The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories participating; by default the Games generally substitute for any World Championships the year in which they take place. The Olympic Games are normally held every four years, and since 1994, have alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year period.
The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC to 394 AD. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The USOPC is one of only four NOCs in the world that also serve as the National Paralympic Committee for their country. The USOPC is responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing U.S. teams for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and Parapan American Games and serves as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in the United States.
Edward Patrick Francis Eagan was an American boxer and bobsledder who is notable as being the only person to win a gold medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different disciplines. Eagan won his summer gold in boxing and his winter gold in four-man bobsled. Finally, Eagan is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games.
The United States of America has sent many athletes to the celebration of the Olympic Games, starting with the first modern Olympics held in 1896. The United States has sent athletes to every Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games, and as of the 2020 Summer Olympics is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by both number of gold medals won and overall number of medals. London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times: in 1908, 1948, and 2012.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Lake Placid, New York. Formerly, the USOPC also had a third OPTC in Chula Vista, California, which is now the city-owned Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. There is a U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Michigan, and other official U.S. Olympic/Paralympic training sites are located in Oklahoma City and Edmond, Oklahoma; Carson, California; Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; the Pettit National Ice Center in West Allis, Wisconsin; a USRowing training center in Oakland, California ; Huntsville, Texas and the SPIRE Institute and Academy near Geneva, Ohio.
Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 to 1976, China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time in 1952, at the Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time to participate in one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete, although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of China, the PRC did not participate in the Olympics again until the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. Their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The People's Republic of China staged boycotts of the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne Australia, Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome Italy, Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo Japan, Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City Mexico, Games of the XX Olympiad in Munich Germany, and Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal Canada. China also boycott the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow USSR due to the American-led boycott and the ongoing Sino-Soviet split, together with the other countries.
People's Republic of China first competed at the Paralympic Games in 1984, at the Summer Games in New York City, United States and Stoke Mandeville, United Kingdom. Since the 2004 Summer Paralympics, China has topped the medal table with more gold medals, more silver medals and more medals overall than any other nation at every Summer Paralympics.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated in every summer and winter Paralympic Games.
France participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, and has taken part in every edition of the Summer and Winter Paralympics since then. France was the host country of the 1992 Winter Paralympics.
Canada has participated eleven times in the Summer Paralympic Games and in all Winter Paralympic Games. They first competed at the Summer Games in 1968 and the Winter Games in 1976.
The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the Winter Olympic Games. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
Germany (GER) participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of nine athletes. The country, since 1949 officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), was until 1990 also called West Germany while the separate East German Democratic Republic (GDR) existed, which was recognized by the IOC only after 1964. East German athletes, however, participated in the Paralympics for the first and last time in 1984. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, athletes from all of Germany compete simply as Germany (GER) again.
Nzingha Prescod is an American foil fencer, World Champion in foil at the 2008 and 2009 Cadet World Cups, bronze medalist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships, three-time medalist at the Pan American Games, and two-time Olympian. She has ranked as high as world # 5. Prescod was selected as an athlete director on the USA Fencing Board of Directors beginning in January 2021.
The United States competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from February 7 to 23, 2014. Team USA consisted of 222 athletes competing in all 15 sports.
Robert Griswold is an American swimmer. He was a member of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Teams. He holds multiple American and world paralympic swimming records in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and individual medleys. He competes in the Paralympic classes S8/SB7/SM8, and has cerebral palsy that affects coordination and strength. The United States Center for SafeSport temporarily suspended Griswold in 2020, reinstated him prior to the 2021 Paralympic Games, and then temporarily suspended him again in 2022, after he was accused of raping a fellow member of the US Paralympic Team at the 2021 Paralympic Games and thereafter; Griswold was later removed as a member of the US National Team.
This article details standard incentives given to Olympic athletes for winning a medal either by their National Olympic Committee, the government of their country/territory, or both.
