The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, 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 were held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for organising the Games and for overseeing the host city's preparations. 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 Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad and commonly known as Montreal 1976, were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam on May 12, 1970, over the bids of Moscow and Los Angeles. It was the first and, so far, only Summer Olympic Games to be held in Canada. Toronto hosted the 1976 Summer Paralympics the same year as the Montreal Olympics, which still remains the only Summer Paralympics to be held in Canada. Calgary and Vancouver later hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1988 and 2010, respectively.
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad and commonly known as Moscow 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russia. The games were the first to be staged in an Eastern Bloc country, as well as the first Olympic Games and only Summer Olympics to be held in a Slavic language-speaking country. They were also the only Summer Olympic Games to be held in a socialist state until the 2008 Summer Olympics held in China. These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC Presidency of Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin before he was succeeded by Juan Antonio Samaranch, a Spaniard, shortly afterwards.
Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Women's football was added to the official program at the Atlanta 1996 Games.
Greece was the host country for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, from 13 to 29 August 2004. As the progenitor nation and in keeping with tradition, Greek athletes have competed at every Summer Olympics in the modern era, alongside Australia, Great Britain, and Switzerland. The Hellenic Olympic Committee sent a total of 426 athletes to the Games, 215 men and 211 women, and had achieved automatic qualification places in all sports, with the exception of men's and women's field hockey. It was also the nation's largest team ever in Summer Olympic history since the first modern Games were held in 1896.
Norway competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's twenty-fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics, except for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, due to the country's support of the United States boycott. With the absence of women's football and handball teams, Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. A total of 53 athletes, 36 men and 17 women, competed only in 12 different sports. There was only a single competitor in badminton, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, and wrestling.
Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics was the tenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from July 20 to July 30 at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium and at the CSKA Sports Palace, both located in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. Finals of men's events were held 30 July at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium.
The modern pentathlon at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by two events : Individual competition and Team competition. As usual in Olympic modern pentathlon one competition was held and each competitor's score was included to the Individual competition event results table and was also added to his teammates' scores to be included to the Team competition event results table. This competition consisted of 5 disciplines which were held in 4 venues:
- Equestrian held on July 20 at the Trade Unions Equestrian Centre situated in the Bitsa forest park
- Fencing held on July 21 at the Sports Palace of the Central Sports Club of the Army
- Shooting held on July 22 at the Dynamo Shooting Range in Mytishchi
- Swimming held on July 23 at the Swimming Pool of the Olympiski Sports Complex
- Cross-country held on July 24 at the Trade Unions Equestrian Centre
Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in 1904. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976. FIBA organizes both the men's and women's FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and the Summer Olympics basketball tournaments, which are sanctioned by the IOC.
Final results for the Handball competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
The Friendship Games, or Friendship-84, was an international multi-sport event held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other socialist states which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Water polo has been part of the Summer Olympics program since the second games, in 1900. A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Hungary has been the most successful country in men's tournament, while the United States is the only team to win multiple times at the women's tournament since its introduction. Italy is the first and only country to win both the men's and women's water polo tournaments.
Handball at the 1984 Summer Olympics featured competition for men and women. Due to the USSR-led boycott some strong handball nations from Eastern Bloc did not compete; this gave an opportunity to the Yugoslav team to take both gold medals. Games were played at Titan Gym in Fullerton, California.
Team handball at the 1976 Summer Olympics featured competition for men and women.
China was the host nation of the 2008 Summer Olympics. China was represented by the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), and the team of selected athletes were officially known as Team China.
The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Games were a response to the Olympic boycotts of the period, which saw the United States refuse to attend the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and the Soviet Union refusing to attend the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Soviet athletes dominated the competition, winning 118 gold medals and 241 medals overall. The United States finished second place, with 42 golds and 142 medals in total.
Norway competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's twenty-fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics; Norway did not take part in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, due to the country's support for the United States boycott. The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports sent a total of 66 athletes to the Games, 34 men and 32 women, to compete in 14 sports. Women's handball was the only team-based sport in which Norway was represented in these Olympic games. There was only a single competitor in badminton, mountain biking, diving, equestrian dressage, fencing and wrestling.
Tunisia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Olympics, having missed the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of its partial support for the United States boycott.
Handball competitions at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, were held from July 24 to August 5. The venue for the competition is the Sports Centre Hall 1 located at the Videna cluster. The venue also hosted judo. A total of eight men's and eight women's teams competed in each tournament. This means a total of 224 athletes are competed.
Soviet Union 
East Germany (men)
Yugoslavia (women)
Romania (men)
Hungary (men)
