Introduction
The Olympics are a big deal for sports fans. Even those not so crazy about sports get pumped up around the time the Olympic games are about to start. The Summer Olympic Games were so successful that the Winter Olympics was introduced in 1924. Anyway, winning an Olympic game is a matter of pride for many nations, and people root for their country’s representative. Of course, people rejoice if their favorite athlete wins and grumble at the players if they lose.
The IOC categorized the Summer Olympic Games based on popularity using six criteria: television ratings, public surveys, internet popularity, tickets request, number of national federations, and press coverage. Athletics, aquatics, and gymnastics fall in the A category, basketball, football, volleyball, etc. fall in the B category, archery, boxing, table tennis, etc. fall into the C category, and so on. However, the Winter Olympic Sports are not categorized in such a manner.
Summer Olympics Vs. Winter Olympics
As the names suggest, Summer Olympics is an event that happens in summer, whereas Winter Olympics takes place in winter. Moreover, sports suitable for summer like boxing, fencing, cycling, etc. are part of the former, while those suitable for winter like skiing, skating, snowboarding, etc. are part of the latter.
Difference Between Summer And Winter Olympics In Tabular Form
| Parameters of Comparison | Summer Olympics | Winter Olympics |
| Scale of Participation | 206 countries participate in the Summer Olympics (large-scale participation). | Only 91 countries participate in Winter Olympics (comparatively small-scale participation). |
| Timing | They are held every leap year. | They are held two years after every leap year. |
| Type of Sports | Baseball, basketball, cricket, golf, hockey, and so on are the sports held in Summer Olympics. | Ice hockey, figure skating, ski jumping, skeleton, bobsleigh, and so on are the current sports in Winter Olympics. |
| Year of Inception | The first Summer Olympics was in 1896 and had 42 events to compete in. Athens, Greece hosted the first modern Olympics. | Winter Olympics emerged in 1924 and took place in Chamonix, France. |
| Hosts | Nineteen countries belonging to five continents have hosted the Summer Olympics. | Only thirteen nations belonging to three continents have hosted the Winter Olympics. |
What Is Summer Olympics?
The Summer Olympic Games is an international sports event that has a huge impact on people all over the world. The first Olympics, held in Greece, had a mere 42 events to compete in. Simply referred to as the Summer Olympics, the event is renowned for the traditional awarding of medals (gold, silver, and bronze) since 1904. Now, the Olympics has 339 events to participate in, and 206 nations (as opposed to mere 14 nations in 1896) compete to win the coveted gold medal.
Popular Summer Olympic Sports
Some of the Summer Olympic sports that have crazed fans are as follows:
Volleyball
Men’s and Women’s Volleyball have been played since their introduction in the 1964 Olympics. The US, Brazil, and the former Soviet Union are the only countries to snag multiple (3) gold medals in men’s volleyball. Combining the results of men’s and women’s volleyball, the Soviet Union leads the medal table with seven gold (3 + 4), four silver (3 +1), and one bronze (0 + 1) medals.
Football
Needless to say, football enjoys the privilege of having the biggest fan base. Therefore, it is a no-brainer that it should be a part of the Olympics. However, to prevent a clash with FIFA World Cup, the men’s team that competes in the Olympics is allowed to have only those players under the age of 23 (three exceptions may be permitted). On the contrary, the women’s team does not face such restrictions. Once again, the United States leads the points table with four gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.
Wrestling
Wrestling has been a part of the Summer Olympics since the first one held in Athens in 1896. The only year wrestling did not happen in the Olympics was 1900. It was almost dropped in 2013; however, the sport was allowed to remain after a few revisions in the rules. The Soviet Union leads the medal table with a whooping 62 gold, 31 silver, and 23 bronze medals in wrestling (combining the results of Men’s and Women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling).
Boxing
Boxing was first included in the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was not a part of the Olympics in 1912, as Swedish law had banned the sport at that time. However, boxing has appeared as part of the Olympics every other time. In 2012, women’s boxing was added as an Olympic sport.
Swimming
Swimming is the second most popular sport in the Summer Olympics, and women, too, have been playing since 1912. 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 meters freestyle, 100 and 200-meter backstroke, 100 and 200-meter breaststroke, 100 and 200-meter butterfly, and so on are some of the swimming events (for men and women). Once again, the United States proves its dominance with a total of 579 medals (257 gold, 178 silver, and 144 bronze).
Gymnastics
Gymnastics was exclusively a men’s event for thirty years before women were allowed to participate in the 1928 Summer Olympics. Artistic gymnastics includes events like floor exercises, horizontal bars, parallel bars, pommel horses, rings, and vaults. The Soviet Union has the highest number of medals (72 gold, 67 silver, and 43 bronze medals) in artistic gymnastics. Women’s rhythmic gymnastics was introduced in 1984. Russia proves its lethality with 10 gold medals (all other countries that won the gold medal have only one each). Trampoline events were added in 2000. China leads the medals table with 4 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze medals.
Basketball
Only a demonstration sport in the 1904 Olympics, basketball was included as a medal sport in 1936 and has been an integral part of the Summer Olympics ever since. However, women’s basketball was introduced only decades after men’s basketball in 1976. The United States has proved to have the best basketball players by winning 16 out of the total 19 men’s basketball tournaments (wait, what? Can a country’s team be that good?) and 8 out of the 10 women’s basketball tournaments (whoa, the women’s team is deadly, too).
What Is Winter Olympics?
Winter Olympics is an international event in which each country’s representatives try to snag the champion title in various sports that requires practicing in snow and ice. The Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year until 1992. After that, the decision to hold them separately came into force. Therefore, the next Winter Olympics was held in 1994; the succeeding Winter Olympics were held every two years.
Most Popular Winter Olympic Sports
Some of the most popular Winter Olympic sports (some discontinued and reintroduced) are as follows:
Freestyle Skiing
Freestyle skiing has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1992. Moguls, aerials (launching into the air and performing several spins and turns in mid-air before landing), ski cross (freestyle skiing with high-banked turns and big-air jumps), Half-pipe, slopestyle, big air, Dual moguls, and ballet (athletes perform ballet on skis!) are the events in freestyle skiing.
Moguls involve skiing down a steep course with several mounds, making awesome technical turns (makes up 60% of the score), and performing stunning aerial maneuvers (20% of the score) with speed (the remaining 20% of the score). Dual moguls involve pairs competing against each other.
Figure Skating
Figure skating was included in the 1908 Summer Olympics. However, since 1924, it is part of the Winter Olympics. Men’s and women’s singles, pair skating, and ice dance are included in this event. The skaters must be at least seventeen years old (previously only fifteen) and must be a citizen or get citizenship of the country they represent before the Olympics start.
The scoring system has two aspects. The technical score evaluates the attempted technique’s execution, and the program components is a much more complex. The score obtained for the second aspect depends on the skating skills, effortless transitions, solid performance, composition, and unique interpretation of music (sheesh, judging figure skaters is not as fun as merely enjoying the performance as the audience, is it?).
Ice Hockey
Though men’s ice hockey was first introduced in the Summer Olympics in 1920, it was permanently transferred to Winter Olympics in 1924. Women’s ice hockey was later introduced in 1998. Initially meant for amateurs, the game later allowed professionals to compete in 1986.
However, it was not until 1998, that NHL players started participating. Even then, not all players were allowed to participate, as the schedule clashed with the NHL season. The tournament’s rules are in accordance with that of the International Ice Hockey Federation rather than the National Hockey League.
Bobsleigh
Two or four-person teams drive specially crafted sleds down an ice track; whichever team completes driving through the route the fastest wins (like Archie and Jughead race against Reggie and his teammate in the comics). Bobsleigh (four-man teams) has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1924. The only exception is the 1960 Olympics. Two-man teams competed in the 1932 Olympics, whereas the two-women teams were first seen to compete in 2002.
Snowboarding
Snowboarding was added to the Winter Olympics in 1998. Giant slalom (involves snowboarding between poles or gates placed nearer than in alpine skiing), half-pipe, snowboard cross, slopestyle (a sort of obstacle course for snowboarders), big air (snowboarders perform aerial tricks after launching themselves high above the ground), and parallel slalom are the events involved in snowboarding. The United States leads the medal table with 17 gold, 8 silver, and 10 bronze medals in snowboarding.
Curling
Curling (which involves sliding heavy stones across sheets of ice towards the target) was part of the Winter Olympics only as a demonstration sport before 1998. It was added as an official event in the 1998 Winter Olympics. Canada has been dominating this sport since the beginning with six gold medals and three silver and bronze medals each. Sweden is not far behind with four gold, three silver, and four bronze medals.
Skeleton
Skeleton is a sport that involves riding a sled face down and head-first on an ice track (sounds absolutely terrifying). The sport got its name because the first sleds made resembled a human skeleton.
Main Difference Between Summer And Winter Olympics (In Points)
- Summer Olympics are more popular than the Winter Olympics. The probable cause for this disproportionate popularity is the type of sports played in each Olympics.
- Fewer countries participate in Winter Olympics, as most countries lack winter and thus no snow. How can their players practice snowboarding when they have never seen snow?
- The players face scorching heat in the Summer Olympics, whereas they have to battle with the freezing air in the Winter Olympics.
- The Summer Olympics has been boycotted six times since its inception. On the other hand, the Winter Olympics was boycotted only once.
- The Winter Olympics has never been hosted in the same city thrice (though Lake Placid, US did host it twice). The Summer Olympics has been hosted by the same city (London, United Kingdom) three times, and Paris will be hosting for the third time in 2024.
- The Summer Olympics have been hosted more times (29 times in 23 different cities) than the Winter Olympics (23 times in 20 cities) because the Summer Olympics started decades before the Winter Olympics.
- Winter Olympics occur in February of the year in which they are to be hosted, whereas the Summer Olympics happen in August of every leap year (the 2020 Olympics was delayed due to the pandemic).
Conclusion
The next Summer Olympics will take place in 2024 with Paris, France as its host, whereas the next Winter Olympics will take place in 2026 hosted by Milano Cortina, Italy. Avid sports lovers are already anticipating the thrill of watching the events in the stadium or gluing themselves to their television screens (if they, unfortunately, cannot buy a ticket). The Olympics may only take place every four years, but watching them is so worth the long wait.
References
- https://yen.com.gh/191172-what-difference-summer-winter-olympics.html
- https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/history-and-origin-of-the-games/since-when-have-the-summer-and-winter-games-no-longer-been-held-in-the-same-year
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympic_Games
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Olympic_Games
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobsleigh_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freestyle_skiing_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling_at_the_Winter_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_Summer_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volleyball_at_the_Summer_Olympics#Results_summary
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnastics_at_the_Summer_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_Summer_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_at_the_Summer_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_Summer_Olympics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_at_the_Summer_Olympics
