The Summer Games or the Games of the Olympiad are a multi-sport event held every 4 years. This event is organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOL).
The current Summer Games program includes 35 sports and nearly 400 events. The Summer Olympics includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines and the Winter Olympics includes 7 sports with 15 disciplines. The upcoming Summer Games in Beijing, China, are planned to comprise 302 events in 28 sports.
The Summer Olympic sports are archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, judo, mountain biking, rowing, sailing, shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Two sports, taekwondo and triathlon (swimming, biking, running), were introduced for the first time at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. In 1996, Mountain biking made its Olympic debut.
The United States of America has the record of hosting Summer Olympics most time, i.e. four times, whereas three continents – Africa, South America, and Antarctica – have never hosted a Summer Olympic Event.
Women were first allowed to participate in 1900 at the second Summer Games. Eleven women were allowed to compete in lawn tennis and golf.
Larrisa Latynina, a gymnast from the former Soviet Union, has the record of 18 total medals ever won by any participants in the history of Summer Olympic Events.
