How often are the Olympics held?
The Olympic Games are held every four years. Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Games alternate, so there is an Olympic Games every two years.
The four-year gap is called an Olympiad and comes from the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, which were held every four years at Olympia for more than a thousand years. The modern Games were revived by Pierre de Coubertin, and the first took place in Athens in 1896.
The Winter Olympics began in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Until 1992, the Summer and Winter Games were held in the same year. The International Olympic Committee then shifted the Winter Games by two years, so the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer came only two years after Albertville.
When the schedule changed
The Games were cancelled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 because of the world wars. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first postponement in history, but kept their original name. Upcoming Games include Los Angeles in 2028 and the Winter Olympics in the French Alps in 2030.
Did You Know?
The Olympic rings were designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1913. The five colors, together with the white background, were chosen because every national flag of the time contained at least one of them.