The International Olympic Committee is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC is the authority responsible for organizing the Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympics. The IOC also is the governing body of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and of the worldwide Olympic Movement, the IOC's term for all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games. As of 2020, 206 NOCs officially were recognized by the IOC. The IOC president has been Thomas Bach since 2013.
The modern Olympic Games are the world's leading international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition, with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories, participating. By default, the Games generally substitute for any world championships during the year in which they take place. The Olympics are staged every four years. Since 1994, they have alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year Olympiad.
The 2008 Summer Olympics (2008年夏季奥运会), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (第二十九届夏季奥林匹克运动会) and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (北京2008), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union.
Nine cities submitting bids to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics[a] 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.
Paris 2012 was an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics to be held in Paris. The bidding race was eventually won by the London 2012 bid after a 54–50 vote of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 6 July 2005. The French capital's failure to win the 2012 games follows the attempts of the Paris 2008 and Paris 1992 bids.
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, Canada, 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.
National Olympic Committees that wish to host an Olympic Games select cities within their territories to put forth bids for the Olympic Games. The staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid. Since the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, which successfully appropriated the name of the Ancient Greek Olympics to create a modern sporting event, interested cities have rivaled for selection as host of the Summer or Winter Olympic Games. 51 different cities have been chosen to host the modern Olympics: three in Eastern Europe, five in East Asia, one in South America, three in Oceania, nine in North America and all the others in Western Europe. No Central American, African, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or Southeast Asian city has ever been chosen to host an Olympics.
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.
Rio 2016 was a successful bid to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and the XV Paralympic Games, respectively. It was submitted on September 7, 2007, and recognized as an Applicant city by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) one week after. On June 4, 2008, the IOC Executive Board shortlisted Rio de Janeiro with three of the six other Applicant cities—Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo; over Baku, Doha and Prague—becoming a Candidate city during the 2008 SportAccord Convention in Athens, Greece.
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 six bids 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.
A total of six bids were initially submitted for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Four of the bids were subsequently withdrawn by 1 October 2014, citing either the high costs of hosting the Games or the lack of local support, leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing, China as the only two remaining candidate cities. Beijing was then elected as the host city at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 31 July 2015.
Bids were due by 28 November 2013, the candidates cities were selected on 5 December 2014 and Lausanne was elected host city on 31 July 2015.
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.
Five bids 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 ceding the 2024 Games to Paris.
Toronto 2008 was one of the five short-listed bids for the 2008 Games, presented by the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
