The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are the leading international sporting events featuring 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 the year in which they take place. The Olympic Games are held every four years; since 1994, they have been alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year period.
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002, was an international winter multi-sport event that was held from February 8 to 24, 2002, in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
The 1996 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. These were the fourth Summer Olympics to be hosted by the United States, and marked the 100th anniversary of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games. These were also the first Summer Olympics since 1924 to be held in a different year than the Winter Olympics, as part of a new IOC practice implemented in 1994 to hold the Summer and Winter Games in alternating, even-numbered years. The 1996 Games were the first of the two consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in a predominantly English-speaking country, preceding the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. These were also the last Summer Olympics to be held in North America until 2028, when Los Angeles will host the games for the third time.
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million.
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.
The 2002 Olympic Winter Games bid scandal was a scandal involving allegations of bribery used to win the rights to host the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Prior to its successful bid in 1995, the city had attempted four times to secure the games, failing each time. In 1998, members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were accused of taking gifts from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) during the bidding process. The allegations resulted in the expulsion of several IOC members, and the adoption of new IOC rules. Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, it was felt that the acceptance of the gifts was morally dubious. Soon four independent investigations were underway: by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the SLOC, and the United States Department of Justice. Both Tom Welch and David Johnson resigned their posts as the head of the SLOC. Many others soon followed. The Department of Justice filed fifteen charges of bribery and fraud. Investigations were also launched into prior bidding process by other cities, finding that members of the IOC received gifts during the bidding process for both the 1998 Winter Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics.
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.
Pat Welsh is a retired Australian sports journalist and reporter. Welsh is currently a sports presenter on Seven News Brisbane.
Six cities submitted bids to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Atlanta, on September 18, 1990. The other candidate cities were Athens (Greece), Toronto (Canada), Melbourne (Australia), Manchester and Belgrade (Yugoslavia).
GamesBids.com launched July 27, 1998 as Torontosummergames.com, and was published to follow the bid by the city of Toronto to organize the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad in 2008. After Beijing was eventually elected to host the Olympic Games, the site continued to operate, generally addressing and analysing the overall Olympic bid business. Having launched in 1998, GamesBids.com was on the leading edge of publishing original news online. The site has been the source of some key exclusives including the leaking of the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games logo and providing information before it was due to be released to the public. The logo was leaked ahead of a planned unveiling of the coveted brand that had been delayed by the SARS epidemic, and the website received international criticism for the publication.
Around the Rings (ATR) is an Internet-based publication covering the business and politics of the Olympic Movement, as well as a wide array of issues in international sports.
Adam Parsons is an English television and radio presenter. He is the Europe Correspondent for Sky News.
Robert Livingstone is a Canadian journalist. He is the creator and producer of GamesBids, a news and information website for the Olympic Games bid process, since 1998. He is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians and "is widely considered one of the world’s foremost experts on the Olympic bidding process."
Three cities applied with bids to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in October 2009. The International Olympic Committee, under the leadership of Jacques Rogge, received three bids on October 15, 2009. The cities of Annecy, France, in the French Alps, Munich, Germany, and Pyeongchang, South Korea, a two-time previous bidder, competed for the hosting rights to the event. This was the lowest number of bidding cities since the 1988 Summer Olympics, coincidentally also won by South Korea. The winning bid was announced on July 6, 2011, at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa by IOC President Jacques Rogge at 5.22 pm local time Pyeongchang beat Munich and Annecy in the first round of votes with 63 of the 95 total votes.
The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032 is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place between 23 July to 8 August 2032, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The 2030 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXVI Olympic Winter Games, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 8 to 24 February 2030. The host city will be elected at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on 23 July 2024, on the eve of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
