Nine cities submitting bids to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics were recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Committee shortlisted five of them—London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City, and Paris—from which London eventually prevailed; thus becoming the first city to host the Olympic Games for a third time. The bidding process for the 2012 Olympics was considered one of the most hotly contested in the history of the IOC. Paris was seen by some as the front-runner for much of the campaign, but skillful lobbying by London's supporters and an inspirational final presentation by Sebastian Coe led to the success of its bid.
Ten cities submitted bids to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics that were recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), five of which made the IOC Executive Committee's shortlist. The games were awarded to Beijing, China on July 13, 2001. The other shortlisted cities were Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. Beijing won an absolute majority of votes after two rounds of voting, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds of voting. IOC delegates and the media identified a number of factors in its favor, including the size of the country, improvements in Chinese anti-doping enforcement, and its close loss to Sydney, Australia eight years earlier. In that bidding process, which chose the host city for the 2000 Summer Olympics, Beijing led every round of voting but lost in the final round to Sydney by two votes.
Three cities made the shortlist with their bids to host the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which were awarded to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 2, 2003. The other shortlisted cities were Pyeongchang and Salzburg. Although Bern was originally shortlisted along with Vancouver, Pyeongchang and Salzburg, a referendum held in September 2002 revealed that a majority of the citizens of Bern did not support pursuing the candidacy. There were four other cities vying for the hosting honour, that had been dropped by the International Olympic Committee: Andorra la Vella, Harbin, Jaca and Sarajevo.
Seven applicant cities presented bids to host the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC Executive Board shortlisted three cities—Sochi, Russia; Salzburg, Austria; and Pyeongchang, South Korea—with Sochi winning the IOC's July 2007 final vote.
Seven cities submitted bids for 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics on September 13, 2007, aiming to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. All of them were recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 14, 2007, becoming Applicant cities. Although several cities submitted to be in consideration to host the 2016 Olympics, including New York City and Los Angeles, on June 4, 2008, the IOC Executive Board shortlisted the four strongest bids to become Candidate cities. Those cities were Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo; the decisions were made during a meeting in Athens, Greece. The remaining Applicant cities—Baku, Doha and Prague—were eliminated.
The Madrid bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics was an unsuccessful bid, first recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 14, 2007. The IOC shortlisted four of the seven applicant cities—Chicago, United States; Tokyo, Japan; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain; over Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; and Prague, Czech Republic—on June 4, 2008 during a meeting in Athens, Greece. This was followed by an intensive bidding process which finished with the election of Rio de Janeiro at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2, 2009.
There were a total of six bids which were initially submitted for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tokyo was ultimately elected as the host city at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013.
Madrid 2020 was a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics by the city of Madrid and the Spanish Olympic Committee.
Glasgow 2018 was a bid by the city of Glasgow and the British Olympic Association to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Monterrey 2018 was a bid by the city of Monterrey to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Medellín 2018 was a bid by the city of Medellín and the Comité Olímpico Colombiano to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Guadalajara 2018 was a bid by the city of Guadalajara and the Comité Olímpico Mexicano to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Rotterdam 2018 was a bid by the city of Rotterdam and the Dutch Olympic Committee to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Poznań 2018 was a bid by the city of Poznań and the Polish Olympic Committee to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. Poznan withdrew their bid on October 9, 2012 for financial reasons.
The bidding for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Games began on 2 February 2009, with cities presented their candidature files. In the competition to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2014, the IOC list three cities in December 2009. Guadalajara officially withdrew the bid on 22 January 2010, two weeks after the release of the IOC evaluation commission's report and less than three weeks before the final vote in Vancouver.
Six bids were made for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. The IOC selected three of the bids as candidate cities. On July 4, 2013 Buenos Aires was elected as host city.
A total of seven bids were initially submitted for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Four of the bids were subsequently withdrawn after entering the candidature stage, leaving Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and Stockholm–Åre, Sweden as the only two remaining candidate bids. Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected as the host city at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.
There were a total of five bids which were initially submitted for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Following withdrawals, two bidding cities—Paris and Los Angeles—were left in the process. In July 2017, the IOC agreed to award the 2024 and 2028 Games simultaneously. Los Angeles agreed to bid for the 2028 Games, effectively awarding the 2024 Games to Paris.
There were a total of four bids which were initially submitted for the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics. In September 2018, the IOC agreed to award the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics to the city of Dakar.
