The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and the most recent Games are being held in 2024 in Paris, France. This was the first international multi-sport event of its kind, organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founded by Pierre de Coubertin. The tradition of awarding medals began in 1904; in each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals for second place, and bronze medals for third place. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympic Games, which are regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi-sport international event in the world.
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XI Olympiad and officially branded as Berlin 1936, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona at the 29th IOC Session on 26 April 1931. The 1936 Games marked the second and most recent time the International Olympic Committee gathered to vote in a city that was bidding to host those Games. Later rule modifications forbade cities hosting the bid vote from being awarded the games.
The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony starts the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Through 2022, the flame would continue to burn in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, until it was extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony. In 2024, electric lighting and mist were used to create a simulated flame for the Olympic cauldron, with the actual flame kept in a lantern exhibited at an adjacent location.
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1956.
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in Tokyo City, Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July to 4 August 1940, in Helsinki, Finland following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. They were ultimately cancelled because of World War II alongside the 1940 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, and were the third games to be cancelled due to war.
Carl Diem was a German sports administrator, and as Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games, the chief organizer of the 1936 Olympic Summer Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme and those used throughout the years, such as the Olympic flag.
The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and officially branded as Tokyo 2020, were an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July 2021. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 September 2013.
The Paralympic symbols are the icons, flags, and symbols used by the International Paralympic Committee to promote the Paralympic Games.
The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, also called by the organizers as the "Journey of Harmony", lasted 129 days and carried the torch 137,000 km (85,000 mi) – the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition was started ahead of the 1936 Summer Olympics.
The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics torch relay was run from 23 July until 14 August 2010, prior to the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore. The torch relay was termed The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame, or JYOF, by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC). It began with the traditional flame lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece on 23 July 2010, and was followed by a 13-day round the world tour across five cities, namely Berlin, Germany; Dakar, Senegal; Mexico City, Mexico; Auckland, New Zealand; and Seoul, South Korea. Following the international leg, the torch arrived in host city Singapore on 6 August 2010 for the domestic leg.
The 1948 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 17 July until 29 July 1948, prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics, held in London, United Kingdom. The relay was nicknamed the "relay of peace". It was only the second occasion that a torch relay was held for the Olympics; the first was at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
The 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind, following on from the reintroduction of the Olympic Flame at the 1928 Games. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a relay system from Greece to the Olympic venue. Leni Riefenstahl filmed the relay for the award-winning but controversial 1938 film Olympia.
The 1976 Summer Olympics torch relay celebrated the first time that a Canadian city had hosted the Games. Convention states that the flame should be lit at Olympia in Greece and then transported to Athens, making its way onwards to the host city. On this occasion a signal was sent via satellite to transmit the flame to Ottawa where it would then make its way to the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Montreal and a second ceremony in Kingston, Ontario.
The 1952 Winter Olympics torch relay was the first time that a flame was transported as part of the build-up to the Winter Olympics. While similar to the inaugural Summer Olympics torch relay of 1936 the Olympic Flame did not start in Olympia, instead the relay began in Morgedal, Norway, the birthplace of competitive skiing. Indeed, the Norwegian Olympic Committee were keen to stress that this was not the traditional transfer of the Olympic flame but a separate event that symbolised the use of torches while skiing in the dark. It was not until the 1964 Winter Olympics that the relay could be said to transport a true Olympic flame originating from Olympia.
The 2000 Summer Olympics torch relay was the transferral of the Olympic Flame to Sydney, Australia, that built up to the 2000 Summer Olympics. The torch travelled to various island nations as part of a tour of Oceania before beginning an extensive journey around Australia. For the first time the Flame was taken underwater, with a special flare-like torch taken on a dive down to the Great Barrier Reef. At the opening ceremony the cauldron was lit by Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman.
The 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay was held from 12 March 2020 and ended on 23 July 2021. After being lit in Olympia, Greece, the torch was handed over to the Olympic shooting Gold medallist Anna Korakaki, who became the relay originating Olympian woman of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay. It was then transported to Athens on 19 March by official airliner Japan Airlines. The Japanese leg began in Fukushima, and is scheduled to end in Tokyo's New National Stadium, the main venue of the 2020 Olympics. It makes a tour of Japanese cities, including all 47 prefecture capitals. The torch is even scheduled to go to two remote island groups which are part of Tokyo. The end of the relay was the finale of the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony on 23 July 2021. Toyota, NTT, ENEOS, Nippon Life, JAL, ANA and Japan Post Holdings are the presenting partners of the relay, with the slogan being "Hope Lights Our Way".
