The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad, first held in 1896, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years. The most recent Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. In each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place; this tradition began in 1904. The Winter Olympic Games were created due to the success of the Summer Olympics.
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in London, United Kingdom from 29 July to 14 August 1948.
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Turin 2006 or Torino 2006, was a winter multi-sport event which was held in Turin, Piedmont, Italy from February 10 to 26, 2006. This marked the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Olympic Games, the first being the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Italy also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 Games in June 1999.
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway.
Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events were introduced to the games in 1996. Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the International Rowing Federation. FISA predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 310 competitors, 181 men and 129 women, took part in 179 events in 23 sports. These were the first Summer Olympics in which the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB in a highly successful attempt to unify all the competing athletes across all the sports and events and boost team morale. Going into the games following their exceptionally poor performance in Atlanta widespread expectations of the team were low.
Venezuela competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. 50 competitors, 36 men and 14 women, took part in 49 events in 17 sports.
Poland competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. 187 competitors, 129 men and 58 women, took part in 133 events in 20 sports.
Slovenia competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Slovenia won their first two summer Olympic gold medals at these games.
Croatia competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Estonia competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. 33 competitors, 31 men and 2 women, took part in 29 events in 11 sports.
Canada has competed at 23 Summer Olympic Games, missing only the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation made its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Canada competes under the IOC country code CAN.
The People's Republic of China competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, between 27 July and 12 August 2012. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. A total of 396 Chinese athletes, 171 men and 225 women, were selected by the Chinese Olympic Committee to compete in 23 sports. For the fourth time in its Olympic history, China was represented by more female than male athletes.
Bulgaria competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. It was the nation's nineteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, having missed the Olympics on three different occasions, including the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of the Soviet boycott. Despite this being London's third Olympic Games, this was the first time a Bulgarian team appeared at a London Olympics. The Bulgarian Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games, tying the record with Helsinki in 1952, and with Tokyo in 1964. A total of 63 athletes, 36 men and 27 women, competed in 16 sports. Men's volleyball was the only team event in which Bulgaria was represented in these Olympic games. There was only a single competitor in badminton, sprint canoeing, fencing, and judo.
Trinidad and Tobago competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was Trinidad and Tobago's most successful Summer Olympics. It was the nation's largest ever delegation sent to the Olympics, with a total of 30 athletes, 21 men and 9 women, in 6 sports. Trinidad and Tobago's participation in these games marked its sixteenth Olympic appearance as an independent nation, although it had previously competed in four other games as a British colony, and as part of the West Indies Federation. The nation was awarded four Olympic medals based on the efforts by the athletes who competed in the track and field. Javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott became the first Trinidadian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal since the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where Hasely Crawford won for the sprint event. Marc Burns, a four-time Olympic athlete and a relay sprinter who led his team by winning the silver medal in Beijing, was the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
The United States competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. 533 competitors, 279 men and 254 women, took part in 254 events in 31 sports.
The United Kingdom, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016 and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Greece, and Switzerland, though Great Britain is the only country to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. Although the British Olympic Association is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Northern Irish athletes can choose whether to compete for Great Britain or for the Republic of Ireland, as they are entitled to citizenship of either nation under the Good Friday Agreement. In 2016 Northern Ireland born representatives in Team GB included returning rowers Alan Campbell, Peter Chambers and Richard Chambers, archer Patrick Huston and four members of the men's field hockey team: David Ames, Mark Gleghorne, Iain Lewers and Ian Sloan. The team also represents, and included representation from, the Crown dependencies, among which were Guernsey's Heather Watson and Carl Hester, and from the ten of the thirteen British Overseas Territories represented by the BOA rather than their own NOC, whose representatives include Turks and Caicos-born sprinter Delano Williams and Anguillan-born long jumper Shara Proctor
The United States, represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. U.S. athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympics edition of the modern era, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which they boycotted. For the second consecutive time in the Summer Olympics, the United States was represented by more female than male athletes.
