Which Countries Have Hosted the Olympic Games?

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

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.