History UsefulNotes / OlympicGames

** ''Champions'', a 2008 Hong Kong film about China's first Olympic team

** ''Konami 88'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/TrackAndField'', uses the 1988 Olympics as its main setting. The same would carry over to ''Track and Field II'' on the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem.

-->'''Duration:''' 6-22 October

-->'''Duration:''' September 10-25

Essentially, it is a chance for (mostly) friendly competition between nations for the greater glory of one's homeland, all under the light of a sacred fire lit with the rays of the sun and brought all the way from Olympia in UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}, where an ancient version of the Games were held from 776 BC to AD 393. However, the Olympics can also get pretty political – just ask the residents of UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}} and UsefulNotes/LosAngeles when they took turns hosting at the height of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

Essentially, it is a chance for (mostly) friendly competition between nations for the greater glory of one's homeland, all under the light of a sacred fire lit with the rays of the sun and brought all the way from Olympia in UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}, where an ancient version of the Games were held from 776 BC to AD 393. However, the Olympics can also get pretty political. Just ask the residents of UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}} and UsefulNotes/LosAngeles when they took turns hosting at the height of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

-->The Games featured American runner and polio survivor Wilma Rudolph winning three sprint medals. The Games also marks the debut of nineteen-year-old Cassius Clay -- the boy who would become UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli -- through a gold medal at light-heavyweight boxing. Other highlights included Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila running barefoot[[note]]He couldn't find shoes that fit and were comfortable enough to run in.[[/note]] to become the first black African gold medalist, Australian runner Herb Elliott dominating the 1500m event, and American decathlete Rafer Johnson defeating his Taiwanese friend Yang Chuan-kwang in perhaps one of the most dramatic finals in Olympic history, as well as Larisa Latynina adding three golds, two silvers and a bronze to her collection.

** ''Film/TheCuttingEdge'': A RomanticComedy about a figure skater and former hockey player competing in pairs figure skating. It took heavy liberties with the sport, to say the least; no US pairs team was in contention for the gold--or any medal--at the '92 Games (no US pair has won a medal at the Games since 1988), spotlight lighting is not used in competition, and the move that they perform to win is not only impossible, it's illegal in competition. Also, having been filmed in 1991 for a 1992 release, the movie [[FailedFutureForecast inaccurately portrays the Soviet Union as still being intact as of the '92 Olympics]].

** ''The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold''. An [[Creator/{{Freeform}} ABC Family]] film that's essentially a remake of its 1992 parent film, right down to the impossible winning move the team pulls off. Additionally, the female protagonist is the daughter of the couple from the first film, but is four years older than she could possibly be (a {{retcon}} moves the first film back to 1988 instead of 1992).

-->Montreal 1976 saw a 24-nation African boycott over New Zealand's national rugby team touring South Africa (then banned from the Olympics due to apartheid), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-C5-vIim8 a guy win a gymnastics medal with a broken knee]] and the first perfect score in a gymnastics event by fourteen-year-old Nadia Comăneci from Romania. [[BrokeTheRatingScale The scoreboards couldn't handle it.]] The Games were also notorious for Canada not winning a gold medal on its home Games, a streak that continued in Calgary 1988 but finally broken come Vancouver 2010. The Games also put Montreal in debt for the next three decades. Other highlights include Georgian Soviet triple jumper Viktor Saneyev complete a rare three-peat, Cuban Alberto Juantorena winning track's so-called "impossible double" of the 400 and 800 m, American decathlete Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner setting a world record with 8,634 points, and American boxers Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon Spinks his brother Michael Spinks, and Leo Randolph winning gold medals before launching successful professional careers. Also among the Olympians was Thomas Bach, member of the gold-winning West German fencing team, who in 2013 would become the very first Olympic medalist to become IOC President. Lowlights included the ramp-up of East Germany's infamous government-mandated [[note]]with often-underage athletes given no choice in the performance-enhancing substances they were forced to take, in some cases [[https://www.wired.com/2000/07/e-german-olympic-dopers-guilty/ being informed it was just "vitamins"]], even if they could see alarming changes going with it[[/note]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_East_Germany extensively-documented doping program]], particularly then noticeable amongst its female athletes — [[ProperlyParanoid when the US women's swimming team complained]], they were called "sore losers" in the media. For one reason or another, authorities and media decided to look the other way, while steroid use had [[https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2019/11/07/ex-east-german-athletes-struggle-with-health-problems-due-to-the-consequences-of-ped-taking/ terrible lifelong physical and mental health consequences]]; additionally, despite possessing all the evidence and admission of cheating for decades as of TheNewTwenties, the IOC refuses to revise or annotate the official standings or award medals to athletes who rightly earned them.

-->Montreal 1976 saw a 24-nation African boycott over New Zealand's national rugby team touring South Africa (then banned from the Olympics due to apartheid), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-C5-vIim8 a guy win a gymnastics medal with a broken knee]] and the first perfect score in a gymnastics event by fourteen-year-old Nadia Comăneci from Romania. [[BrokeTheRatingScale The scoreboards couldn't handle it.]] The Games were also notorious for Canada not winning a gold medal on its home Games, a streak that continued in Calgary 1988 but finally broken come Vancouver 2010. The Games also put Montreal in debt for the next three decades. Other highlights include Georgian Soviet triple jumper Viktor Saneyev complete a rare three-peat, Cuban Alberto Juantorena winning track's so-called "impossible double" of the 400 and 800 m, American decathlete Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner setting a world record with 8,634 points, and American boxers Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon Spinks his brother Michael Spinks, and Leo Randolph winning gold medals before launching successful professional careers. Lowlights included the ramp-up of East Germany's infamous government-mandated [[note]]with often-underage athletes given no choice in the performance-enhancing substances they were forced to take, in some cases [[https://www.wired.com/2000/07/e-german-olympic-dopers-guilty/ being informed it was just "vitamins"]], even if they could see alarming changes going with it[[/note]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_East_Germany extensively-documented doping program]], particularly then noticeable amongst its female athletes — [[ProperlyParanoid when the US women's swimming team complained]], they were called "sore losers" in the media. For one reason or another, authorities and media decided to look the other way, while steroid use had [[https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2019/11/07/ex-east-german-athletes-struggle-with-health-problems-due-to-the-consequences-of-ped-taking/ terrible lifelong physical and mental health consequences]]. Also among the athletes was Thomas Bach, member of the gold-winning West German fencing team, who in 2013 would become the very first Olympic medalist to become IOC President.

** While the Google Doodle Game ''VideoGame/ChampionIslandGames'' doesn't feature the Olympics ''per se'', it is themed around a combination of Olympic sports and Japanese mythology from the host city, and was featured on the site while the Games were running.

The Games were only open to free [[AlwaysMale men]] who spoke Greek (although women could enter horses in the equestrian events, and were later given the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraean_Games Heraean Games]], though not much is known about them and they appear to have been a far less prestigious affair). Winners were given wreaths made of olive branches and became heroes -- some of them even ''gods'', literally -- to their hometowns, which often brought with it a considerable sum of money (among other perks, laureates in Athens, for example, were entitled to free meals for life at the Prytaneum). Athletes competed in the nude; in fact, our word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek word "gymnos," meaning "naked".

'''Mascot:''' Misha (Mikhail Potapych Toptygin) the bear[[note]]Bears are considered the national animals of Russia[[/note]]\\

* '''XX -- 1972: Munich, West Germany (now Germany)'''

-->These Games make Paris the second three-time host after London, as well as the city's first in exactly a century. After three failed bids for 1992, 2008 and 2012, there were fears within the IOC that Paris, the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin, may never put forth a bid again if fourth time is still unlucky, and with competitors Rome, Hamburg and Budapest all withdrawing due to lack of popular support and/or opposition, leaving only Los Angeles, a wild scenario popped up: the ''2028'' Summer Games could be a consolation prize to whoever lost the rights for 2024. Despite initial opposition, both parties eventually warmed up to the idea, though Paris lobbied harder to earn 2024 due to development of proposed venues being earmarked for no later than that date. With Los Angeles conceding for 2028, Paris easily won its bid virtually unopposed. Apart from being the first Games to debut breakdancing, Paris 2024 will be a groundbreaker for taking the opening and closing ceremonies out of the stadium (which had a precedent in the Buenos Aires 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games) and onto the streets, in particular along the banks of the Seine River and finishing at Trocadéro, across the river from the iconic Eiffel Tower. These Games will see the debut of breaking (aka breakdancing) as an Olympic sport. The surfing events will set a new Olympic record for greatest distance between a host city and an event venue; the venue of Teahupo'o in the French overseas territory of [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPolynesia Tahiti]] is 15,716 km from Paris (about 130 km farther than the 1956 equestrian venue of Stockholm was from the host city of Melbourne). On May 11, 2023, [=NBCUniversal=] announced that, for the first time ever at a European Olympics, all major event finals would be televised live for the United States audience instead of being held for primetime, with NBC broadcasting '''nine hours''' of live coverage each day during the daytime hours. Also, their streaming service Peacock will have every single event (all 329 competitions) broadcast live on their Olympics section.

'''Mascots:''' Olly the kookaburra, Syd the platypus, and Millie the echidna (Olympics)[[note]]Respectively, their names are a play on the words "Olympics", "Sydney" and "Millennium", and also represent qualities of the Olympic spirit of generosity, the environment and energy of Australia, and the third millennium; the three mascots are also based on animals unique to Australia[[/note]] / Lizzie the lizard (Paralympics)[[note]]Though created separately, Lizzie was specifically designed by the same artists to complement Olly, Syd and Millie[[/note]]\\

'''Mascot:''' Misha the bear[[note]]Bears are considered the national animals of Russia[[/note]]\\

'''Mascots:''' Olly the kookaburra, Syd the platypus, and Millie the echidna[[note]]Respectively, their names are a play on the words "Olympics", "Sydney" and "Millennium", and also represent qualities of the Olympic spirit of generosity, the environment and energy of Australia, and the third millennium; the three mascots are also based on animals unique to Australia[[/note]]\\

'''Mascots:''' Athena and Phevos, ancient Greek dolls[[note]]Named respectively after the classical goddess of victory and namesake patroness of the city of Athens, and an alternate name of Apollo, god of the sun to whom the Olympic Flame is dedicated during its ceremonial lighting[[/note]]\\

* '''XIX -- 2002: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States'''

'''Mascots:''' Hare, Polar Bear, and Leopard (Olympics); Snowflake and Ray of Light (Paralympics)[[note]]First mascots chosen by public vote; the Bear is an obvious nod to Misha, the famous mascot of the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow[[/note]]\\

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following [=PyeongChang=] in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants. Since UsefulNotes/SuperBowl LVI (which NBC got the rights to that edition in 2019 thanks to a swap, which led to CBS getting LV) occurred during the start of the Games' final week, NBC decided to market their primetime coverage of the Games and the Super Bowl as ''Super Gold Sunday'' with NBC continuing their Games' coverage for the day after the Super Bowl ended instead of any of their entertainment offerings as a lead-out program. Despite this, [[UsefulNotes/{{NationalFootballLeague}} NFL]] signed new broadcasting agreements (2023-33) with all of the Big Four television networks which led to NBC having to air the Super Bowl during Winter Olympic years.

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following [=PyeongChang=] in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants. Since UsefulNotes/SuperBowl LVI (which NBC got the rights to that edition in 2019 thanks to a swap, which led to CBS getting LV) occurred during the start of the Games' final week, NBC decided to market their primetime coverage of the Games and the Super Bowl as ''Super Gold Sunday'' with NBC continuing their primetime coverage of the Games after the Super Bowl ended instead of any of their entertainment offerings as a lead-out program. This led to the [[UsefulNotes/{{NationalFootballLeague}} NFL]] signing new broadcasting agreements (2023-33) with all of the Big Four television networks which led to NBC having to air the Super Bowl during Winter Olympic years.

'''Mascots:''' Soohorang the white tiger (Olympics) and Bandabi the black bear (Paralympics)[[note]]As in the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, the white tiger is an auspicious animal in Korean culture, while the bear is both an allusion to the Asiatic black bear common throughout the mountains of Gangwon, where Pyeongchang is located, as well as a nod to the 1988 Summer Paralympic mascot[[/note]]\\

-->The first Winter Olympics in Asia outside Japan. In the US, these Games were also the first to be hosted in primetime by Mike Tirico, who replaced long-time host Bob Costas. In light the aforementioned doping scandal, Russia's NOC is suspended, while athletes proven clean participated as the neutral "Olympic Athletes from Russia" under the Olympic Flag. Also, for the first time since Torino 2006 the two Koreas marched under the Unification Flag at the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as fielded a unified women's ice hockey team. For the first time since Salt Lake 2002, winter powerhouse Norway dominated the medals board, with cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen winning five medals (two golds, one silver, and two bronzes) on her fifth and final Games to surpass her compatriot Ole Einar Bjørndalen from four years ago for most decorated Winter Olympian with eight golds, four silvers and three bronzes. These Games are famous for the American women's ice hockey team stunning four-time defending gold medalists Canada in the first Olympic hockey final game to go to penalty shots to win their first gold medals since the inaugural tournament in Nagano 1998, Nigeria and Jamaica fielding their very first women's bobsled teams (the former also a first for Africa), Canadian figure skating pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir becoming becoming the most decorated Olympians in their sport (three golds and two silvers each), the Czech Republic's Ester Ledecká making history as the first Winter Olympian to win gold in two different disciplines in a single Games (alpine skiing[[note]]where she stunningly won the super-G after many broadcasters had already checked out, believing Austria's Anna Veith would win[[/note]] and snowboarding), Mikaela Shiffrin adding another alpine skiing gold to tie Ted Ligety and Andrea Mead Lawrence for most decorated American alpine skier,[[note]]Not to mention that Ledecká won gold in the super-G on skis that Shiffrin had once used... though Ledecká's camp had acquired said skis about 18 months before the Games.[[/note]] Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu making the first successful gold medal defense in men's figure skating since the USA's Dick Button in 1952, a moment of peace between East Asian geopolitical rivals in the women's 500m speed skating final with gold medalist Nao Kodaira of Japan and silver medalist Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea sharing a lap of friendship after the former narrowly edged out the erstwhile two-time defending champion, the ragtag American men's curling team stunning world #1 Sweden to win their very first gold, with defending men's and women's champions Canada leaving almost empty-handed (the former lost to the USA in the semis, then missed out on a bronze to Switzerland, while the women fared worse, falling away as early as the group stage, even as the hosts managed a surprise silver behind Sweden) save for a gold at the newly-introduced mixed doubles event, and Jessie Diggins (paired with Kikkan Randall) blasting Stina Nilsson of Sweden (with Charlotte Kalla) and Maiken Caspersen Falla of defending champions Norway (with the aforementioned Bjørgen) to win the women's team sprint, claiming the USA's first-ever cross-country skiing gold, with Chad Salmela's SuddenlyShouting call on NBCSN[[note]]'''''HERE COMES DIGGINS! HERE COMES DIGGINS!'''''[[/note]] getting as much attention as the finish itself.

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following [=PyeongChang=] in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants. Since UsefulNotes/SuperBowl LVI (which NBC got the rights to that edition in 2019 thanks to a swap, leading to CBS getting LV) occurred during the start of the Games' final week, NBC decided to market their primetime coverage of the Games and the Super Bowl as ''Super Gold Sunday'' with NBC continuing their primetime coverage of the Games after the Super Bowl ended instead of any of their entertainment offerings as a lead-out program. This led to the [[UsefulNotes/{{NationalFootballLeague}} NFL]] signing new broadcasting agreements (2023-33) with all of the Big Four television networks which led to NBC having to air the Super Bowl during Winter Olympic years.

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following [=PyeongChang=] in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants. Since UsefulNotes/SuperBowl LVI (which NBC got the rights to that edition in 2019 thanks to a swap, leading to CBS getting LV) occurred during the start of the Games' final week, NBC decided to market their primetime coverage of the Games and the Super Bowl as ''Super Gold Sunday'' with NBC continuing their primetime coverage of the Games after the Super Bowl ended instead of any of their entertainment offerings as a lead-out program. This led to the UsefulNotes/{{NFL}} signing new broadcasting agreements (2023-33) with all of the Big Four television networks which led to NBC having to air the Super Bowl during Winter Olympic years.

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following [=PyeongChang=] in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants. Since UsefulNote/SuperBowl LVI (which NBC got the rights to that edition in 2019, leading to CBS getting LV) occurred during the start of the Games' final week, NBC decided to market their coverage of the Games and the Super Bowl as ''Super Gold Sunday'' with NBC continuing their coverage of the Games after the Super Bowl ended instead of any of their entertainment offerings as a lead-out program. This led to the UsefulNotes/{{NFL}} signing new broadcasting agreements (2023-33) with all of the Big Four television networks which led to NBC having to air the Super Bowl during Winter Olympic years.

-->A controversial Games, where the torch relay became a source of protests by anti-chinese government demonstrators, including more than one Torch runner getting attacked by pro-{{UsefulNotes/Tibet}} protesters and the Flame actually being deliberately put out ''three times'' in Paris by security. (Torch relay teams carry a backup lamp, also lit in Athens, for incidents like these.) [[WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings This got so bad that it's pretty much killed off any chances of another worldwide torch relay]]. The main event, though, passed without incident. Phelps set the record for the most medals in one Games at eight golds on all his events, also tying Heiden and Scherbo for most golds in individual events in a single Games at five. This also marked the debut of 21-year-old Jamaican runner [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xDhGY-ehYg Usain Bolt, who set a 100m sprint record]] while showboating for the last 20 meters. LiveButDelayed. The dazzling ceremonies of these Games will possibly not be beaten for a long, long time. The opening culminated with Li Ning, 1984 six-time medal-winning gymnast (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) and China's most successful Olympian, literally [[WireFu running through the sky]] with the Torch in hand across a giant scroll which unrolled to reveal the stylized cauldron as he lit the Flame.

-->The first Winter Olympics in Asia outside Japan. In the USA, these Games were also the first hosted in primetime by Mike Tirico, who replaced long-time host Bob Costas. In light the aforementioned doping scandal, Russia's NOC is suspended, while athletes proven clean participated as the neutral "Olympic Athletes from Russia" under the Olympic Flag. Also, for the first time since Torino 2006 the two Koreas marched under the Unification Flag at the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as fielded a unified women's ice hockey team. For the first time since Salt Lake 2002, winter powerhouse Norway dominated the medals board, with cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen winning five medals (two golds, one silver, and two bronzes) on her fifth and final Games to surpass her compatriot Ole Einar Bjørndalen from four years ago for most decorated Winter Olympian with eight golds, four silvers and three bronzes. These Games are famous for the American women's ice hockey team stunning four-time defending gold medalists Canada in the first Olympic hockey final game to go to penalty shots to win their first gold medals since the inaugural tournament in Nagano 1998, Nigeria and Jamaica fielding their very first women's bobsled teams (the former also a first for Africa), Canadian figure skating pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir becoming becoming the most decorated Olympians in their sport (three golds and two silvers each), the Czech Republic's Ester Ledecká making history as the first Winter Olympian to win gold in two different disciplines in a single Games (alpine skiing[[note]]where she stunningly won the super-G after many broadcasters had already checked out, believing Austria's Anna Veith would win[[/note]] and snowboarding), Mikaela Shiffrin adding another alpine skiing gold to tie Ted Ligety and Andrea Mead Lawrence for most decorated American alpine skier,[[note]]Not to mention that Ledecká won gold in the super-G on skis that Shiffrin had once used... though Ledecká's camp had acquired said skis about 18 months before the Games.[[/note]] Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu making the first successful gold medal defense in men's figure skating since the USA's Dick Button in 1952, a moment of peace between East Asian geopolitical rivals in the women's 500m speed skating final with gold medalist Nao Kodaira of Japan and silver medalist Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea sharing a lap of friendship after the former narrowly edged out the erstwhile two-time defending champion, the ragtag American men's curling team stunning world #1 Sweden to win their very first gold, with defending men's and women's champions Canada leaving almost empty-handed (the former lost to the USA in the semis, then missed out on a bronze to Switzerland, while the women fared worse, falling away as early as the group stage, even as the hosts managed a surprise silver behind Sweden) save for a gold at the newly-introduced mixed doubles event, and Jessie Diggins (paired with Kikkan Randall) blasting Stina Nilsson of Sweden (with Charlotte Kalla) and Maiken Caspersen Falla of defending champions Norway (with the aforementioned Bjørgen) to win the women's team sprint, claiming the USA's first-ever cross-country skiing gold, with Chad Salmela's SuddenlyShouting call on NBCSN[[note]]'''''HERE COMES DIGGINS! HERE COMES DIGGINS!'''''[[/note]] getting as much attention as the finish itself.

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following [=PyeongChang=] in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants.

-->The first Games in South America, held two years after Brazil hosted [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup the 2014 FIFA World Cup]]. Despite concerns over the Zika virus, alarming pollution on the city waters, infrastructure problems, inadequate security and some pre-Games violence, and a massive doping scandal that shaved off almost the entire Russian athletics team[[note]]the sole exception was USA-based Darya Klishina[[/note]], the Games are best remembered for an [[GreenAesop environmentally-themed opening ceremony]], featuring athletes marching in carrying seedlings which will be planted after the Games and culminating in a small, low-emission cauldron accented by a wind-powered kinetic sculpture, the final performances of Michael Phelps, who finished with five gold and one silver, and Usain Bolt, who completed a "triple-triple" (gold at the 100m, 200m and 4×100m on all three Games he attended[[note]]In 2017, he lost this tag, after a retest of Nesta Carter's drugs sample from 2008 - he was one of the 4x100m relay members - came back positive.[[/note]], American gymnast Simone Biles adding four gold and one silver to her ten gold and two each of silver and bronze from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Somali-born British runner Mo Farah becoming the second athlete to successfully defend his 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals after Finland's Lasse Virén in 1972 and 1976, and hosts Brazil finally winning its first football gold, in some ways gaining both redemption for its fourth-place disappointment at said World Cup, as well as some measure of vengeance for its 1-7 semifinals humiliation from Cup winner Germany through penalty kicks (5-4, 1-1 after 120 minutes). Kuwait's Fehaid Al-Deehani won the Men's Double Trap shooting event, becoming the first Independent Olympic Athlete to win a gold medal. The record for oldest individual Olympic gold medalist in swimming history was broken twice during these Games: On August 9, Michael Phelps won the Men's 200-Meter Butterfly at age 31; three days later, American Anthony Ervin shattered that record, winning the Men's 50 Free at ''35''. Ervin won the same event at the Sydney Games, ''16 years prior'', in a tie for gold with fellow American and former training partner Gary Hall Jr. American Simone Manuel became the first African-American to win an individual gold medal in swimming, tying for gold with Canada's Penny Oleksiak in the Women's 100 Free. Oleksiak made her own history in the process: while it was the third tie for gold in Olympic swimming history, Oleksiak was the first non-American to tie for gold in an individual Olympic swimming event. After a century away, golf returned to the Olympics. Many of the big names in the men's game opted to skip the Olympics, some citing the Zika virus[[note]]Tiger Woods didn't qualify, as he was in the midst of a miserable period in his career where injuries, plus perhaps depression, kept him off the course.[[/note]] Fortunately for the sport's Olympic future, the men's podium had recognizable names: claming Gold was Britain's Justin Rose (finishing at 16-under par), the 2013 US Open champion, who would go on to become the World No. 1 later in his career; the Silver went to Sweden's Henrik Stenson (14-under), who won the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland just a month before the Games; and Bronze went to American Matt Kuchar (13-under), considered one of the best players of his generation to not win a major. The women's tournament had many of its big names come down to Rio, and thus, they were rewarded with a podium they could be proud of: South Korea's Inbee Park, a winner of seven majors, won Gold, shooting 16-under, and having three rounds of 66 in the tournament; Silver went to New Zealand youngster Lydia Ko (11-under), at the time the top-ranked player in the women's game; and Bronze was won by China's Shanshan Feng (10-under), the 2012 LPGA Championship (now Women's PGA Championship) winner. These Olympics were Bob Costas' last as primetime host of NBC's US coverage; on February 9, 2017, Costas announced that he would stand down from the role. Mike Tirico, a longtime ESPN personality who joined NBC Sports in July 2016, replaced Costas beginning with the 2018 Winter Olympics in [=PyeongChang=], South Korea. The Games also marked the debut of an all-online television network known as the Olympic Channel which debuted during the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics.

-->Beijing becomes the very first Olympic city to host both summer and winter editions (at least, on ice events, with Yanqing County suburb and the winter resort city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei province to host snow events), after a two-horse race with Almaty, Kazakhstan. Already nicknamed "the Olympics nobody wants" because ''every'' candidate city in a democracy withdrew after voters demanded, and got, a referendum (Oslo, Norway made it the farthest) leaving only the two above. This led to the IOC creating a list of reforms called [[https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic_Agenda_2020/Olympic_Agenda_2020-20-20_Recommendations-ENG.pdf Olympic Agenda 2020]] around Christmas 2014. It will also be the third Asian city in a row to host an Olympic Games, following Pyeongchang in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In July 2018, the IOC announced that the following seven events would be added to the program: mixed team events for freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross; a mixed relay for short track speed skating; freestyle skiing big air for both men and women; and women's monobob[[note]]Literally one-person bobsled[[/note]]. Due to backlash over the Chinese government's human rights abuses, especially the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_genocide Uyghur Concentration camps]], many nations have opted for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics#Human_rights_issues_and_calls_for_boycott diplomatic boycott]] of these games. Like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Beijing has opted to hold the Winter Games without an audience to avoid a greater spread of COVID-19 and its significant variants.

-->The first Games in South America, held two years after Brazil hosted [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup the 2014 FIFA World Cup]]. Despite concerns over the Zika virus, alarming pollution on the city waters, infrastructure problems, inadequate security and some pre-Games violence, and a massive doping scandal that shaved off almost the entire Russian athletics team[[note]]the sole exception was USA-based Darya Klishina[[/note]], the Games are best remembered for an [[GreenAesop environmentally-themed opening ceremony]], featuring athletes marching in carrying seedlings which will be planted after the Games and culminating in a small, low-emission cauldron accented by a wind-powered kinetic sculpture, the final performances of Michael Phelps, who finished with five gold and one silver, and Usain Bolt, who completed a "triple-triple" (gold at the 100m, 200m and 4×100m on all three Games he attended[[note]]In 2017, he lost this tag, after a retest of Nesta Carter's drugs sample from 2008 - he was one of the 4x100m relay members - came back positive.[[/note]], American gymnast Simone Biles adding four gold and one silver to her ten gold and two each of silver and bronze from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Somali-born British runner Mo Farah becoming the second athlete to successfully defend his 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals after Finland's Lasse Virén in 1972 and 1976, and hosts Brazil finally winning its first football gold, in some ways gaining both redemption for its fourth-place disappointment at said World Cup, as well as some measure of vengeance for its 1-7 semifinals humiliation from Cup winner Germany through penalty kicks (5-4, 1-1 after 120 minutes). Kuwait's Fehaid Al-Deehani won the Men's Double Trap shooting event, becoming the first Independent Olympic Athlete to win a gold medal. The record for oldest individual Olympic gold medalist in swimming history was broken twice during these Games: On August 9, Michael Phelps won the Men's 200-Meter Butterfly at age 31; three days later, American Anthony Ervin shattered that record, winning the Men's 50 Free at ''35''. Ervin won the same event at the Sydney Games, ''16 years prior'', in a tie for gold with fellow American and former training partner Gary Hall Jr. American Simone Manuel became the first African-American to win an individual gold medal in swimming, tying for gold with Canada's Penny Oleksiak in the Women's 100 Free. Oleksiak made her own history in the process: while it was the third tie for gold in Olympic swimming history, Oleksiak was the first non-American to tie for gold in an individual Olympic swimming event. After a century away, golf returned to the Olympics. Many of the big names in the men's game opted to skip the Olympics, some citing the Zika virus[[note]]Tiger Woods didn't qualify, as he was in the midst of a miserable period in his career where injuries, plus perhaps depression, kept him off the course.[[/note]] Fortunately for the sport's Olympic future, the men's podium had recognizable names: claming Gold was Britain's Justin Rose (finishing at 16-under par), the 2013 US Open champion, who would go on to become the World No. 1 later in his career; the Silver went to Sweden's Henrik Stenson (14-under), who won the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland just a month before the Games; and Bronze went to American Matt Kuchar (13-under), considered one of the best players of his generation to not win a major. The women's tournament had many of its big names come down to Rio, and thus, they were rewarded with a podium they could be proud of: South Korea's Inbee Park, a winner of seven majors, won Gold, shooting 16-under, and having three rounds of 66 in the tournament; Silver went to New Zealand youngster Lydia Ko (11-under), at the time the top-ranked player in the women's game; and Bronze was won by China's Shanshan Feng (10-under), the 2012 LPGA Championship (now Women's PGA Championship) winner. These Olympics were Bob Costas' last as primetime host of NBC's coverage; on February 9, 2017, Costas announced that he would stand down from the role. Mike Tirico, a longtime ESPN personality who joined NBC Sports in July 2016, replaced Costas beginning with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

-->These Games make Paris the second three-time host after London, as well as the city's first in exactly a century. After three failed bids for 1992, 2008 and 2012, there were fears within the IOC that Paris, the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin, may never put forth a bid again if fourth time is still unlucky, and with competitors Rome, Hamburg and Budapest all withdrawing due to lack of popular support and/or opposition, leaving only Los Angeles, a wild scenario popped up: the ''2028'' Summer Games could be a consolation prize to whoever lost the rights for 2024. Despite initial opposition, both parties eventually warmed up to the idea, though Paris lobbied harder to earn 2024 due to development of proposed venues being earmarked for no later than that date. With Los Angeles conceding for 2028, Paris easily won its bid virtually unopposed. Apart from being the first Games to debut breakdancing, Paris 2024 will be a groundbreaker for taking the opening and closing ceremonies out of the stadium (which had a precedent in the Buenos Aires 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games) and onto the streets, in particular along the banks of the Seine River and finishing at Trocadéro, across the river from the iconic Eiffel Tower. These Games will see the debut of breaking (aka breakdancing) as an Olympic sport. The surfing events will set a new Olympic record for greatest distance between a host city and an event venue; the venue of Teahupo'o in the French overseas territory of [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPolynesia Tahiti]] is 15,716 km from Paris (about 130 km farther than the 1956 equestrian venue of Stockholm was from the host city of Melbourne). On May 11, 2023, [=NBCUniversal=] announced that, for the first time ever at a European Olympics, all major event finals would be televised live for the United States audience instead of being held for primetime, with NBC broadcasting '''nine hours''' of live coverage each day during the daytime hours.

-->This marks the second time the Games have been held in Tokyo, the first time an Asian city hosted the Games twice, and the fifth in a list of such repeats overall, after Athens (1896, 2004), Paris (1900, 1924), London (1908, 1948, 2012), and Los Angeles (1932, 1984). These Olympics mark the return of baseball and softball to the sports program for the first time since 2008. Four sports also made their Olympic debut in Tokyo: karate (yet another hand-to-hand combat sport at the Olympics), surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing.[[note]]a variation of rock climbing[[/note]] On June 9, 2017, 15 new events were announced, including 3-on-3 basketball, the addition of a 4x100-meter mixed medley relay in swimming (along with the long-awaited installation of the 800-meter freestyle for men, and the 1,500-meter freestyle for women), and a 4x400-meter mixed relay for track. After mounting pressure to postpone the Games - including indications that Australia and Canada would not send a team - due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic (and calls for equality, inclusion, and diversity), they were postponed until 2021 on 24 March 2020; [[NonIndicativeName despite this, they were still referred to as "Tokyo 2020"]]. In order to limit the further spread of the virus, the games were held without an audience, and the opening and closing ceremonies were significantly reduced in scale[[note]][[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2021/07/22/general/olympic-opening-ceremony-that-wasnt/ The issue with the ceremonies]] [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57924885 was complicated]] and involved Dentsu, a gigantic advertising company that practically ''owns Japan'', plus several creative team members being fired for grossly inappropriate remarks, ''plus'' public reaction to holding the Games at all when there's a virus. Japanese fans online have blamed Dentsu for mishandling the situation, especially since they've been involved with the Olympics since ''1960''.[[/note]] and largely composed of pre-recorded segments; a highlight was the lighting of the cauldron, revealed by a high-tech sphere that disclosed like a flower and set atop a structure resembling Mount Fuji, at the hand of tennis superstar and activist Naomi Osaka. This however did not stop a majority of the Japanese population to protest and demand the definitive cancellation of the event in a country still in the middle of the health crisis. This Games also marked the debut of a new corporate imagery for the IOC and also announced a change to the Olympic motto, expanding "Faster, Higher, Stronger" to add "Together" to emphasize unity.

-->'''Motto:''' "Can You Feel It?"\\

-->"[[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany The Nazi Games]]"[[note]]Hitler originally had denounced the Olympics as made up by "Jews and Freemasons". In 1931 the Weimar Republic was in charge and the IOC had awarded them the 1936 games; when Hitler came to power, Goebbels talked him into the Olympics to prove "Aryan superiority"[[/note]] and the first to be broadcast on television. African-American runner Jesse Owens won four gold medals (in the process defying UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler[='s=] philosophy of Aryan supremacy) in a highly controversial games that saw a Spanish boycott[[note]]There was a movement in many countries, including the US, for a boycott due to reports of German genocide; IOC president Avery Brundage dismissed the warnings as fake news made up by Jewish advertisers[[/note]] the first torch relay, and only "Aryans" being allowed to compete for Germany.

-->"[[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany The Nazi Games]]" and the first to be broadcast on television. African-American runner Jesse Owens won four gold medals (in the process defying UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler[='s=] philosophy of Aryan supremacy) in a highly controversial games that saw a Spanish boycott, the first torch relay, and only "Aryans" being allowed to compete for Germany.