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The History of the Olympic Games - Ancient & Modern

Host Cities
of the Summer & Winter
Olympic Games

by

Harvey Abrams, BS, MAT, Ph.d/abd.


Created on Sunday, August 27, 2000
Updated October 15, 2007
Updated March 16, 2012
These pages are dedicated to K & A.

Introduction

Ancient Host Cities

The ancient Olympic Games were always in the same place -- OLYMPIA -- a sacred city in western Greece known as ELIS. The Games were a religious event, a FESTIVAL that honored the Greek God ZEUS. The ancient Olympic Games were hosted by the ELIANS who were the guardians of the sanctuary to Zeus. They tried -- and succeeded for a few hundred years -- to be neutral, that is, un-allied to other Greek city-states, similar to modern day Switzerland. But in the fifth century BCE (480 BCE) they allied themselves with Sparta and warred against their neighbors. The Elians lost control of the sanctuary to the Spartans, then to other Greek city-states, then finally to the conquering Romans. In 80 BCE the Roman general Sulla moved the Olympic Games to Rome and only a single race for boys was held at Olympia, the stade race. But then Sulla died and the next Games returned to Olympia in 76 BCE.

The Calender known as the OLYMPIAD


The ancient Olympic Games and the modern Olympic Games are QUADRENNIAL events, meaning they are held every four years. This four year period of time is known as an OLYMPIAD. To the ancient Greeks it (an OLYMPIAD) was their calender, a way of designating time. However, this calender was not used by every Greek city-state and there is great difficulty in studying ancient history because of the calendar and modern attempts to "date" things. There was no accurate dating system in the ancient era and every civilization used a different calender system. There were calenders for the Babylonians, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans and many others. The one thing they all had in common was that they were conquered by the Romans. As the Roman empire grew, there was a need for a more common system. Julius Caesar created the Julian calender in 46 BCE.

Our modern calender is based upon revisions to the ancient Roman Julian calender that were made and instituted by the Catholic Church in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. This revised calender is known as the Gregorian Calender. Using this revised calender from 1582 becomes an issue when trying to date the ancient Greek Olympiads from 776 BCE, which was year "one" of the 1st Olympiad.

To make it very simple to understand -- your birthdate this year would not have been the same date in ancient Greek times.

Just as in ancient Greece, the modern Olympic Games are held every four years at the beginning of the Olympiad. The 1st modern Olympiad began in 1896 when Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games and they were held in Athens. Therefore, these Games are referred to as The Games of the First Modern Olympiad. More specifically, the Games were held in "year one" of the "first modern Olympiad."

During the early years of the Modern Olympic Movement there was a disagreement over who should host the Olympic Games. The Greek Government wanted the Games in Athens permanently while Pierre de Coubertin, the French "founder" of the Modern Olympic Games, wanted the Games to rotate around the world to major sporting cities. So the Olympic Games of the second Olympiad were held in Paris, France and the Games of the third Olympiad were in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The Greeks went ahead and scheduled their own Olympic Games in 1906, a tenth anniversary celebration of the 1896 Games. At that time these Games were considered "official," in spite of the calender - not being a QUADRENNIAL event. From an historical perspective - the 1906 Olympic Games must always be included in Olympic record keeping. They happened -- they cannot be ignored. However, they are not called the Games of the fourth Olympiad -- because the Games of the Fourth Olympiad were held in 1908 in London, England. Is this confusing you? Don't worry -- it was confusing to everyone back then too. The Greek government did not hold any future Olympic celebrations because it was to expensive. The modern Games have continued to be hosted in cities around the world. The Greeks tried to get the 1996 Games because it was the centennial (100th birthday) of the Olympic Games, but the Games were hosted in Atlanta (USA). However the next Olympic Games -- in 2004 -- were held in Athens, Greece.

From Ancient Olympic Games to Modern Olympic Games


The ancient Greeks celebrated their Olympic Games without interuption for over 1,000 years, from 776 BCE to 261 CE. Quite remarkable! After the year 261 CE it is unknown what happened to the Games because records are lost. Actually -- they abruptly end, probably because there was an invasion by the Heruli, a barbarian tribe from the coast of what is now southern Russia. Invading in a fleet of 500 ships they devastated Byzantium and Greece before the Romans forced them to retreat. The Elians erected defensive walls with towers around the Olympic sanctuary, but we have no evidence that any celebrations were held.

There must have been something happening at Olympia. It must have remained a religious site to the Greek god Zeus. We know this because in 391 CE the Roman emperor Theodosius I, who accepted the new religion known as Christianity, outlawed all pagan religious festivals throughout the Roman Empire. It is frequently written that the last Games held at Olympia were in 393 CE, but there is no evidence to support this. It is known that in 393 CE the Roman army was sent to Olympia to destroy the site in order to prevent the Greeks from having their pagan festivals. By 395 CE it is known that the great statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, had been removed to a Roman palace in Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire, where is was destroyed in a fire in 462 CE. But evidence has been found that there were even later Olympic Games until 425 CE. In 426 CE Theodosius II, grandson of Theodosius I, issued an edict to destroy all pagan temples. Such edicts by Roman emperors indicates that the Greeks may have continued some festivals through the years, but there is no historical evidence about the Olympic Games. The temple of Zeus at Olympia was burned to the ground. Rome itself had already been sacked by Allaric and the Visigoths in 410 CE. The "Dark Ages" had begun. Keep in mind that all these dates have been calculated by historians who have tried to use mathematics to "date" events. To study this problem of dating ancient events you would need to read more about the history of calenders.
For a much more detailed site on the history of calenders go here: The Greek Calender and the index page for more calender topics at: History of the Western Calender.

Almost 1500 years had passed when Pierre de Coubertin, of France, organized a revival of the ancient Olympic Games and the first celebration was held in Athens, Greece in 1896. In the first 50 years of the Modern Games they have been cancelled three times. In 1916 the Games were cancelled due to World War I and in both 1940 and 1944 the Games were cancelled due to World War II. In 1980 the United States led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics and in 1984 the Soviets retaliated and led a boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics.

Wars, politics, corruption -- these are forces that affect the modern Games as much as they affected the ancient Games. It affects the Host of the Games and it affects the calender. Although an Olympiad cannot be cancelled because it is a period of time, the Games of an Olympiad can be cancelled. Below is a list of the host cities of the Ancient and Modern Olympic Games with Arabic numbers being used as well as Roman numerals (21st Olympiad as well as XXI Olympiad).

The proper way to refer to any Olympic Games celebration is to use the Roman numeral system such as: The Olympic Games of the IV Olympiad and to say it as "The Olympic Games of the fourth Olympiad." The Olympiad only refers to the summer Olympic Games as the winter Games were an afterthought and are not numbered, only dated.

Host cities of the Ancient Olympic Games


(approximate dates):
1100 BCE - 780 BCE - Elis (All ancient records were lost or destroyed)
776 BCE 1st Olympiad - to 84 BCE Elis (Dates started by Hippias, an ancient writer from Elis).
80 BCE - Rome
76 BCE - 393 CE - Elis

Host cities of the Modern Olympic Games (Summer Games)


1896 - 1st Olympiad - I Olympiad - Athens, Greece
1900 - 2nd Olympiad - II Olympiad - Paris, France
1904 - 3rd Olympiad - III Olympiad - St. Louis, Missouri, USA
1906 - 3rd Olympiad, year 3 - III.3 OlympiadAthens, Greece (sometimes called the "interim Games")
1908 - 4th Olympiad - IV Olympiad - London, England (Great Britain)
1912 - 5th Olympiad - V Olympiad - Stockholm, Sweden
1916 - 6th Olympiad - VI Olympiad - Cancelled - World War I (Scheduled for Berlin, Germany)
1920 - 7th Olympiad - VII Olympiad - Antwerp, Belgium
1924 - 8th Olympiad - VIII Olympiad - Paris, France
1928 - 9th Olympiad - IX Olympiad - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1932 - 10th Olympiad - X Olympiad - Los Angeles, California, USA
1936 - 11th Olympiad - XI Olympiad - Berlin, Germany
1940 - 12th Olympiad - XII Olympiad - Cancelled, World War II (Scheduled for Tokyo, Japan. Then re-scheduled for Helsinki, Finland & cancelled a 2nd time)
1944 - 13th Olympiad - XIII Olympiad - Cancelled, World War II (London considered, but war continued)
1948 - 14th Olympiad - XIV Olympiad - London, England (Great Britain)
1952 - 15th Olympiad - XV Olympiad - Helsinki, Finland
1956 - 16th Olympiad - XVI Olympiad - Melbourne, Australia and Stockholm, Sweden (Horses were not permitted to be imported into Australia so the Equestrian events were in Stockholm)
1960 - 17th Olympiad - XVII Olympiad - Rome, Italy
1964 - 18th Olympiad - XVIII Olympiad - Tokyo, Japan
1968 - 19th Olympiad - XIX Olympiad - Mexico City, Mexico
1972 - 20th Olympiad - XX Olympiad - Munich, Germany
1976 - 21st Olympiad - XXI Olympiad - Montreal, Canada
1980 - 22nd Olympiad - XXII Olympiad - Moscow, Soviet Union (USSR)
1984 - 23rd Olympiad - XXIII Olympiad - Los Angeles, California, USA
1988 - 24th Olympiad - XXIV Olympiad - Seoul, South Korea
1992 - 25th Olympiad - XXV Olympiad - Barcelona, Spain
1996 - 26th Olympiad - XXVI Olympiad - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
2000 - 27th Olympiad - XXVII Olympiad - Sydney, Australia
2004 - 28th Olympiad - XXVIII Olympiad - Athens, Greece
2008 - 29th Olympiad - XXIX Olympiad - Beijing (also known as Peking), China
2012 - 30th Olympiad - XXX Olympiad - London, (England/Great Britain/United Kingdom)
2016 - 31st Olympiad - XXXI Olympiad - Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
2020 - 32nd Olympiad - XXXII Olympiad - Host to be selected by the IOC at their 125th IOC Session, Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 7, 2013. Five cities have bid to become the 2020 host city: Baku (Azerbaijan), Doha (Qatar), Istanbul (Turkey), Madrid (Spain) and Tokyo (Japan).

Host cities of the winter Olympic Games (Winter Games)


1924 - Chamonix, France
1928 - St. Moritz, Switzerland
1932 - Lake Placid, New York, USA
1936 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
1940 - Cancelled due to World War II (Scheduled for Sapporo, Japan. Then re-scheduled for Garmisch-Partenkirchen & cancelled a 2nd time)
1944 - Cancelled due to World War II
1948 - St. Moritz, Switzerland
1952 - Oslo, Norway
1956 - Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
1960 - Squaw Valley, California, USA
1964 - Innsbruck, Austria
1968 - Grenoble, France
1972 - Sapporo, Japan
1976 - Innsbruck, Austria
1980 - Lake Placid, New York, USA
1984 - Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1988 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1992 - Albertville, France
1994 - Lillehammer, Norway
1998 - Nagano, Japan
2002 - Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
2006 - Torino, Italy
2010 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
2014 - Sochi, Russia
2018 - PyeongChang South Korea

Do you have questions? If so, contact me via email.

Olympicbks@aol.com

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Mr. Harvey Abrams
Olympic Games & Sport Historian
P.O. Box 732
State College, PA, USA 16804
Olympicbks@aol.com

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hab 108
Created on Sunday, August 27, 2000
Updated October 15, 2007
Updated March 16, 2012

Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2012 Harvey Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the expressed written permission of the author. Or the wrath of Zeus will be upon you.