Summer Olympic Games facts for kids

The Summer Olympic Games, also called the Summer Olympics, is a huge international sports event. It usually happens every four years, like a big global party for athletes! The very first Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The most recent ones were in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) organizes these Games. They also make sure the host city is ready. Medals started being given out in 1904. Athletes get gold medals for first place, silver medals for second, and bronze medals for third. The Summer Olympics are known as the biggest and most important sports event in the world! Because they were so successful, the Winter Olympic Games were also created.

The Games have grown a lot! In 1896, there were fewer than 250 male athletes from 14 countries, competing in 42 events. By 2021, there were 11,420 athletes from 206 countries, with almost half of them being women, competing in 339 events. The Summer Olympics have been held in 19 different countries across five continents.

Some countries have hosted the Games many times. The United States has hosted four times, and will host a fifth time soon! Great Britain has hosted three times. Greece, France, Germany, Australia, and Japan have each hosted twice.

London was the first city to host the Summer Olympics three times. Paris will host for the third time in 2024. Los Angeles will also host for the third time in 2028. Only five countries have been in every Summer Olympic Games: Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. The United States has won the most medals in total at the Summer Olympics.

Hosting the Games

Map of Summer Olympic Games locations. Countries that hosted once are green. Countries that hosted two or more times are blue.

The United States has hosted the Summer Olympics four times. The 1904 Games were in St. Louis, Missouri. Both the 1932 and 1984 Games were in Los Angeles, California. The 1996 Games were in Atlanta, Georgia. Los Angeles will host again in 2028, making it five times for the U.S.!

In 2012, Great Britain hosted its third Summer Olympics in London. London was the first city to host the Games three times. Los Angeles, Paris, and Athens have each hosted twice. Paris will become the second city to host three times in 2024. Then, Los Angeles will be the third city to do so in 2028.

Australia, France, Germany, Greece, and Japan have all hosted the Summer Olympics twice. Tokyo, Japan, hosted the 2020 Games. It was the first city outside of Europe or English-speaking countries to host the Summer Olympics twice. Tokyo also hosted in 1964.

Other countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics once include Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Spain, and Sweden.

Asia has hosted the Summer Olympics four times. These were in Tokyo (1964 and 2020), Seoul (1988), and Beijing (2008).

The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were the first Summer Olympics in South America. They were also the first held during the local "winter" season. Only Australia and Brazil have hosted the Summer Olympics in the Southern Hemisphere. Africa has not yet hosted any Summer Olympics.

Sometimes, events are held in different cities. Stockholm, Sweden, hosted the 1912 Games. It also hosted the horse riding events for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Amsterdam, Netherlands, hosted the 1928 Games. It also hosted some sailing races in the 1920 Summer Olympics. In 2008, Hong Kong hosted the horse riding events for the Beijing Olympics.

History of the Games

How the Olympics Started

The opening ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games in the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was started in 1894. A French teacher and historian named Pierre de Coubertin wanted to bring countries together through sports. He believed competition could help people understand each other better.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. Only 245 athletes competed, and most were Greek. Just 14 countries took part. No other international sports event had been this big before! Women were not allowed to compete. However, one woman, Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course by herself to show her determination.

About 100,000 people watched the opening of the 1896 Games. Even though Greece had the most athletes, the U.S. won the most first-place medals. They had 11 champions, while Greece had 10. Athens was chosen as the first host city because Ancient Greece was where the original Olympic Games began. Everyone agreed on Athens at a meeting organized by Pierre de Coubertin in Paris in 1894. The IOC was also created at this meeting.

The 1896 Olympics were a big success, even with some challenges. More countries participated than ever before in a sports event. The Panathinaiko Stadium, a huge stadium, was packed with the biggest crowd ever for a sporting event. A Greek water carrier named Spiridon Louis won the Marathon. He finished in 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 50 seconds, making the crowd cheer wildly! The German athlete Carl Schuhmann was the most successful, winning four gold medals in wrestling and gymnastics.

Greek officials and the public loved hosting the Olympics. Many athletes also wanted Athens to be the permanent host city. But the IOC wanted the Games to move to different cities around the world. So, the next Olympics were held in Paris.

Four years later, the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris had over four times as many athletes. For the first time, 20 women were officially allowed to compete. They took part in sports like croquet, golf, sailing, and tennis. These Games were part of the Paris World's Fair and lasted over five months.

Francis Olympic Field at Washington University in St. Louis during the 1904 Summer Olympics.

The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis had very few top athletes from outside the U.S. and Canada. This was partly because of the Russo–Japanese War and how hard it was to travel to St. Louis.

In 1906, there were "Second International Olympic Games in Athens." The IOC doesn't officially recognize these as Olympic Games, but many historians believe they helped save the Olympics from disappearing. These Games were more successful than the 1900 and 1904 Games, with over 850 athletes.

The 1908 London Games saw even more athletes. This was also when the marathon race was set to its current distance of 42.195 kilometers (26 miles 385 yards). The first Olympic Marathon in 1896 was 40 kilometers. The new distance was chosen so the race would finish in front of the British royal family's viewing box. Great Britain won 146 medals, their best result ever.

Dorando Pietri finishes the modern marathon in 1908.

At the end of the 1908 marathon, Italian runner Dorando Pietri was first to enter the stadium. But he was very tired and collapsed before finishing. Race officials helped him across the line, but he was later disqualified for getting help. As a special gift, Queen Alexandra gave Pietri a silver cup.

The Games continued to grow, with 2,504 athletes in Stockholm in 1912. This included the amazing athlete Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon. Thorpe had played baseball for money before, so his medals were taken away because of rules about "amateurism" (not being paid for sports). His medals were given back in 1983, 30 years after he passed away. The Stockholm Games were the first where athletes from all five inhabited continents competed in the same stadium.

The 1916 Summer Olympics were canceled because of World War I.

Between the World Wars

The 1920 Antwerp Games in Belgium were quieter because of the war's effects. But they still had a record number of athletes. This record was broken in 1924, when the Paris Games had 3,000 athletes. The famous Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, known as the "Flying Finn", won three team gold medals and two individual races on the same day.

The 1928 Amsterdam Games were special because women were allowed to compete in track and field for the first time. These Games also saw the first company to sponsor the Olympics, Coca-Cola Company. A standard medal design was introduced, showing the Greek goddess Nike. This design was used until 1972.

The 1932 Los Angeles Games had fewer athletes because of the Great Depression, a time of economic hardship.

Olympiastadion in Berlin, during the 1936 Games.

The 1936 Berlin Games were used by the German government to promote their ideas. They hired filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to make a movie about the Games, called Olympia. It was a famous film. During these Games, African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won four gold medals. This showed that the idea of "Aryan" racial superiority was not true. The 1936 Berlin Games also started the tradition of the Torch Relay.

The 1940 Summer Olympics and 1944 Summer Olympics were canceled because of World War II. London hosted the first Games after the war in 1948.

After World War II

The first Games after the war were in 1948 in London. Germany and Japan were not allowed to compete. Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals in track events, just like Jesse Owens did.

At the 1952 Helsinki Games, the USSR team competed for the first time. They quickly became one of the strongest teams. A friendly Czechoslovakian army lieutenant named Emil Zátopek became a legend. He won the 10,000-meter and 5,000-meter races. Then, he entered the marathon, even though he had never run one before! He won by a lot, completing a triple victory.

The 1956 Melbourne Games were mostly successful. But a water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union became a fight between the teams. This was because of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Horse riding events were held in Stockholm because of animal health rules in Australia.

At the 1960 Rome Games, a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali, became famous. Ali later threw away his gold medal because he was refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant in his hometown. He received a new medal 36 years later at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Another great athlete in 1960 was Wilma Rudolph, who won three gold medals in running.

The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first to be shown worldwide on television. This was possible because of new communication satellites. These Games made the Olympics much more visible and popular around the world. Judo became an official sport.

The opening ceremony for the 1968 Games, in Mexico City, the first held in Latin America.

Athlete performances at the 1968 Games in Mexico City were affected by the city's high altitude. These Games introduced the Fosbury flop, a new high jump technique that helped American high jumper Dick Fosbury win gold. During the medal ceremony for the men's 200-meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists. They did this to support civil rights. The IOC then removed them from the Games. Gymnast Věra Čáslavská protested the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia by turning her head away from the Soviet flag during the medal ceremony. She was seen as a hero in Czechoslovakia.

The Olympic flag at half-mast in Kiel (host city of the sailing events), after the Munich massacre at 1972 Games.

Politics caused a deadly event at the 1972 Games in Munich. A terrorist group called Black September attacked the Olympic village. They killed two Israeli athletes and took nine others hostage. The Israeli government refused to release prisoners, and the situation became very tense. The terrorists and hostages were taken to an airport, where German security forces tried to stop them. In the fight, 15 people died, including the nine Israeli athletes and five terrorists. After much discussion, the Games continued, but everyone was affected by these events.

Despite the tragedy, there were amazing athletic moments. United States swimmer Mark Spitz won a record seven gold medals. Finland's Lasse Virén won gold medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut won three gold medals, including a historic backflip off the high bar. In the men's basketball final, the United States lost to the Soviet Union in a very controversial game. The U.S. team refused to accept their silver medals.

The 1976 Montreal Games did not have a tragedy, but they cost much more than planned. The Games cost $1.5 billion, making them the most expensive Olympics at the time. Many African nations boycotted the Games to protest a recent rugby tour of apartheid-run South Africa. Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci made history by earning two perfect scores in her events. She won the women's individual all-around gold medal. Lasse Virén won his 5,000 and 10,000-meter races again, becoming the first athlete to win both distance races twice.

End of the 20th Century

After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, 66 countries, including the United States, Canada, and Japan, boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow. Only 80 nations participated, the smallest number since 1956. The boycott made the Games less competitive and less publicized.

In 1984, the Soviet Union and 13 of its allies boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Only Romania and Yugoslavia from the Eastern Bloc attended. These Games were the first to make a profit. Even with the boycott, a record 140 National Olympic Committees took part. It was also the first time mainland China participated.

The 1988 Games in Seoul were well-organized. However, they were affected by doping scandals. Many athletes, including men's 100-meter winner Ben Johnson, failed drug tests. This overshadowed many great drug-free performances.

The 1992 Barcelona Games allowed professional basketball players from the NBA to compete. This included the famous U.S. "Dream Team". Several smaller European countries that had been part of the Soviet Union also returned to the Games. Gymnast Vitaly Scherbo won five individual gold medals, setting a new record for a Summer Olympics.

By this time, choosing a host city for the Games had become a big business. There were many claims of corruption affecting the IOC's decisions.

At the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, 200 meters runner Michael Johnson broke the world record in front of his home crowd. Canadians celebrated Donovan Bailey's gold medal run in the 100-meter dash. This felt like a good comeback after the Ben Johnson scandal. There were also emotional moments, like when Muhammad Ali, who had Parkinson's disease, lit the Olympic torch. He also received a replacement medal for the one he had thrown away in 1960. However, the Games were saddened by a bomb explosion in Centennial Olympic Park.

The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, were known as the "Games of the New Millennium."

The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, were called the "Games of the New Millennium." Local favorites like swimmer Ian Thorpe and Indigenous Australian runner Cathy Freeman had great performances. Briton Steve Redgrave won a rowing gold medal in his fifth straight Olympics, which was amazing. Eric "the Eel" Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, became famous for his very slow but determined 100-meter freestyle swim. He won his heat because his opponents were disqualified. The Sydney Games also saw North and South Korea march together in the opening ceremony for the first time.

Start of the 21st Century

In 2004, the Olympic Games returned to their birthplace in Athens, Greece. Over $7.2 billion was spent on the Games, including $1.5 billion on security. Michael Phelps won his first Olympic medals, with six gold and two bronze. Pyrros Dimas became the most decorated weightlifter ever with four Olympic medals. Even though there were worries about terrorism, attendance improved as the Games went on. The IOC President, Jacques Rogge, praised Greece's organization and security. All 202 National Olympic Committees participated, with over 11,000 athletes.

The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, China. Several new events were added, like BMX cycling and women's steeplechase. The fencing program was expanded. Marathon swimming events (10 km) were also added. American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record with eight gold medals at one Games. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became the first male athlete to set world records in both the 100 and 200 meters in the same Games. Horse riding events were held in Hong Kong.

London hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics, becoming the first city to host the Games three times. The host nation, Great Britain, won 29 gold medals, their best result since 1908. The United States returned to the top of the medal table. The IOC removed baseball and softball from the 2012 program. The London Games were very successful financially, as every ticket was sold out. There was a lot of demand for tickets, and a system was put in place to fill empty seats that were reserved for sponsors.

Recent and Future Games

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, had few attendees because public spectators were not allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rio de Janeiro in Brazil hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics. It was the first South American city to host the Olympics. The preparations for these Games had some challenges, including political problems and an economic crisis in Brazil. There were also worries about the Zika virus and pollution. However, a state-sponsored doping scandal involving Russian athletes was a major concern.

The 2020 Summer Olympics were supposed to be in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020. Tokyo was the fifth city to host the Games twice. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Games were postponed to 2021. This was the first time the Olympics had ever been delayed. Unlike previous Olympics, these Games took place without spectators due to COVID-19 concerns. Still, the Tokyo 2020 Games had many memorable moments. U.S. gymnast Simone Biles stepped back to focus on her mental health but later won an individual bronze medal. Norway's Karsten Warholm broke his own world record in the 400m hurdles.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will be held in Paris, France. This will make Paris the second city, after London, to host the Summer Olympics three times. These will be the first Olympics after the pandemic to allow spectators. For the first time, the opening ceremonies will be held outside the main stadium, with athletes parading on boats along the Seine River. Open water swimming will also happen in the river.

The 2028 Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles, California, United States. This will make Los Angeles the third city to host the Games three times. The U.S. will host the Summer Olympics for the fifth time.

The 2032 Summer Olympics will be held in Brisbane, Australia. This will be the third city in Australia to host the Games.

Olympic Sports

Over time, 42 different sports have been part of the Olympic program. The recent Summer Olympics (2020) had 33 sports. The next Summer Olympics (2024) will have 32 sports.

The different groups that manage Olympic sports are part of a larger organization called the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

  Current sport     No longer included

How Athletes Qualify

Rules for qualifying in each Olympic sport are set by the International Sports Federation (IF) for that sport.

For individual sports, athletes usually qualify by doing well in a big international event or by being high on the IF's ranking list. Generally, a country can send a maximum of three athletes per individual competition. Each country's Olympic Committee decides which qualified athletes will represent them.

For team sports, countries usually qualify through special tournaments for different continents. Each continent gets a certain number of spots in the Olympic tournament. A country can only have one team per competition. In some sports, a "team" might just be two people.

How Popular Are Olympic Sports?

The IOC puts Summer Olympic sports into five groups (A to E) based on how popular they are. They look at things like how many people watch on TV (40%), how popular they are online (20%), public surveys (15%), ticket requests (10%), news coverage (10%), and how many national sports groups exist (5%). The group a sport is in affects how much Olympic money its International Federation receives. New sports like rugby and golf were put in Category E.

Here are the current categories:

Aquatics includes artistic swimming, diving, swimming, and water polo.

All-Time Medal Count

This table uses official information from the IOC.

      Countries that no longer exist

No.	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Games
1	United States	1065	835	738	2638	28
2	Soviet Union	395	319	296	1010	9
3	Great Britain	285	319	314	918	29
4	China	262	199	173	634	11
5	France	223	251	277	751	29
6	Italy	217	188	213	618	28
7	Germany	201	207	247	655	17
8	Hungary	181	154	176	511	27
9	Japan	169	150	178	497	23
10	Australia	164	173	210	547	27
11	East Germany	153	129	127	409	5
12	Russia	149	126	151	426	6
13	Sweden	148	176	179	503	28
14	Finland	101	85	119	305	26
15	South Korea	96	91	100	287	18
16	Netherlands	95	105	122	322	27
17	Romania	90	97	121	308	22
18	Cuba	84	69	82	235	21
19	Poland	72	89	137	298	22
20	Canada	71	109	146	326	27

Countries with Most Medals Each Year

Number of times a country topped the medal table:

•  United States — 18 times
•  Soviet Union — 6 times
•  France — once
•  Great Britain — once
•  Germany — once
•  China — once
•  Unified Team — once

List of Summer Olympic Games

The IOC has never fully decided which events in the early Games were "Olympic" and which were not. The founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, let the organizers of those Games decide.

Olympiad	No.	Host	Games dates / Opened by	Sports (Disciplines)	Competitors			Events	Nations	Top nation
					Total	Men	Women
1896	I	Athens	6-15 April 1896 King George I	9 (10)	241	241	0	43	14	United States
1900	II	Paris	1 June – 1 July 1900 Baron Pierre de Coubertin	19 (21)	1226	1202	24	95	26	France
1904	III	St. Louis	10 June – 10 July 1904 Governor David R. Francis	16 (18)	651	645	6	95	12	United States
1908	IV	London	12 June – 12 July 1908 King Edward VII	22 (25)	2008	1971	37	110	22	Great Britain
1912	V	Stockholm	7 June – 7 July 1912 King Gustaf V	14 (18)	2407	2359	48	102	28	United States
1916	VI	Awarded to Germany (Berlin). Cancelled due to World War I
1920	VII	Antwerp	14 August – 12 September 1920 King Albert I	22 (29)	2626	2561	65	156	39	United States
1924	VIII	Paris	5–27 July 1924 President Gaston Doumergue	17 (23)	3089	2954	135	126	44	United States
1928	IX	Amsterdam	28 July – 12 August 1928 Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	14 (20)	2883	2606	277	109	46	United States
1932	X	Los Angeles	30 July – 14 August 1932 Vice President Charles Curtis		1332	1206	126	117	37	United States
1936	XI	Berlin	1–16 August 1936 Chancellor Adolf Hitler	19 (25)	3963	3632	331	129	49	Germany
1940	XII	Originally awarded to Japan (Tokyo), then awarded to Finland (Helsinki). Cancelled due to World War II
1944	XIII	Awarded to United Kingdom (London). Cancelled due to World War II
1948	XIV	London	29 July – 14 August 1948 King George VI	17 (23)	4104	3714	390	136	59	United States
1952	XV	Helsinki	19 July – 3 August 1952 President Juho Kusti Paasikivi		4955	4436	519	149	69	United States
1956	XVI	Melbourne	22 November – 8 December 1956 Philip, Duke of Edinburgh		3314	2938	376	151	72	Soviet Union
1960	XVII	Rome	25 August – 11 September 1960 President Giovanni Gronchi		5338	4727	611	150	83	Soviet Union
1964	XVIII	Tokyo	10–24 October 1964 Emperor Hirohito	19 (25)	5151	4473	678	163	93	United States
1968	XIX	Mexico City	12–27 October 1968 President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz	18 (24)	5516	4735	781	172	112	United States
1972	XX	Munich	26 August – 11 September 1972 President Gustav Heinemann	21 (28)	7134	6075	1059	195	121	Soviet Union
1976	XXI	Montreal	17 July – 1 August 1976 Queen Elizabeth II	21 (27)	6084	4824	1260	198	92	Soviet Union
1980	XXII	Moscow	19 July – 3 August 1980 Chairman of the Presidium Leonid Brezhnev		5179	4064	1115	203	80	Soviet Union
1984	XXIII	Los Angeles	28 July – 12 August 1984 President Ronald Reagan	21 (29)	6829	5263	1566	221	140	United States
1988	XXIV	Seoul	17 September – 2 October 1988 President Roh Tae-woo	23 (31)	8391	6197	2194	237	159	Soviet Union
1992	XXV	Barcelona	25 July – 9 August 1992 King Juan Carlos I	25 (34)	9356	6652	2704	257	169	Soviet Union
1996	XXVI	Atlanta	19 July – 4 August 1996 President Bill Clinton	26 (37)	10318	6806	3512	271	197	United States
2000	XXVII	Sydney	15 September – 1 October 2000 Governor-General Sir William Deane	28 (40)	10651	6582	4069	300	199	United States
2004	XXVIII	Athens	13–29 August 2004 President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos		10625	6296	4329	301	201	United States
2008	XXIX	Beijing	8–24 August 2008 President Hu Jintao	28 (41)	10942	6305	4637	302	204	China
2012	XXX	London	27 July – 12 August 2012 Queen Elizabeth II	26 (39)	10768	5992	4776	302	204	United States
2016	XXXI	Rio de Janeiro	5–21 August 2016 Acting President Michel Temer	28 (42)	11238	6179	5059	306	207	United States
2020	XXXII	Tokyo	23 July – 8 August 2021 Emperor Naruhito	33 (50)	11676	5982	5494	339	206	United States
2024	XXXIII	Paris	26 July – 11 August 2024 President Emmanuel Macron (expected)	32 (48)	10500	5250	5250	329	TBA	TBA
2028	XXXIV	Los Angeles	14–30 July 2028 TBA	35 (51)	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
2032	XXXV	Brisbane	23 July – 8 August 2032 TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

• A. The IOC website for the 1896, 1900, and 1904 Games does not count "Mixed teams" (teams with athletes from different countries) as separate "nations." However, the IOC does show Mixed teams in the results where they competed.
• B. The IOC has updated its online records for the 1900 Summer Olympics. It now lists 95 medal events, 26 participating countries, and 1226 athletes. This is based on research by Olympic historians.
• C. For the early Olympic Games, the idea of "national teams" chosen by National Olympic Committees did not exist. Modern research shows that athletes from at least four countries not officially listed (Canada, Luxembourg, Colombia, New Zealand) competed for other countries in 1900.
• D. The IOC website for the 1904 Summer Olympics now lists 95 events. This number comes from research by Olympic historian Bill Mallon, who set rules for what counts as an Olympic event from that time.
• E. Even though the Games of 1916, 1940, and 1944 were canceled, their Roman numerals are still used. This is because the official titles of the Summer Games count the "Olympiads" (the four-year periods), not just the Games themselves. This is different from the Winter Olympics.
• F. The IOC website for the 1920 Summer Olympics now lists 156 events.
• G. The IOC website for the 1956 Summer Olympics lists 151 events in total. This includes 145 events in Melbourne and six horse riding events in Stockholm.
• H. Because of Australia's animal health rules, six horse riding events for the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden, a few months before the main Games in Melbourne. Five of the 72 countries that competed in Stockholm did not go to the main Games in Melbourne.
• I. The 1972 Summer Olympics were supposed to end on September 10, 1972. But they were delayed until September 11 after events were stopped for 34 hours due to the Munich massacre.
• K. IOC records say Leonid Brezhnev opened the Moscow Games as "President." At that time, this title was used by the head of state of the Soviet Union.
• L. The 2020 Games were originally planned for July 24 – August 9, 2020. They were postponed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But they are still called the 2020 Summer Olympics to keep the four-year Olympiad cycle.
• M. The number of athletes will be limited to have an equal number of male and female participants.

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Verano para niños