Which Three Continents have Never Hosted the Olympics?

The Olympics are held twice a year, in the winter and the summer. Each set of Olympic Games lasts four years, with the Summer and Winter Games held at intervals of two years.

Thanks to the Olympics’ meteoric rise in popularity, nearly every country in the globe now sends athletes to compete. More than 10,000 athletes compete annually across 34 different sports and approximately 400 individual competitions.

Can you Name the Continents that have Played Host to the Olympic Games?

There have been 28 Summer Olympic Games and 22 Winter Olympic Games since the modern Olympics began in 1896. 23 cities have hosted the Summer Olympics, whereas only 19 have hosted the Winter Olympics.

In both the summer and winter Olympic Games, most of the action has taken place in European and North American cities. Most of the games have been held in European cities (29 editions).

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hosted the summer games in 2016 to mark the first time the games had been held in South America. Twelve times have been held in North America, and six times in Asia. Oceania has hosted the Games twice. In the history of the Olympic Games, Africa is the only continent that has never played host.

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A Question that has Long Puzzled Me is Why the Olympic Games have Never been Held in Africa.

Even though Africa has hosted other big athletic events including the FIFA World Cup, World U18 Championship in Athletics, and the All-African Games, no African city has yet hosted the Olympic Games.

South Africa has been identified in multiple assessments as the only African nation with the infrastructure and resources to host the Games. But significant drawbacks, such as a high crime rate, have been brought to light that would rule it out for selection.

African towns had a good possibility of being selected as the 2016 Olympic host provided they met all the criteria, which is why IOC president Jacques Rogge advocated for them to submit bids in 2005. Kenya stated their plan to bid on Nairobi but never submitted a competitive offer.

For the 2004 Olympics, Cape Town, South Africa, was among the final contenders. But Athens was chosen as the host city.

Is Africa Ever Going to Have the Olympics?

Usually, the host city is selected at least seven years before the Games begin, with the selection process divided into two halves that take a total of two years.

In order to apply to host the Games, cities must go through their national Olympic committee. After a thorough interview process and multiple facility inspections by IOC officials, a shortlist of cities is presented to the IOC membership for vote.

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The next two Winter Olympics and the next three Summer Olympics have already been awarded to their respective host cities. As far as we can tell, there are no host cities in Africa.

The Youth Summer Olympic Games, which were scheduled for 2022 but were pushed to 2026, will be hosted in Dakar, Senegal. Considering how successfully the 2010 World Cup went in South Africa, the country will likely be the next to host the Olympics.