The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event , organised by the International Olympic Committee. The Olympics are the most prestigious such event in the world, though they are not the world's most-watched sporting event - the television audience for the single-sport FIFA World Cup is larger. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition which started in 1904.
The Games have expanded from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 men competing to including over 10,000 competitors of both genders from 202 nations. Organisers for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing expect approximately 10,500 athletes to take part in the 302 events on the programme for the Games. The 2004 Summer Olympics, for which organisers had also expected 10,500 competitors, drew a total of 11,099 in the 301 events offered.
Competitors are entered by a National Olympic Committee (NOC) to represent their country of citizenship. National anthems and flags accompany the medal ceremonies, and tables showing the number of medals won by each country are widely used. In general only recognised nations are represented, but a few sovereign-disputed countries are allowed to take part.
The United States have hosted the most Summer Olympics games, hosting four. The United Kingdom will have hosted three Summer Olympics games, all in London, when they return to the British capital in 2012. Australia, France, Germany, and Greece have all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice. Countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics once are: Belgium, Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. China will host the Summer Olympics for the first time in Beijing in 2008. Four cities have hosted two Summer Olympic Games: Los Angeles, London, Paris and Athens. In 2012, London will become the first city to host the Games three times.
Five countries - Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece and Switzerland - have sent teams to every single Summer Olympic Games. The only country to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympic Games is Great Britain, ranging from one gold in 1904, 1952 and 1996 to fifty-six golds in 1908.
