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Most times a country has hosted the Summer Olympic Games

Most times a country has hosted the Summer Olympic Games
Who
USA
What
4 total number
Where
United States
When
1996

The most times a country has hosted the Summer Olympic Games is four and was achieved by USA in St. Louis in 1904, Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984, and most recently Atlanta in 1996.

History of Olympic Hosting

The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 in Greece – as the birthplace of the ancient Olympics, it was the natural location for the event. Yet Pierre de Coubertin, co-founder of the International Olympic Committee and father of the modern Games, wanted the event to take place in different countries to underline its international nature. Paris was chosen to host the 1900 Olympics, to coincide with the world’s fair being held in the city. Chicago was originally chosen for the 1904 event, only to be switched to St Louis – which was also staging a world’s fair that year.

By 1908, a bidding process had been introduced to allow would-be Olympic hosts to present their applications. Today, bidding for the Games has become a vast enterprise, with rounds of voting and the hosts announced years in advance. With the prestige and honour of being Olympic hosts comes a great responsibility – staging the Games can be a costly business, with investment necessary to ensure that key infrastructure such as stadia and transport links are able to cope with the vast influx of athletes and spectators that the event brings.

Returning Hosts

As of Paris 2024, there have been 30 Summer Olympics, held in 19 different countries. The French capital played host for the third time, equalling London’s record for a city. Six nations have hosted the Summer Olympics more than once; on the other side of the coin, an African country is yet to be awarded the Games.

The USA holds the record for the most Olympics, having held it on four occasions – St Louis in 1904, Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984, and Atlanta in 1996. Other US cities to have bid unsuccessfully to host the Games are Cleveland, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Boston and Detroit – who applied seven times without success, the most by any city. The USA has also hosted the Winter Olympics four times – in 1932 (Lake Placid), 1960 (Squaw Valley), 1980 (Lake Placid) and 2002 (Salt Lake City). And with the 2028 Summer Games set to be staged in Los Angeles, the USA will continue to hold this record for the foreseeable future. 

Highlights from the US Olympics

The St Louis Games of 1904 saw the handing out of the first Olympic gold medals – previously, winners had received silver medals. Eliza Pollock (USA, b. 24 October 1840) became the oldest Olympic gold medallist (female), winning the archery women’s team round aged 63 years 333 days. The first para-athlete to compete at an Olympic Games, US gymnast George Eyser, won six medals in one day while competing with a prosthetic wooden leg. Fred Lorz was disqualified from the men’s marathon after finishing first when it was revealed that he had been driven in a car for part of the way.

At Los Angeles in 1932, swimmer Kusuo Kitamura (Japan, b. 9 October 1917) became the youngest Summer Olympic gold medallist in an individual event (male), winning the 1500 m freestyle at the age of just 14 years 309 days. The USA’s multi-event star Mildred “Babe” Didrikson won both the women’s 80 m hurdles and javelin but was controversially relegated to silver in the high jump, when she was adjudged to have “dived” headfirst over the bar during the jump-off. The 1932 Games also witnessed the first playing of national anthems at an Olympic medal ceremony.

When the Olympics returned to Los Angeles in 1984, Carl Lewis took centre stage. He matched the feat of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by winning four athletics gold medals. Lewis triumphed in the 100 m, 200 m and long jump, and also ran the anchor leg for the US 4 x 100 m relay team, who set a new world record of 37.83 sec. His compatriot Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women’s marathon.

At Atlanta in 1996, the final of the men’s 100 m was won by Canada’s Donovan Bailey, in a then-world record time of 9.84 sec. Michael Johnson became the first man to win the 200 m and 400 m at the same Olympics, breaking the 200 m world record in 19.32 sec. Yet possibly the most iconic image of the Games was that of gymnast Kerri Strug, who vaulted on an injured ankle to ensure that the USA won their first-ever gold medal in the women’s team all-around competition.

The Games That Never Were

Not every Olympics has gone ahead as planned. The outbreak of World War One forced the cancellation of the 1916 Games, which were due to be hosted in Berlin, Germany. The plans for these Olympics had included a separate programme of selected winter sports, including figure skating and ice hockey. The first Winter Olympics would later be held in 1924 in France. 

The 1940 Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan, only for the host nation to withdraw in 1938 following the onset of the Sino-Japanese War. The Games were subsequently awarded to the Finnish capital of Helsinki, only to be cancelled on account of World War Two. The global hostilities also caused the scrapping of the 1944 Games, which had been set for London. The UK’s capital would instead host the first post-war Olympics in 1948.

The Olympic spirit was kept alive in wartime by prisoners in the German camps, who organised unofficial tournaments in both 1940 and 1944. The games at the Woldenburg camp in 1944 consisted of more than 400 events, ranging from athletics, football and basketball to cultural competitions in art and music. An Olympic flag was fashioned from a bedsheet and scarves.

Most Summer Olympics by Country

  1. USA: 4 (1904, 1932, 1984 and 1996)
  1. France: 3 (1900, 1924, 2024)
  1. UK: 3 (1908, 1948, 2012)
  1. Japan: 2 (1964, 2020*)
  1. Greece: 2 (1896, 2004)
  1. Australia: 2 (1956, 2000)
  1. Germany: 2 (1936, 1972) 

Single Summer Olympics by Year

  1. Brazil (2016)
  2. China (2008)
  3. Spain (1992)
  4. South Korea (1988)
  5. Russia (1980)
  6. Canada (1976)
  7. Mexico (1968)
  8. Italy (1956)
  9. Finland (1952)
  10. Netherlands (1928)
  11. Belgium (1920)
  12. Sweden (1912)

 

*held in 2021 on account of the COVID pandemic.