Cities That Have Hosted The Olympics

The Olympic Rings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Editorial credit: lazyllama / Shutterstock.com.
The Olympic Rings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Editorial credit: lazyllama / Shutterstock.com.

The first Summer Olympics were held in the city of Athens, Greece, between April 6th and April 15th, 1896. Since then, the Summer Games have been held every four years except in 1916, 1940, and 1944 when the event was canceled due to the World Wars.

The torch-lighting ceremony for the 2016 Youth Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, 2016. The Olympic flame is kept in Athens to acknowledge the city as the birthplace of the Games. Image credit: Ververidis Vasilis/Shutterstock

The first Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France in 1924. The 1940 and 1944 winter events were canceled due to World War II. Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year until the International Olympics Committee decided to split the games to alternate even years by holding the Winter Olympics in 1992 and then again in 1994. 

Cities That Have Hosted The Olympics

The United States has hosted the Olympic games more than any other country, having hosted four Summer Olympic games and four Winter Olympic games. The city of London leads in the number of events held in a single city with three Summer Olympics. Europe has hosted 30 events, 14 Winter and 16 Summer Olympics, while Africa is set to host its ever Olympics, the Youth Games in Dakar, Senegal, in 2022. To date, no city has hosted the Winter and Summer Olympics, but Beijing is set to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and will then become the first city to host both events.

London hosted the 1908, 1948, and 2012 Summer Olympics. It was also set to host the 1944 Olympics, but the event was canceled due to World War II. Paris, France (1900, 1924), Los Angeles, US (1932, 1984), and Athens, Greece (1896, 2004) have hosted two events. Innsbruck, Austria (1964, 1976), St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928, 1948), and Lake Placid, US (1932, 1980) have all hosted two Winter Olympic games.

​Future Olympics Events 

Tokyo, Japan will be hosting the 2020 Olympics, which will be held in 2021. Image credit: kovop58/Shutterstock

Tokyo, Japan will host the 2020 Summer Olympics between July 23rd and August 8th, 2021, to bring the city's tally to two, including the 1964 event. For the first time, softball, baseball, skateboarding, surfing, sport climbing, and karate will be included as competitive events. Paris is set to host the 2024 Summer Olympics between July 26th and August 11th to bring the city's tally to three events to match London. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics between July 21th and August 6th. It will be the third time the city hosts the event. Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics between February 4th and 20th.

Cities That Have Hosted the Olympics

RankCityYear
1Athens, Greece (Summer) 1896
2Paris, France (Summer) 1900
3St. Louis, US (Summer) 1904
4London, UK (Summer) 1908
5Stockholm, Sweden (Summer) 1912
6Berlin, Germany (Summer) CANCELED1916
7Antwerp, Belgium (Summer) 1920
8Chamonix, France (Winter) 1924
9Paris, France (Summer) 1924
10Amsterdam, Netherlands (Summer) 1928
11St. Moritz, Switzerland (Winter) 1928
12Lake Placid, US (Winter) 1932
13Los Angeles, US (Summer) 1932
14Berlin, Germany (Summer) 1936
15Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Winter)1936
16Sapporo, Japan (Winter) CANCELED1940
17Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Winter) CANCELED1940
18Tokyo, Japan (Summer) CANCELED1940
19Helsinki, Finland (Summer) CANCELED1940
20Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Winter) CANCELED1944
21London, UK (Summer) CANCELED1944
22London, UK (Summer) 1948
23St. Moritz, Switerland (Winter) 1948
24Helsinki, Finland (Summer) 1952
25Oslo, Norway (Winter) 1952
26Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Winter) 1956
27Melbourne, Australia (Summer) 1956
28Stockholm, Sweden (Summer) 1956
29Rome, Italy (Summer) 1960
30Squaw Valley, US (Winter) 1960
31Innsbruck, Austria (Winter) 1964
32Tokyo, Japan (Summer) 1964
33Grenoble, France (Winter) 1968
34Mexico City, Mexico (Winter) 1968
35Munich, West Germany (Summer) 1972
36Sapporo, Japan (Winter) 1972
37Innsbruck, Austria (Winter) 1976
38Montreal, Canada (Summer) 1976
39Lake Placid, US (Winter) 1980
40Moscow, Russia (Summer) 1980
41Los Angeles, US (Summer) 1984
42Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (Winter) 1984
43Calgary, Canada (Winter) 1988
44Seoul, South Korea (Summer) 1988
45Albertville, France (Winter) 1992
46Barcelona, Spain (Summer) 1992
47Lillehammer, Norway (Winter) 1994
48Atlanta, US (Summer) 1996
49Nagano, Japan (Winter) 1998
50Sydney, Australia (Summer) 2000
51Salt Lake City, US (Winter) 2002
52Athens, Greece (Summer) 2004
53Turin, Italy (Winter) 2006
54Beijing, China (Summer) 2008
55Singapore (Youth Summer) 2010
56Vancouver, Canada (Winter) 2010
57Innsbruck, Austria (Youth Winter) 2012
58London, UK (Summer) 2012
59Nanjing, China (Youth Summer) 2014
60Sochi, Russia (Winter) 2014
61Lillehammer, Norway (Youth Winter) 2016
62Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Summer) 2016
63Buenos Aires, Argentina (Youth Summer) 2018
64Pyeongchang, South Korea (Winter) 2018
65Lausanne, France (Youth Winter) 2020
66Tokyo, Japan (Summer) Delayed to 20212020
67Beijing, China (Winter) 2022
68Dakar, Senegal (Youth Summer) 2022
69Paris, France (Summer) 2024
70Los Angeles, US (Summer) 2028
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