The year of 2024 has offered up a fine summer of sport, with all the usual delights of Wimbledon and the Open Championship, plus Euro 2024 and the Copa America for football fans and the Olympics as well. Paris is the host for the 2024 Olympics, although the surfing events will be held a mere 15,000km away in Tahiti!
This will be the third time that the French capital has welcomed the sporting world for the summer Games. The first was back in 1900, with Paris, the only city in France to hold the summer Olympics, doing the honours again in 1924. That makes the 2024 games a nice centenary but our focus here is not Paris, but London.
Paris and LA to Join London in the Triple Club
London became the first city to host the summer Olympics three times when it held the 2012 Games. Amazingly, that is 12 years ago now (not amazing that 2012 is 12 years before 2024, we’re just showing our age by commenting on how fast time seems to go!). At the time, no city had done the honours more than twice, but, as noted, in 2024 Paris will join London on three Olympics, with LA set to do likewise four years later in 2028 (after 1932 and 1984).
London has hosted the summer Olympic Games three times but, unsurprisingly, it has never been the home of the winter equivalent. The winter Games have never come to the UK and in truth they are more likely to be held in the deserts of the Middle East than within these shores. But let’s take a look at the three times when London was the centre of the sporting world for the summer version.
1908: Games a Very Different Affair
The first modern Olympics were held in Greece, fittingly enough, back in 1896. As noted, Paris was up next, with St Louis in the US state of Missouri selected as the third host. That meant that the fourth Olympics, or the Games of the IV Olympiad, to use its official title, were held in the English capital in 1908.
Paris 2024 will see more than 10,000 athletes from 196 nations taking part, with a huge TV audience of billions around the globe tuning in at various times. Needless to say, the 1908 Games were, in every conceivable way (except one!), smaller and less global.
London was actually a stand-in too, with the Games initially set for Rome. However, a severe eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 meant that Italy was not in a position to host the Olympics. In the end, 1,971 men and just 37 women took part, with a mere 22 nations competing across 22 sports, all numbers far lower than we have seen for many years.
However, there is one figure in which the 1908 Games were bigger than any others before, since, or, almost certainly ever. They ran from the end of April right through to the 31st of October, lasting a mammoth 187 days. The 1908 London Games are also notable for length in another way, with the distance of the marathon essentially extended and formalised at the Games.
In ancient times it was believed that the distance was around 25 miles, and at the first modern Games the race was held over a course of around that mark. However, the British Royal family are not to be cowed by Greek mythology and in 1908 the course was extended to 26 miles so that it could begin at Windsor Castle, rather than the original point. Subsequently the royals decided they would quite like the contest to start near the Royal Nursery and end at the Royal Box inside the Olympic Stadium and this ended up extending the course to its now-standard 26 miles and 385 yards.
It was a hugely successful Games for the “home” side, with Great Britain managing 56 golds and 146 medals in total. The US were second with 23 golds and 47 medals in total.
1948: London Hosts Second Games
40 years after their first hosting duties, the capital of England would host the Games again, this time with Wembley Stadium, built in 1923, as the focal point. Everything bar the duration was larger this time, as over 4,000 athletes took part, including 390 women. The extravaganza ran from the 29th of July until the 14th of August and was the first Olympics since 1936 due to the Second World War.
Known as the “Austerity Games” due to the hard times post-war, 59 nations managed to take part in what it was hoped would be a coming together of the world. That said, neither Japan nor Germany were given the chance to take part as they were still under military occupation. All in all, it was very much a Games to forget for Team GB.
With so many lives lost during the war and training and preparation severely disrupted for those who could take part, this was hardly a huge surprise. The US topped the medal table ahead of Sweden, France and Hungary, with the hosts not even making the top 10. They won just three golds and 23 medals in total to finish in 12th position overall.
2012: Fully Modern Games Delivers and Then Some
The Olympics in 2012 was in many ways unrecognisable in comparison to the two Games London had hosted previously and both on and off the “pitch” it was a huge success. Team GB had many magical moments as huge crowds packed into the many different venues used, but “Super Saturday” at the newly built Olympic Stadium was the best of the lot.
The hosts won 29 gold medals, 18 silver and 18 bronze, finishing third overall and producing their best performance since they held the contest back in 1908. Three of those golds came within a short space of time on Saturday the 4th of August. Within just 44 minutes Jessica Ennis-Hill produced another British record to land the heptathlon, Greg Rutherford leapt into the history books in the long jump and, perhaps best of all, Mo Farah stormed home in the 10,000m.
Mo added gold in the 5,000m a week later, with other notable golds for Team GB coming in the triathlon from Alistair Brownlee, as well as in the pool, at the velodrome and in the gymnastics. It was a true spectacle of sport, with around 10,500 athletes taking part, including 4,655 women. There were 302 events over 26 sports, with competitors from 204 nations coming together for two weeks of brilliant sport. Oh, and an opening ceremony that saw the Queen jumping out of a plane with James Bond… sort of!