Olympic Games Sports Changes
Since the first Olympic Games in which nine sports were contested, there have been regular changes in the number and types of sports on the Olympic Games program. There is a core of five sports that have been held at every Olympics, Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics and Swimming, while others have come and gone, and sometimes come back again.
Below is a list of the number of sports for each Olympiad and the changes from one to the next. See also our pages about Discontinued Olympic Sports and details of how sports are selected.
| Year | Host | no. of sports | change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2028 | LA, USA | 36 | baseball & softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash added, breakdancing removed |
| 2024 | Paris, France | 32 | breakdancing added, karate, baseball & softball removed |
| 2020 | Tokyo, Japan | 33 | baseball and softball, karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing added |
| 2016 | Rio, Brazil | 28 | Rugby 7s and Golf added |
| 2012 | London, England | 26 | Baseball and Softball dropped. |
| 2008 | Beijing, China | 28 | no change |
| 2004 | Athens, Greece | 28 | no change |
| 2000 | Sydney, Australia | 28 | Taekwondo and Triathlon added |
| 1996 | Atlanta, USA | 26 | Softball added |
| 1992 | Barcelona, Spain | 25 | Badminton and Baseball added |
| 1988 | Seoul, South Korea | 23 | Table Tennis and Tennis added |
| 1984 | Los Angeles, USA | 21 | no change |
| 1980 | Moscow, USSR | 21 | no change |
| 1976 | Montreal, Canada | 21 | no change |
| 1972 | Munich, Germany | 21 | Archery, Handball, and Judo added |
| 1968 | Mexico City, Mexico | 18 | Judo dropped from the program |
| 1964 | Tokyo, Japan | 19 | Judo and Volleyball added |
| 1960 | Rome, Italy | 17 | no change |
| 1956 | Melbourne, Australia | 17 | no change |
| 1952 | Helsinki, Finland | 17 | no change |
| 1948 | London, UK | 17 | polo and handball dropped |
| 1936 | Berlin, Germany | 19 | added basketball, canoeing, handball, football, polo |
| 1932 | Los Angeles, USA | 14 | added shooting. dropped football |
| 1928 | Amsterdam, Holland | 14 | Added field hockey. Dropped shooting, tennis, polo, rugby union |
| 1924 | Paris, France | 17 | Dropped were archery, field hockey and tug-of-war. Figure skating and ice hockey were moved to the Winter Olympics program. No new sports were added. |
| 1920 | Antwerp, Belgium | 22 | No sports were dropped. Added were archery, boxing, field hockey, weight lifting, polo, rugby union, figure skating and ice hockey. |
| 1912 | Stockholm, Sweden | 14 | added were equestrian, modern pentathlon, dropped were archery, boxing, field hockey, lacrosse, jeu de paume, polo, rackets, rugby union, water motorsports, figure skating. |
| 1908 | London, Great Britain | 22 | dropped golf, roque and weightlifting, and added was field hockey, figure skating, sailing, shooting, Jeu de paume, polo, Rackets, Rugby union, water motorsports. |
| 1904 | St Louis, USA | 16 | dropped were Basque pelota, cricket, croquet, equestrian, polo, Rugby union, sailing, shooting. Added were lacrosse, roque, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing (and Diving as part of Aquatics) |
| 1900 | Paris, France | 19 | Weightlifting and wrestling were dropped, and these added: Archery, Basque pelota, Cricket, Croquet, Equestrian, Football, Golf, Polo, Rowing, Rugby union, Sailing, Tug of war (and Water Polo as part of Aquatics) |
| 1896 | Athens, Greece | 9 | The initial sports were: Artistic Gymnastics, Athletics, Cycling (Road & Track), Fencing, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Weightlifting, Greco-Roman Wrestling. |
Related Pages
- List of sports for each Olympiad
- Number of Olympic medals available to be won
- Specific changes to each sport at the 2024 Paris Olympics
- List of Possible Future Olympic Games sports
- About Discontinued Olympic Sports.
- How sports are selected for the Olympics
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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