Retained the title
Women’s – Spain
Weightlifting
Location: Paris Expo Porte de Versailles
China won five of the 10 gold medals
Women’s 81+kg. Bronze – Emily Campbell
Wrestling
Location: Grand Palais Éphémère in Champ de Mars
Men competed in freestyle and Greco-Roman, whereas women only participated in the freestyle events
Japan won 8 of the18 gold medals
Men’s Greco-Roman 130kg – Mijain Lopez (Cuba)
Mijaín Lopez became the first and only athlete in modern Olympics history to win five consecutive gold medals in the same individual event
2028 Los Angeles
In September 2017 Los Angeles was formally awarded the 2028 Games following a unanimous vote by the IOC
New sports will include baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash
2032 Brisbane
Without any rival bid, Brisbane was confirmed as host of the 2032 Summer Olympics at the 138th IOC Session on 21 July 2021 in Tokyo
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Founded at the first Olympic Congress in Paris in 1894, the IOC is the leader of the Olympic movement and the guardian of the Olympic Games
The first incarnation of the Olympic Charter was published in 1908
The IOC was originally based in Paris, until Pierre de Coubertin moved it to Lausanne in 1915
The president of the IOC is elected for a term of office of eight years, renewable once for a period of four years
Presidents of the IOC
| 1894-1896 | Demetrios Vikelas |
| 1896-1925 | Pierre de Coubertin |
| 1925-1942 | Henri de Baillet-Latour |
| 1942-1952 | Sigfrid Edström |
| 1952-1972 | Avery Brundage |
| 1972-1980 | Lord Killanin |
| 1980-2001 | Juan Antonio Samaranch |
| 2001-2013 | Jacques Rogge |
| 2014- | Thomas Bach |
Olympics trivia
Olympic Games polo – won by GB in 1900, 1908 and 1920, Argentina in 1924 and 1936
Olympic Games rugby union – won by France in 1900, Australia in 1908, USA in 1920 and 1924
Princess Anne became President of the BOA in 1983. She was the only female competitor not required to have a sex test at the 1976 Olympics
National anthem of Greece is always played at closing ceremony of Olympics
HQ of International Olympic Association (IOA) is in Lausanne
Larisa Latynina was a Soviet gymnast who was the first female athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals. She won 18 medals (9 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 4 bronze medals). Won 14 medals in individual events
‘Light the passion, share the dream’ – slogan for Olympic torch
The Pierre de Coubertin medal (also known as the De Coubertin medal or the True Spirit of Sportsmanship medal) is a special medal given by the International Olympic Committee to those athletes that demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship in Olympic events
Aladar Gerevich (Hungary) won seven gold medals in fencing. He is also the only athlete to win the same event (Sabre team) six times
Pal Kovacs (Hungary) won six gold medals in fencing
Shannon Miller was the 1993 and 1994 all-around World Champion, the 1996 Olympics balance beam gold medalist, and a member of the gold medal-winning Magnificent 7 team at the Atlanta Olympics. The winner of 9 World Championships medals and 7 Olympic medals since her elite International debut in 1990, Miller ranks as the second-most decorated gymnast, male or female in American history, behind Simone Biles
Bangladesh is largest country in terms of population never to have won an Olympic medal
DR Congo is largest country in terms of size never to have won an Olympic medal
Costa Rica, Liechtenstein, and Zimbabwe have more Olympic medals won by women than by men
Project 119 was China’s Soviet-style plan to dominate the medals table at the Beijing Games
Sheila Taormina was the first woman to compete in three different Olympic events. Swimming (1996), Triathlon (2000 and 2004), modern pentathlon (2008)
Val Barker Trophy is awarded to the outstanding and most stylistic boxer of each Olympic Games since 1936. Only British winner is Dick McTaggart in 1956
Eddie Eagan was the first person to win medals at both the winter and summer Olympic Games. He is the only person to have won a gold medal in both the Summer (light-heavyweight boxing, 1920) and Winter Olympics (four-man bobsleigh, 1932)
Clara Hughes (Canada) won a bronze medal in the 1996 cycling road race, a bronze medal in the 2002 speed skating 5000m, and a gold medal in the 2006 speed skating 5000m
Hossein Rezazadeh is nicknamed ‘The Iranian Hercules’. He held the world records in weightlifting's super heavyweight class in the snatch, clean and jerk and total. He is the first Iranian athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals (2000 and 2004)
The first person to be expelled from the IOC was Jose Zubiaur of Argentina in 1907, as he failed to attend a single meeting in 13 years
American IOC member Ernst Jahncke called for the 1936 Olympics to be taken away from Berlin and urged American athletes to boycott the Games if they were held in Nazi Germany. The president of the USA Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, spoke in favour of the Berlin Games. In July 1936, the IOC expelled Jahncke and replaced him with Brundage
After the 1988 Games, the IOC voted to declare all professionals eligible for the Olympics, subject to the approval of the international federations in charge of each sport. Boxing continues to forbid professionals, while football has agreed to allow each nation to include three professionals in addition to the professionals under the age of 23, against whom there is no prohibition
The Medical Commission of the IOC began outlawing drugs in 1967. Full-scale drug testing began in 1972
East German athletes began taking steroids in 1968
The IOC banned steroids in 1974 and began testing for them at the 1976 Olympics. The East Germans beat the tests
When an athlete is chosen for doping control, they must produce a urine sample of 100ml, which is divided into two bottles. If the ‘A’ sample is positive, the ‘B’ sample is tested. If the ‘B’ sample is also positive, the athlete is disqualified
Drug testing is now administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
Springboard diving is performed from a springboard 3m above the water. The board must be at least 4.8m long and 0.5m wide
Platform diving is staged from a rigid platform 10m above the water. The platform must be at least 6m long and 2m wide
In early Olympics positions were determined by ordinals (place-figures) rather than points
Olympic swimming pools must be 50m long
The first false start in a race was excused until 2010. Anyone who commits a false start after the first one was immediately disqualified
Fastest qualifier is swimming is in lane 4, slowest qualifier is in lane 8
Backstroke – the feet must be submerged. Swimmers may remain completely submerged for the first 15m of a race – rule introduced after the 1988 Olympics to ban the ‘submarine’ start
Individual medley – butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle
Medley relay – backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle
Men’s 400m breaststroke was an event in 1904, 1912, and 1920
Synchronized swimming was introduced to the Olympics in 1984 with a solo event and a duet event. Both of these events were dropped after the 1992 Olympics and were replaced in 1996 by a team event with nine swimmers on each team. The duet event was reinstated in 2000. FINA renamed the sport from "synchronized swimming" to "artistic swimming" in 2017
Between 1960 and 1980, water polo matches consisted of four five-minute quarters. In 1984 the quarters were extended to seven minutes
Between 1896 and 1968 athletes from the USA won every Olympic pole vault competition. At 16 in a row, this remains the longest national winning streak in any event in any sport in Olympic history
Between 1964 and 1976 Irena Szewinska won seven medals in five different events, second only to Merlene Ottey’s nine
Merlene Ottey was the first female runner to compete in six Olympics
Women’s high hurdles race was 80m from 1932 to 1968, and 100m from 1972 onwards
Gail Devers never won a medal in her strongest event, the 100m hurdles
Evelyn Ashford won three gold medals in 4 x 100m relay, in 1984, 1998 and 1992
Women’s 10 km walk was held in 1992 and 1996
Boxing takes place in a 20’ square ring. Format changed to four two-minute rounds in 2000, then back to three three-minute rounds in 2009. Boxers may not wear beards. Boxers must be at least 17 and no older than 34. If one boxer builds an advantage of 15 points the bout is stopped. Boxing is the only Olympic sport in which professionals are not allowed to compete. Lowest weight – light flyweight (48 kg)
From the 2016 Summer Olympics, male athletes no longer have to wear protective headgear
Super Heavyweight boxing division was known as Heavyweight from 1904 to 1980
A fencing match is played to 15. If the score is tied after nine minutes, one minute of sudden death overtime is contested
Cosmo Duff Gordon was in the British team that won silver in the Team Epee in 1906. Sailed to New York on the Titanic and back on the Lusitania
Taekwondo weight categories – flyweight, featherweight, welterweight, heavyweight
A freestyle wrestling match is ended as a result of a fall or if one wrestler achieves a 10-point lead
Wrestling is the only sport with a maximum weight limit (125kg super heavyweight)
In Greco-Roman wrestling, no holds may be made below the hips. The weight categories and scoring is the same as freestyle wrestling. Created in 19th century France
Korea won all women’s archery events from 1984 to 2004
Men’s canoeing events are raced over 200m, 500m and 1000m
Women’s canoeing events are raced over 200m and 500m
Cycling pursuit is raced over 4000m
Match sprint is over 1000m (three laps)
GB won six straight bronze medals in the team pursuit between 1928 and 1956
2000m tandem race held between 1906 and 1972
Team time trial race held from 1912 to 1992
Equestrian participants must be 18, or 16 for dressage events
A fall in show jumping results in eight penalty points
Show jumping team competition is known as Prix des Nations
The 24 gymnasts with the highest scores in the team competition advance to the All-Around final
The top eight scorers for each apparatus in the team competition qualify for the apparatus finals
Gymnasts must be at least 16 years old in the year of the Olympics
Only four of the five accessories (hoop, rope, clubs, ball, and ribbon) are chosen for each Olympic rhythmic gymnastics competition. Competitors must be at least 15 years old
In sculling events, each rower pulls two oars. In sweep events, each rower pulls one oar
The cox must weigh at least 55kg
Men in lightweight events may weigh no more than 72.5kg
All races are over 2000m
USA won rowing eights from 1920 to 1956
Finn dinghy was designed by Swedish canoe designer Rickard Sarby in 1949
470 was designed in 1963 by the Frenchman André Cornu. The name is the overall length of the boat in centimetres (i.e., the boat is 4.70 m long). Double-handed dinghy
Star was designed by Francis Sweisguth of New York in 1910
Europe is a single-handed dinghy sometimes known as the ‘small Finn’. It was designed by Alois Roland of Belgium in 1960
Yngling is a three-person keelboat designed in 1967 by Jan Herman Linge
Laser was designed in 1969 by Bruce Kirby of the USA
49er is a double-handed dinghy with a large sail area
Tornado is a two-man catamaran. Designed in England in 1966
The first woman to take part in Olympic yachting was Frances Rivett-Carnac (GB) who crewed for her husband in the 7-metre class in 1908
Discontinued yachting events – Dragon, Flying Dutchman, Tempest, Swallow, Soling (three-man keelboat designed by Jan Herman Linge), Sharpie
Small-bore rifle, three positions – each entrant shoots 40 shots prone, 40 kneeling and 40 standing
Between 1972 and 1988 the running target event used a life-size reproduction of a wild boar as the target
In the trap or clay pigeon event, clay saucers 4 1/3” in diameter are flung into the air. The shooter is allowed two shots at each bird
Double trap – two clay targets are launched at the same time
Skeet shooting uses the same clay saucers as trap shooting, but the rifle must be held at the hip until the target is launched. Whereas trap birds are sent out at ground level, in skeet they are released from two towers, one high, one low
Skeet shooting was introduced in 1968, and until 1992 both men and women were allowed to participate. But in 1996 the event was limited to men only, which was somewhat controversial because the 1992 Olympic Champion was a woman, Zhang Shan of China
Sexual integration of shooting began in 1968. In 1984 some events were divided into separate men’s and women’s competitions. By 1996 the sexes were completely segregated once again
The press was discontinued following the 1972 Olympics
First heavyweight class existed from 1980 to 1996
Early weightlifting competitions included the one-hand snatch and one-hand jerk
Kakhi Kakhiashvili, a Georgian-Greek weightlifter, is one of only four weightlifters to have won three consecutive gold medals at Olympic Games. He won his first in 1992, competing with the Unified Team, and later as a citizen of Greece in and 2000
In Olympic baseball, if one team is ahead by 10 or more runs after seven or eight innings, the game is over. A designated hitter is used in all games
In 1989, the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA) voted to allow NBA players to compete at the Olympics
Men’s lacrosse was held in 1904 and 1908. Won by Canada on both occasions
In tug of war, the first team to pull the other team 6’ was declared the winner
The awarding of gold, silver, and bronze medals began in 1904
Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl made nine Olympic appearances
Albania boycotted four consecutive Olympics, from 1976 to 1988
Michael Phelps is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16)
Boris Shakhlin was a Soviet gymnast who won a total of 13 medals including seven gold medals. He held the record for most Olympic medals by a male athlete record until gymnast Nikolai Andrianov won his 14th and 15th medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Deszo Gyarmati (Hungary) won five Olympic medals (gold in 1952, 1956 and 1964, silver in 1948, bronze in 1960
Agnes Keleti (Hungary) won 10 Olympic medals including five gold medals, and is considered to be one of the most successful Jewish Olympic athletes of all time. She was the most successful athlete at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Oliver Halassy was a member of the Hungarian water polo team which won two gold medals and one silver medal between 1928 and 1936. His left leg was amputated below the knee after a childhood traffic accident
Matt Biondi won 11 medals (eight gold, two silver, and one bronze) between 1984 and 1992
Detroit has had seven failed bids to hold the Olympics
Yugoslavia were runners-up in the football in 1948, 1952 and1956, and won in 1960
Shirley Babashoff won two gold medals and six silver medals in swimming
Five sports have appeared at every Olympics – Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, and Swimming
Neroli Fairhall took up archery following a motorbike accident which paralysed her from the waist down, ending her previous athletic career. She was able to compete in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, shooting for New Zealand. Fairhall was the first paraplegic to compete in the Olympic Games
Karoly Takacs (Hungary) was a world-class pistol shooter, but he was denied a place in the Hungarian shooting team for the 1936 Summer Olympics on the grounds that he was a sergeant, and only commissioned officers were allowed to compete. During army training in 1938, his right hand was badly injured when a faulty grenade exploded. Takacs was determined to continue his shooting career, and switched to shooting with his left hand. He won the gold medal in the 25m rapid fire pistol in 1948, and retained the title in 1952
Sawao Kato (Japan) won eight golds, three silvers and a bronze in gymnastics between 1968 and 1976
Reiner Klimke (Germany) won six gold and two bronze medals in dressage at the Summer Olympics – a record for equestrian events. He appeared in six Olympic Games from 1960 to 1988 (excluding 1980)
Fastest average speed in athletics – men’s 4 x 100m relay
Kitty Godfree won five Olympic medals in tennis at the 1920 Antwerp and 1924 Paris games, the most Olympic medals ever won by a tennis player
Representing Jamaica, Lennox Miller won the silver medal in the 100 metres in the 1968 Summer Olympics, and the bronze in the 1972 Summer Olympics, also in the 100 metres. He and Inger (gold, 4x100m relay) are the first father-daughter to win Olympic track and field medals
Lightweight events are held in rowing and weightlifting
Shirley Strickland has won more Olympic medals (seven) than any other Australian in running sports
The women’s Olympic record in the discus is further than men’s Olympic record
The idea of the Olympic Village comes from Pierre de Coubertin. Up until 1924, National Olympic Committees rented locations around the host city to house participants. For the 1924 Summer Olympics, the organizers built cabins near the Stade Olympique de Colombes to allow the athletes to easily access the Games' venues. The Olympic Village of the 1932 Summer Olympics served as the model of today's Olympic Villages; it consisted of a group of buildings with rooms to lodge athletes
Lis Hartel (Denmark) became the first woman in equestrianism to win an Olympic medal when she won silver medals at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics in dressage. She accomplished this feat despite being paralysed below the knees as a result of polio and required assistance on and off her horse
Fibreglass poles were first used in the pole vault competition in 1964
Jefferson Perez (Ecuador) specialized in the 20 km event, in which he has won the first two medals his country ever achieved in the Olympic Games. He won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics
Russian gymnast Alexei Nemov has won 12 Olympic medals, including more Olympic bronze medals (six) than any other athlete
Jack Kelly was a triple Olympic Gold Medal winner, the first to do so in the sport of rowing. He won 126 straight races in the single scull. He was the father of Grace Kelly
Nova Peris-Kneebone became the first Aboriginal Australian to win a medal, as a member of the winning women’s hockey team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta
Beach volleyball – two sets to 21, tie-break to 15 if one set all
Sinclair Coefficients are a means to compare different weight classes in Olympic weightlifting
The Olympic eventing competition was originally open only to male military officers in active duty, mounted only on military charges. In 1924, the event was open to male civilians, although non-commissioned Army officers could not participate in the Olympics until 1956. Women were first allowed to take part in 1964
Jenny Thompson is an American swimmer, and one of the most decorated Olympians in history, winning twelve medals, including eight gold medals (all relay), in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics
Finland is the most successful currently competing country at the Olympic Games based on their population size and the number of Olympic medals and gold medals won
New Zealand has won most medals per capita
Great Britain has won most medals in sailing
Liechtenstein is longest-serving IOC member yet to win a medal at the Summer Olympics
Paulo Radmilovic was a Welsh water polo player and swimmer of Croatian and Irish origin who won four Olympic titles in a 22 year Olympic career. He won four gold medals across three successive Olympic Games, a record which stood for a Great Britain Olympic athlete until broken by Steve Redgrave when he won his fifth gold medal at Sydney in 2000. In 1928, he was the first person to compete for Britain at five Olympic Games, a record that would remain until surpassed by fencer Bill Hoskyns in 1976
Henry Taylor was a British freestyle swimmer who competed at four Olympic Games. His record of three gold medals at one Olympic Games – the most by any Briton – stood for 100 years until it was equalled by cyclist Chris Hoy in 2008. Along with American runner Mel Sheppard, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics
Jack Beresford was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession – gold medals in 1924, 1932 and 1936, and silver medals in 1920 and 1928
Charles Sydney Smith competed as goalkeeper for the England Water Polo team which won gold medals in1908, and 1912 After the Great War he returned, at the age of 44, as part of the Great Britain team to win a third Gold Medal at the 1920 games. He was still in the team four years later competing in 1924. Smith was chosen to represent the country as the flag bearer at the 1912 Summer Olympics. This made him the first competing athlete to carry the flag for Great Britain
George Wilkinson was part of the British water polo team and won three gold medals, in 1900, 1908 and 1912
Valentina Vezzali has won six Olympic gold medals in foil competitions. Together with the German shooter Ralf Schumann, the Slovak slalom canoeist Michal Martikan and the Japanese female judoka Ryoko Tani, she is one of only four athletes in the history of the Summer Olympic Games to have won five medals in the same individual event
in 2017, Usain Bolt was stripped of the 4×100m relay gold from the Beijing Games in 2008 because his teammate Nesta Carter was found guilty of a doping violation
Dmitri Sautin is a Russian diver who has won more medals than any other Olympic diver
Cuba has won 235 Olympic medals, but has never had a competitor at Winter Olympics
Lindsay Davenport is the only woman to win gold in tennis at home Olympics since reintroduction in 1988
Hungary is most successful country at Olympics never to have hosted the event, and is the country with the highest number of gold medals won per capita
Liechtenstein is the only country to have won medals at Winter but not Summer Olympics
Electronic scoring introduced in Olympic fencing – 1936 (epee), 1956 (foil), 1988 (sabre)
Five sports have been held at every Olympics – Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Swimming
GB, France and Switzerland are the only countries to have attended all summer and winter games
GB is the only country to have won a gold medal at every modern summer Olympic Games
German swimmer Franziska van Almsick has the distinction of having the most career Olympic medals, ten, without ever winning a gold medal
Carl Osburn won 11 medals in shooting
Modern Pentathlon fencing competition uses the epee
Boxers must be aged between 18 and 40
Kakhi Kakhiashvili (Georgian-Greek weightlifter) and Daniel Carroll (Australian-American rugby union player) are the only athletes to have won gold medals for two different countries
Percy Legard was he first British athlete to compete in Summer and Winter Olympics, competing in the 1936 Modern Pentathlon and Nordic Combined events
Diana Taurasi has won five gold medals for USA in basketball (2004 – 2020)
Svetlana Romashina has won seven gold medals for Russia in synchronized swimming
Pal Szerkeres is a retired Hungarian foil and sabre fencer. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games
1988 Paralympics were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games
Zambia declared its independence on the day of the closing ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics, thereby becoming the first country ever to have entered an Olympic Games as one country (Northern Rhodesia), and left it as another. They carried different flags at the opening and closing ceremonies
An Olympic gold medal is composed at least 92.5% of silver, plated with 6 grams of gold
Harry Charles, who was a member of the British team that won show jumping gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is a son of Peter Charles, a member of the team that won the team jumping gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics
There are 28 “core” sports which take place at every Olympics. Other sports which are chosen for each Games are “optional” sports
Thomas Bach won a gold medal in fencing in 1976
Jacques Rogge competed in three Olympic Games in yachting, for Belgium
