Olympic Games
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Sports of the Olympic Games
At the first Olympic Games in 1896, there were nine sports contested. Since that time many sports have been added (and removed too) from the program. Only five sports have been contested at every summer Olympic games since 1896: Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics and Swimming. In 2012 there was 26 sports contested, and in 2016 there will be 28 (see list). There are pages about the number of sports at each Olympiad, and also the changes over time.
Recent Changes
After the 2008 Olympics the sports of Baseball and Softball were dropped from the program. In August 2009 the IOC voted on which two sports will be added to the program for Rio 2016. There was a list of seven sports that they chose from: golf, rugby union, roller sports, karate, softball, baseball and squash. They selected golf and rugby union. There are many other possible new sports for future Games. In February 2013, wrestling was dropped from the core sports list, and will now join with baseball and softball (joint bid), climbing, karate, roller sport, squash, wakeboard and wushu to try and appear on the program in 2020.
2016 Summer Olympic Sports:(follow the links for more information about each sport)
Recently Removed Sports |
Previous Olympic sports:(these are just some of the sports that have once been part of the Olympic program. More can be found on Discontinued Olympic Sports)
Ancient OlympicsThese were the events at the ancient Olympic Games. There is more information on the Ancient Events page.
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Related Pages
- future Olympic Games sports
- about the number of sports at each Olympiad, and also the changes over time.
- How sports are selected for the Olympics
- POLL: Which of these sports should be next included in the Games? plus other Olympic Games Polls
