Which Countries Have Hosted the Olympic Games?

An athlete holds the Olympic rings while looking over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Editorial credit: lazyllama / Shutterstock.com.
An athlete holds the Olympic rings while looking over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Editorial credit: lazyllama / Shutterstock.com.

The Olympics is one of the leading international sporting events featuring both winter and summer games. The Olympic Games attract athletes from over 200 countries around the world who take part in different sporting activities. The Olympics are held every four years with the summer and the winter games taking place two years apart. Since the inception of the Olympic Games, 23 cities have played host to the Summer Games while Winter Games have been held in 20 cities. In addition, five Olympic Games have been canceled due to war.

Olympics Host Countries And Cities

Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics is the older of the two Olympic events. There have been 28 Summer Olympic Games held in 23 cities. The United States has hosted the Summer Olympic Games four times, the most of any country. The first Olympics event in the US was hosted by St. Louis in 1904. In 1932, Los Angeles hosted the second Summer Olympic Games in the country. The last Olympics hosted by the US took place in Atlanta in 1996 with Los Angeles is expected to play host to the 2028 Summer Olympics. The United Kingdom has hosted the Summer Olympics three times with London hosting all the three events. The UK first hosted the Olympics in 1908. After hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics, London is not expected to host any event anytime soon. France, Germany, Greece, and Australia have each hosted the Summer Games twice. Japan is hosting the 2021 Summer Olympic Games that was to be held in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winter Olympics

Olypmic Rings in Sochi, Russia, serves as a reminder of the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted by the city. Editorial credit: evgenii mitroshin / Shutterstock.com

The Winter Olympic Games were first held in Chamonix, France in 1924. Since then, 23 Winter Games have been held in 20 different cities. The United States has hosted the highest number of Winter Olympics events (4). Lake Placid first hosted the games in the US in 1932 followed by Squaw Valley in 1960. Lake Placid again hosted the 1980 events with Salt Lake City hosting the 2002 Winter Games. France has hosted the Winter Olympics on three occasions, hosting the inaugural event in 1924 and again hosting the events in 1968 and 1992. 

Did You Know?

Only Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and Oceania have hosted the Olympic Games with Europe hosting 36 editions. In 2016, Brazil became the first South American country to host the Olympics. Africa has yet to host the games. In 2022, China’s Beijing City will be the first city to host both the Winter and Summer Games. The host cities are picked seven years in advance by the IOC members. The selection process takes about two years with the first stage involving receiving applications from any city interested in becoming a host city. A total of seven cities have hosted the Olympics more than once, with London hosting it on three occasions.

Which Countries Have Hosted the Olympic Games?

CountryCityTypeYear
GreeceAthensSummer1896
FranceParisSummer1900
United StatesSt. LouisSummer1904
United KingdomLondonSummer1908
SwedenStockholmSummer1912
BelgiumAntwerpSummer1916
FranceParisSummer1924
FranceChamonixWinter1924
NetherlandsAmsterdamSummer1928
SwitxerlandSt. MoritzWinter1928
United StatesLos AngelesSummer1932
United StatesLake PlacidWinter1932
GermanyBerlinSummer1936
GermanyGarmisch-PartenkirchenWinter1936
United KingdomLondonSummer1948
SwitzerlandSt. MoritzWinter1948
FinlandHelsinkiSummer1952
NorwayOsloWinter1952
AustraliaMelbourneSummer1956
Cortina d'AmpezzoItalyWinter1956
ItalyRomeSummer1960
United StatesSquaw ValleyWinter1960
JapanTokyoSummer1964
AustriaInnsbruckWinter1964
MexicoMexico CitySummer1968
FranceGrenobleWinter1968
West GermanyMunichSummer1972
JapanSapporoWinter1972
CanadaMontrealSummer1976
AustriaInnsbruckWinter1976
Soviet UnionMoscowSummer1980
United StatesLake PlacidWinter1980
United StatesLos AngelesSummer1984
YugoslaviaSarajevoWinter1984
South KoreaSeoulSummer1988
CanadaCalgaryWinter1988
SpainBarcelonaSummer1992
FranceAlbertvilleWinter1992
NorwayLillehammerWinter1994
United StatesAtlantaSummer1996
JapanNaganoWinter1998
AustraliaSydneySummer2000
United StatesSalt Lake CityWinter2002
GreeceAthensSummer2004
ItalyTurinWinter2006
ChinaBeijingSummer2008
CanadaVancouverWinter2010
United KingdomLondonSummer2012
RussiaSochiWinter2014
BrazilRio de JaneiroSummer2016
South KoreaPyeongchangWinter2018
JapanTokyoSummer2021
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