Aaron O'Neill
Research expert covering historical data
History of the Summer Olympics - statistics & facts
The Summer Olympics is seen by many as the world's most prestigious and paramount international sporting event. Inspired by those held in ancient Greece, Pierre de Coubertin oversaw the tournament’s revival in 1896. Summer Games have generally been held every four years since then (except during the World Wars) and have grown in scale throughout history. Athletes from the U.S. have been the most successful in almost every tournament, winning over 1,000 gold and 2,600 total medals accumulatively, while Western European and anglophone nations dominated the medal tables in early competitions. However, the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries developed into some of the strongest between the 1960s and 1990s, while China has emerged as a new Olympic superpower since 2000. Athletes from several developing nations have also thrived in individual events, such as Jamaican sprinters or Kenyan distance-runners. Women's participation has increased over time, from nothing in the inaugural games to a virtually equal level in the Tokyo Games. A number of mixed team events were introduced in Tokyo 2020 to promote this growth.
International significance and doping
As the games grew in prominence, Olympic success became associated with international reputation or prestige and governments became more invested. Examples of this include Berlin 1936, where Hitler sought to use the games to highlight his beliefs in racial superiority; Montreal 1976, where 29 (mostly African) countries boycotted in protest of South Africa's involvement during Apartheid; Moscow 1980, where the U.S.-led over 60 countries to boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (the USSR led a similar protest in 1984); or Seoul 1988 and Beijing 2008, which both symbolized the modernization of the respective host countries. This prestige has also led to governmentl pressure on athletic performance, most notably, in the state-sponsored doping programs of East Germany and the Soviet Union. With hindsight, many victories between the 1960s and 1990s have now been attributed to doping, and there are even calls for records set during these years to be reset. The World Anti-Doping Agency was formed in 1999 to combat the use of drugs in sport and has uncovered several high-profile cases relating to the Olympics, such as the BALCO scandal regarding U.S. athletes in the 2000 Olympics, and the ongoing scandal relating to Russia’s government-orchestrated doping practices in the past two decades.Technology and finance
Technological advancements and improved access have meant that the number of television broadcasts and viewers have increased dramatically over time, with more than half of the world tuning in to watch the four Summer Games between 2004 and 2016. The cost of hosting the Summer Olympics is also significant, with the 2012 Games alone costing an estimated 15 billion U.S. dollars. While these investments can rejuvenate host cities in terms of infrastructure and tourism (i.e. Barcelona and London), the construction and maintenance costs can also create a huge financial burden that is detrimental to the local economy (i.e. Montreal and Athens). The postponement of hosting the Tokyo Games during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the IOC's decision to move ahead with the event in 2021 despite opposition from the Japanese government and public, could act as a further deterrent to potential hosts. For these reasons, many cities are now reluctant to bid for the games, and the next three tournaments (Paris, Los Angeles, and Brisbane respectively) will take place in cities with strong infrastructure and pre-existing facilities.
