The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in London, United Kingdom from 29 July to 14 August 1948.
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Turin 2006 or Torino 2006, was a winter multi-sport event which was held in Turin, Piedmont, Italy from February 10 to 26, 2006. This marked the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Olympic Games, the first being the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Italy also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 Games in June 1999.
The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States Men's National Basketball Team, is the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all eighteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, coming away with fifteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016. Two of its gold medal-winning teams were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2010 – the 1960 team, which featured six Hall of Famers, and the 1992 "Dream Team", featuring 14 Hall of Famers. The team is currently ranked first in the FIBA World Rankings.
The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the 'quarter-mile'—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. Along with track & field athletics and gymnastics, it is one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games. Swimming has the second largest number of events.
Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events were introduced to the games in 1996. Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the International Rowing Federation. FISA predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.
Russia competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. 435 competitors, 241 men and 194 women, took part in 238 events in 30 sports.
Field hockey, was introduced at the Olympic Games as a men's competition at the 1908 Games in London, with six teams, including four from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The FIBA World Rankings or NIKE-FIBA World Rankings are FIBA's rankings of national basketball teams. FIBA ranks men's and women's national teams in both senior and junior competitions. It also publishes combined rankings for all competitions involving both sexes.
A total of 433 competitors competed for Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The team was Australia's second largest away team after the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which included a team of 482 competitors. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era.
The United States, represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. U.S. athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which was boycotted by the US team and many others. The USOC sent a total of 588 athletes to Beijing, and competed in all Olympic sports except handball.
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.
Russia competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, represented by the Russian Olympic Committee. Russia competed in all sports except baseball, football, field hockey, softball and taekwondo.
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American retired competitive swimmer and the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps had already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.
The People's Republic of China competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, between 27 July and 12 August 2012. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. A total of 396 Chinese athletes, 171 men and 225 women, were selected by the Chinese Olympic Committee to compete in 23 sports. For the fourth time in its Olympic history, China was represented by more female than male athletes.
The United States of America, represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. U.S. athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow which they boycotted. The USOC sent a total of 530 athletes to the Games, 262 men and 268 women, to compete in 25 sports. For the first time in its Olympic history, the United States was represented by more female than male athletes.
Maximilian Reinelt was a German rower and physician. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as two World Championships and four European Championships. In 2016, he was awarded the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sports award.
The United States competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. 533 competitors, 279 men and 254 women, took part in 254 events in 31 sports.
The United Kingdom, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016 and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Greece, and Switzerland, though Great Britain is the only country to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. Although the British Olympic Association is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Northern Irish athletes can choose whether to compete for Great Britain or for the Republic of Ireland, as they are entitled to citizenship of either nation under the Good Friday Agreement. In 2016 Northern Ireland born representatives in Team GB included returning rowers Alan Campbell, Peter Chambers and Richard Chambers, archer Patrick Huston and four members of the men's field hockey team: David Ames, Mark Gleghorne, Iain Lewers and Ian Sloan. The team also represents, and included representation from, the Crown dependencies, among which were Guernsey's Heather Watson and Carl Hester, and from the ten of the thirteen British Overseas Territories represented by the BOA rather than their own NOC, whose representatives include Turks and Caicos-born sprinter Delano Williams and Anguillan-born long jumper Shara Proctor
The United States, represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. U.S. athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympics edition of the modern era, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which they boycotted. For the second consecutive time in the Summer Olympics, the United States was represented by more female than male athletes.
