Olympic Sports
Summer Sports
Since Athens 1896, there have been many changes to the sports on the summer Olympic program. There will be 26 sports contested at London 2012 and 28 at Rio 2016, with the addition of golf and rugby. Canoe/kayak, gymnastics, equestrian and wrestling have multiple disciplines. Learn more on each sports page.
Winter Sports
The first Winter Olympic Games, Chamonix 1924, had six sports on the program and 16 events. Today the number of sports has only increased by one to seven but the number of events has increased to 86.
Discontinued Sports
A number of sports previously on the Olympic program have been dropped throughout Games history. Golf and rugby union were discontinued but have been reinstated to the Olympic program for Rio 2016. Baseball and softball were dropped after the 2008 Games.