Most Olympics hosted by city: Paris, London lead full list of Summer Games locations since Athens 1896

2024-07-26
5 min read
(Jerry Lai/USA TODAY NETWORK)

The Olympics are heading to Paris in 2024, and the French capital should set a beautiful and familiar backdrop for the Summer Games.

Paris has been one of the most frequent hosts of the Olympics over the 128-year history of the event. It has hosted the Summer Games twice before and will now join another European city as the only cities to host the Olympics three times. 

Here's a look at the cities and countries that have hosted the Olympics the most, as well as a year-by-year look at the Olympic host cities.

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Most Olympics hosted by city

Just five cities have hosted the Summer Olympics more than once dating back to the event's origination in 1896. The 2024 Olympics will allow Paris to join London as the only cities to host the Summer Olympics three times.

Below are the full details of the cities that have hosted the Summer Olympics on multiple occasions:

City Times hosting the Summer Olympics Years
London, United Kingdom 3 1908, 1948, 2012
Paris, France 3 1900, 1924, 2024
Los Angeles, United States 2 1932, 1984
Athens, Greece 2 1896, 2004
Tokyo, Japan 2 1964, 2020

It's worth noting that Los Angeles is scheduled to join London and Paris among the ranks of three-time host cities in 2028.

Additionally, four cities — St. Moritz, Switzerland; Innsbruck, Austria; Lake Placid, United States; and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy — have all hosted the Winter Olympics twice. Beijing, China is the only city to ever host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, achieving the feats in 2008 and 2022, respectively.

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Olympic host cities by year

A total of 24 different cities have hosted the Olympics throughout the event's history. They are as follows, by year:

Year City Country
1896 Athens Greece
1900 Paris France
1904 St. Louis United States
1908 London United Kingdom
1912 Stockholm Sweden
1920 Antwerp Belgium
1924 Paris France
1928 Amsterdam Netherlands
1932 Los Angeles United States
1936 Berlin Germany
1948 London United Kingdom
1952 Helsinki Finland
1956 Melbourne* Australia
1960 Rome Italy
1964 Tokyo Japan
1968 Mexico City Mexico
1972 Munich Germany
1976 Montreal Canada
1980 Moscow Soviet Union
1984 Los Angeles United States
1988 Seoul South Korea
1992 Barcelona Spain
1996 Atlanta United States
2000 Sydney Australia
2004 Athens Greece
2008 Beijing China
2012 London United Kingdom
2016 Rio de Janeiro Brazil
2020 Tokyo Japan
2024 Paris France
2028 Los Angeles United States
2032 Brisbane Australia

Equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden at the 1956 Olympics.

The Olympics have also been canceled three times during the event's existence. The first came in 1916 when the Berlin Games were canceled as a result of World War I. Berlin later hosted the Olympics in 1936, the last Olympics before a 12-year lull necessitated by World War II.

The 1940 Olympic Games were originally set to be hosted in Tokyo, Japan but were relocated to Helsinki, Finland after the outbreak of World War II. The war later forced the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games; the 1944 Summer Games in London were also canceled because of the war.

London hosted the Olympics when they returned in 1948, marking the second time the city hosted the Summer Games. Helsinki was awarded the 1952 Olympics, and Tokyo returned to the rotation in 1964, 19 years after WWII ended.

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Most Olympics hosted by country

Seven countries have hosted the Summer Olympics multiple times. The United States leads the way, as it has hosted the Summer Games four times.

Below is a look at the countries to host the Summer Olympics multiple times:

Country Times hosting the Summer Olympics Years
United States 4 1904, 1932, 1984, 1996
United Kingdom 3 1908, 1948, 2012
France 3 1900, 1924, 2024
Australia 2 1956, 2000
Japan 2 1964, 2020
Germany 2 1936, 1972
Greece 2 1896, 2004

The United States will host the Summer Games for a fifth time in 2028, while Australia will improve its total to three in 2032. The IOC has not yet announced any host cities beyond that point.