Olympic Games Host Cities

“The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat…,” the ultimate sporting competition is just days away! The 27th Summer Olympics are set to open this Saturday, July 27th, in London. This will be the third time London has been bestowed with the honor of hosting the summer games, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948.  The 1944 summer games were slated to take place in London, however, they were cancelled due to World War II.

In fact, the games, have been cancelled 5 times (3 Summer Games and 2 Winter Games) since 1896 when the official  Games of the I Olympiad were held in Athens, Greece. The summer games were cancelled in 1916 due to World War I, and both the summer and winter games were cancelled in 1940 and 1944 due to World War II. 1924 was the first year the winter games were held.

Being selected as a host city is a tremendous honor and a tremendous undertaking. Despite the challenges of hosting the games, cities around the world vie for the honors. Host cities are typically selected about 7 years in advance. The upcoming games are:

• 2014 Winter Games – Sochi, Russia
• 2016 Summer Games – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 2018 Winter Games – Pyeongchang, South Korea
• 2020 Summer Games – Currently, three cities (Istanbul, Tokyo, and Madrid) are under consideration for the 2020 Summer Games, with the winning city to be announced on September 13, 2013.

The 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro will mark only the third time games will be held in the Southern Hemisphere, and the first time they will be held on the South American continent. Besides Antarctica, the only other continent yet to  host the games is Africa. London leads the list of cities to host the most Olympic games at 3, and the United States is the leading country, having hosted the games 8 times. Whether it’s medal counts, or the bragging rights of host cities, the competition marches on. Let the games begin!