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 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later 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 original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After those games, the next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the XI Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Sapporo 1972, were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe and North America.
Sports in the Philippines is an important part of the country's culture. There are six major sports in the Philippines: basketball, boxing, tennis, football, billiards, and volleyball.
The Philippines competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, from May 4 to July 27, 1924. The nation's participation at these Games marked its debut, and the debut of any Southeast Asian country, at the Summer Olympics. The delegation comprised one athlete, sprinter David Nepomuceno, and two officials, attaché B. Minelle and athletics coach and executive officer Regino Ylanan. Two other athletes, Fortunato Catalon and Juan Taduran, were supposed to join Nepomuceno but did not compete.
Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 Summer Olympics to 1976 Winter Olympics, China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time during the last days to participate in one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete with the name "China", although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of the "two Chinas", the PRC started a period of isolationism, withdrawing from several international sporting bodies and the UN system until the mid-1970s, when the country participated for the first time in the Asian Games in 1974 and the World University Games in 1977. Returning to the IOC officially only in 1979, which gave it the right to send an official delegation, starting from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. Their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States.
Poland first participated at the Olympic Games in 1924, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the 1984 Games, when they were forced to be part of the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Poland has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games.
The Philippines competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The country was represented by 15 athletes, 10 men and 5 women, who competed in 17 events across 8 sports.
Hidilyn Francisco Diaz-Naranjo is a Filipino weightlifter and airwoman. She holds two Olympic records in weightlifting for her performance at the women's 55 kg category for weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Philippines is a member of the South East Asian Zone of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), and has participated in the Asian Games since their inception in 1951. The Philippine Olympic Committee, established in 1911, and recognized in 1929 by the International Olympic Committee, is the National Olympic Committee for Philippines.
The Philippines competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was held in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's twentieth appearance at the Olympics.
The Philippines competed at the 28th Southeast Asian Games from 5 to 16 June 2015. The Philippines contingent was composed of 472 athletes and 136 sporting officials participating in 35 out of the 36 sports.
The Philippines competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1924, Filipino athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, but did not attend the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the nation's partial support for the US-led boycott.
The Philippines competed at the 30th Southeast Asian Games which was hosted by them from 30 November to 11 December 2019. This was the fourth time that the country hosted the biennial meet.
The Philippines participated at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September 2018. The country won 21 medals to finish 19th overall in the medal tally of the games; an improvement from 22nd place placement of the country in the previous 2014 edition. However this came short of the 15th place target set by officials who deemed the actual placement as acceptable. Two of the Philippines' gold medal came from golf, while the other two came from weightlifting and skateboarding.
Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Sports Foundation, Inc., simply known as Siklab Atleta is a foundation based in the Philippines. It was established to help the Philippines win their first ever gold medal in the Olympics.
Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo is a Filipino artistic gymnast. He is the 2024 Olympic gold medalist at the floor exercise and vault events. He is the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with his floor exercise bronze medal finish in 2018, as well as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to achieve a gold medal finish for the same criteria in 2019 at the same event. With multiple medals on the international stage, Yulo is the second person to win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines, the first person to win multiple Olympic gold medals for the country, and the first Southeast Asian athlete to win multiple gold medals at the Olympic Games.
The Philippines competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's official debut in 1924, Filipino athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the nation's partial support for the US-led boycott.
During the Parade of Nations at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games opening ceremony, beginning at 19:00 PST (UTC+8) on 30 November 2019, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer was chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. The host country, the Philippines, entered as the last team. 11 Filipina titleholders served as muses for each of the 11 participating countries.
The Philippines competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024, celebrating the centenary of the team's debut in the same city. Filipino athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games from 1924 onwards, except for Moscow 1980 when the nation was part of the American-led boycott.
