What Sports Are Played at the Summer Olympics?

The Summer Olympic Games are an international festival and athletic competition that takes place every four years. The origins of the modern Olympics date back to 1896, and the most recent edition of the games was held in 2008 in Beijing, China, where more than 10,000 male and female athletes competed in over 300 different events in 28 categories. In 2012, the games will be held in London, and there will be two fewer types of events than in 2008.

  1. Event Categories

    • The athletic disciplines that will be represented at the 2012 Summer Olympics are aquatics, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoe/kayak, cycling, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, soccer, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.

    Aquatics

    • As one might expect, the men's and women's swimming races fall under the aquatics category, but they are not the only events in this grouping. Aquatics also include diving, synchronized swimming and water polo.

    Athletics

    • In the United States, athletic events are more commonly known as track and field events. This category includes two dozen different events, including the 100 meters, the 400 meters, the long jump, the high jump, the shot put, the discus throw and the decathlon.

    Equestrian

    • The term equestrian refers to the three events that are completed with the aid of horses: jumping, dressage and eventing. Equestrian events were held in 1900 and 1912, then discontinued until making their return for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

    Modern Pentathlon

    • Modern pentathlon has been held at the Olympics every year since 1912. It is a combination of five vastly different events (swimming, running, shooting, fencing and riding), and according to Olympic.org it is the "sport that most accurately conveys the ideals of Olympism."

    Eliminated Events

    • While baseball and softball are still officially considered Olympic sports, they will not be played at the 2012 London Games. The final tournaments in both sports were held during the 2008 Olympics, with South Korea winning the gold medal in baseball and Japan bringing home the softball gold.