Olympic Games Timeline | HistoryOnTheNet
Olympic Games Timeline
Last Updated: 01/17/2017 - 11:35
For more information on counter-intuitive facts of ancient and medieval history, see Anthony Esolen's  The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization .  
 
Athens, Greece
First Olympics
First recorded evidence of the ancient Olympic games. The games were held at Olympia. There was only one event - the men's 200m sprint.
490BCE
Greece
First Marathon
The messenger Pheidippedes ran 42km from Sparta to Athens to bring the news of the Greek victory at the battle of Marathon.
424BCE
Greece
Decline
With large numbers of young men having to go to fight against the Spartans there were fewer athletes able to train and compete in the games and so they began to fall into decline.
394CE
The Roman Emperor, Theodosius I, abolished the games claiming they were a pagan event.
1612
Cotswolds, UK
Cotswold Olympick Games
Robert Dover, a barrister, founded the Cotswold Olympick Games. The games featured horse racing, fencing, shin-kicking and throwing the hammer.
1766
Englishman Richard Chandler discovered the site of ancient Olympia.
1796
France
French Olympic Revival
L'Olympiade de la République was an olympic-style yearly competition held between 1796 and 1798 in France.
1850
Shropshire, UK
Wenlock Olympian Games
An Olympic-style yearly sports festival was established in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, UK by Dr William Penny Brookes. It continues to this day.
1859
Greece
Zappian Games
Dr William Penny Brookes persuaded Greek Evangelis Zappas to stage a revival of the ancient Olympic games. Brookes sent 10 pounds to be used as prize money.
1875
A German-funded team of archeologists excavated the site of ancient Olympia.
1890
Shropshire, UK
Pierre de Coubertin visited Much Wenlock
Pierre de Coubertin was invited to attend the Much Wenlock games by Dr William Penny Brookes.
1894
France
IOC founded
The International Olympic Committee was founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin who took the title of President of the committee. Coubertin suggested that the Olympics be re-established as an international four-yearly event to be hosted by different countries each time.
1896
Athens Greece
First Modern Olympic Games
The first modern Olympic games was held in Athens, Greece. All winners were presented with an olive branch and a silver medal.
1900
Paris, France
Women competed for the first time
Paris hosted these games without a stadium. Most events were held in the Bois de Boulogne and swimming events were held in the river Seine. Women competed for the first time.
1904
St Louis, USA
Gold, silver and bronze medals were introduced
Gold, silver and bronze medals were introduced. Winners of events were given a gold medal, second place a silver medal and third place a bronze medal.
1908
London, UK
Olympic Stadium
For the first time the Olympics take place in a purpose built stadium. Figure skating was introduced as an Olympic sport. Australia and New Zealand competed together as Australasia.
1912
Stockholm, Sweden
Competitors from all 5 continents
Athletes from all 5 continents take part. A public address system and electric timing devices were used for the first time. The Decathlon and Pentathlon were introduced for the first time.
1914
Pierre de Coubertin designed the Olympic symbol of 5 interlocking rings.  
1916
Due to be held in Berlin this games was cancelled due to World War One
1920
Antwerp, Belgium
Doves first released
The Olympic rings symbol was used for the first time. It was depicted on a flag with a white background which has been used ever since and is known as the Olympic flag. The opening ceremony saw doves, which symbolise peace, released for the first time. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Turkey were not allowed to take part because they were defeated in World War One
1924
The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix France
1924
The games returned to Paris France
1928
The second Winter Olympics held in St Moritz, Switzerland
1928
Summer Olympics
Olympic Flame first lit
Amsterdam had previously bid for the 1920 and 1924 games. The Olympic flame was lit for the first time and burned throughout the entire competition. At the opening ceremony Greece led the athletes procession with the host nation at the end for the first time.
1930
Uruguay
First FIFA World Cup
Jules Rimet abandoned all hope of incorporating football into the Olympic games and established a separate competition - the FIFA World Cup.
1932
First Winter Olympics in America
1932
Los Angeles, USA
Summer Olympics
First use of a photo finish camera. First time winners stood on a tiered stand with national flags raised above them
1936
Alpine skiing was introduced for the first time.
1936
First televised Olympics
Summer Olympics
First Olympics to be televised, however the footage could only be watched on local television. Basketball became an Olympic sport for the first time and was won by the USA.
1940
Cancelled due to World War Two
1944
Cancelled due to World War Two
1948
Germany and Japan were not invited to take part
1948
Dubbed the 'Austerity Games' as there was no money to fund a lavish spectacle.
1948
Stoke Mandeville Games
Forerunner to Paralympics
Sir Ludwig Guttmann organised a sports event for recuperating British veterans of World War Two to coincide with the London Games. It was called the Stoke Mandeville Games after the leading rehabilitation hospital at Stoke Mandeville and became an annual event.
1952
After much discussion Germany and Japan were allowed to compete
1952
Snow had to be imported into the country before the games could even begin.
1956
Boycotts
Summer Olympics
Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt boycotted the games in protest at the British, French and Israeli invasion of Egypt (Suez Crisis)
Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland boycotted the games in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary
The People's Republic of China boycotted the games in protest at the games' recognition of Formosa (now Taiwan)
1960
Squaw Valley, USA
Winter Olympics
The games were awarded to Squaw Valley despite its not being a city but a winter sports resort
1960
Many events took place in the ancient ruins around the city.
1960
Paralympics
 
Sir Ludwig Guttmann brought a team of disabled athletes to compete in a games parallel to the Olympics. The name was shortened to Paralympics.
1964
Innsbruck, Austria
Winter Olympics
Warm weather meant that the Austrian army had to bring lorry loads of snow from alpine regions before the games could begin
1964
First Olympics held in Asia
1968
Grenoble, France
Winter Olympics
An Olympic ban on branded equipment was revoked after many competitors protested that without donated equipment from sponsors they would not be able to compete at all
1968
Summer Olympics
First Olympics held in Central America. 
Tommie Smith and John Carlos both give the 'black power' salute as the US national anthem is played in protest against racial prejudice in America.
1972
First Winter Olympics to be held in Asia.
1972
Black September terrorists killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team
1976
Innsbruck, Austria
Winter Olympics
Originally awarded to Denver, USA but transferred to Innsbruck when Denver rejected the offer due to costs
1976
Montreal, Canada
Summer Olympics
31 nations boycotted the games as a protest against the New Zealand rugby team's recent game with South Africa
Increased costs together with a reduced number of visitors nearly bankrupted Montreal
1980
The Winter games were held at Lake Placid for a second time
1980
Western boycott,
Summer Olympics
61 Nations refused to compete in these games as a protest against Russia's invasion of Afghanistan.
1984
Torvill and Dean, GB skaters scored perfect 6's for their Bolero routine
1984
Eastern boycott
Summer Olympics
15 communist block countries refused to compete in these games in retaliation for the boycott of the Moscow Olympics 4 years earlier. Romania was the only communist block country to take part and came 2nd in the medals table.
1986
 
Amateur status requirement dropped
The IOC agreed to drop the requirement that competitors taking part in the Olympics had to have amateur status. The official Olympic Charter was amended accordingly.
1988
The Winter games were extended to 16 days
1988
Seoul, South Korea
Summer Olympics
11 medalists disqualified for using banned substances. The cost of the games was met by the sale of TV broadcasting rights.
1992
Albertville is the smallest place to host an Olympics
1992
Barcelona, Spain
Summer Olympics
Former Soviet Union members competed as a Unified Team and Germany competed as one nation following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
1994 winter
Norway's only Olympics to date
1996
Atlanta, USA
Summer Olympics
Television rights were sold for a record sum and Coca-Cola was a major sponsor of these games.
1998
Women's ice hockey débuted at this Olympics
2000
Steve Redgrave won a fifth consecutive gold medal in rowing.
2002
Salt Lake City, USA
Winter Olympics
Despite members of the IOC accepting sweetners from the NOC Salt Lake City did not lose the right to stage these games.
2004
Athens, Greece
Summer Olympics
The games returned to Athens. The cost involved in staging the Olympics, especially with regard to increased security provision following the 9/11 terror attacks led to delays and venues were completed only just in time.
2006
The second Winter Olympics held in Italy
2008
Beijing, China
Summer Olympics
43 world records and 132 Olympic records were broken during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in swimming the most ever at a single Olympics
2010
The first games to hold its opening ceremony indoors
2012
The games return to London for the third time
2014
 
 
For more information on counter-intuitive facts of ancient and medieval history, see Anthony Esolen's The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization © 2008. You can find it at  Amazon  or  Barnes & Noble.
You can also check it out by clicking on the buttons to the left.
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