Olympic Games in the summer. Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Switzerland are the only countries to have competed in every summer Olympic Games from 1896 to 2008. It is also probable, but not proven, that one Italian national competed in St. Louis in 1904, adding Italy to the above list for the summer Olympic Games.
The first eight nations listed here have been permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The others are former members or prospective members who have been invited to join but have never accepted an invitation. Of the remaining nations, three (Germany, Japan, South Korea) are full members of the Olympic Movement while Russia is a partner member. China, North Korea, and Venezuela did not send representatives to London 2012 but could be invited again if they become OLYMPIC NATIONS (see page 12).
An Olympic nation is a country that has declared itself an independent state by means of a treaty with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). While most countries that participate in the Olympic Games are self-governing states, some territories under their own governments's jurisdiction may also participate in the games. These areas are known as autonomous regions or districts. There are five such regions on Olympic continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania.
Autonomous regions or districts that are not independent states can become so by declaring themselves as new countries through negotiations with the IOC.
Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Switzerland are the only countries to have competed in every summer Olympic Games. The United States tops the summer medal tally all-time. It is the country with most gold medals won (922) and total medals (3143). Germany is second with 714 medals, including 456 gold medals.
Canada, Australia, and England have the most gold medals per capita. Canada has a higher percentage of female athletes than any other country—49 percent. And Canada's Christine Nesbitt is the most decorated athlete in history with 22 medals, 16 of them gold.
Nesbitt died in a car accident in 2007 at the age of 38. She was driving back from the Athens Olympics where she won four more gold medals.
The next Olympics will be in Tokyo in 2020.
The only winter Olympics that all of these nations have participated is 1932 in Lake Placid, New York.
These five countries have never missed a single event at any Olympic Games. Even when they did not qualify for certain events, such as Britain in 1900 when rowing was cancelled due to world war I, they always still appeared in the list of participants.
Even after these five countries were eliminated from the Winter Olympics in 1976, they continued to appear on the list of participating nations. Canada replaced them as the sixth country in 1984, and Russia took their place as the seventh nation in 1992.
The only other country to have competed in every single Olympic game is India. They joined the Olympic movement in 1948 and have never withdrawn themselves from an event since then.
India has participated in every single Summer Olympic games except the 1952 edition which was canceled due to political reasons. They also attended the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1988.
Cuba and North Korea have also participated in every single Olympic game but they are not considered bona fide members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
As a result, only Greece has competed in every contemporary summer Olympic Games under its own flag. The Vatican City, on the other hand, is the only sovereign state that has never competed in an Olympic Games. Van der Sar, probably the finest goalkeeper in Premier League and world football history, won the Premier League four times with Manchester United, the Dutch Eredivisie four times with Ajax, and the Champions League once with each club, among many other honors. 9.
Summer Games have been held twice in France, Germany, Greece, and Australia. Japan is slated to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2020. The inaugural Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France in 1924. 22 Winter Games have been hosted in 19 different cities since then.
List of Olympic Host Nations
Country | Summer Games | Winter Games |
---|---|---|
USA | 1904, 1932, 1984, 1996, (2028) | 1932, 1960, 1980, 2002 |
France | 1900, 1924, (2024) | 1924, 1968, 1992 |
Germany | 1936, 1972 | 1936 |
Greece | 1896, 1906!, 2004 |
Because boundaries have changed and nations have merged and separated over time, there is a history of countries competing in the Olympics that no longer exist or participate under that name. On several instances, mixed teams comprised of athletes from more than one countries have competed.
Typically, the United States, Russia, and Germany are at the top of the list. Since the inaugural Summer Olympics, or "The Olympic Games," in 1896, the event has evolved to be the most popular athletics event in the world.
List of Olympic Host Nations Summer Games in the United States Winter Olympics were held in 1904, 1932, 1984, 1996, and 2028. 1932, 1960, 1980, 2002. France 1900, 1924, (2024) Germany in the years 1924, 1968, and 1992 1936, 1972, 1936 Greece 1896, 1906, 2004
Organize City Trivia. The United States has hosted the Winter Olympics four times (the most of any country): in 1932, 1960, 1980, and 2002. The United States has also hosted the Summer Olympics four times (1904, 1932, 1984, and 1996). France has held three Winter Games (1924, 1968, and 1992), as well as two Summer Games (1900 and 1924).
This was the first time women competed in the Olympics, with 22 competitors in various sports. The Olympics were held in St. Louis in 1904, although the number of nations and athletes competing was limited to 12 countries and around 651 competitors.
The Summer Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 were officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad. "Welcome Home," says the slogan. There were 10,625 competitors from 201 nations competing, and there were 301 medal events in 28 different Olympic sports. Athens 2004 hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the first time since 1896.
All of the current 206 NOCs had competed in at least one edition of the Olympic Games as of the 2016 Games, and athletes from Australia (including two Games featuring the Australia team), France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland had competed in all twenty-eight Summer Olympic Games.