What is the difference between the Olympic Summer Games and the Olympic Winter Games?
One of the key differences between the Olympic Summer Games and the Olympic Winter Games can already be judged by their names. One of them takes place during the summer and the latter take place in winter. Moreover, there is a huge difference in the number of sports and participating countries in both competitions.
For more than a century, the Olympic Games have entertained sports enthusiasts in every corner of the world. The event takes place in two segments - the Olympic Summer Games and the Olympic Winter Games. The Olympic Summer Games are currently going on in Paris.
The Summer Olympics is comparatively a bigger event with the presence of more than 206 countries. In the Winter Olympics, only 91 countries participate and there is always a two-year difference between the two games.
The original Olympic games started in 1896 in Athens. However, there was no division at that point times. The Winter Olympics began at 1924 Chamonix in France.
The Winter Games were introduced to have snow and ice-based games which were impossible to be held in the summers. Winter Olympics are huge in Nordic and Alpine countries because of their climatic conditions.
Summer Games, on the other hand, are an important event for the Asian, African, and American continents.
The next Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in 2026 and they will be hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy.
How many sports and events are there in the Summer Games vs. Winter Games?
The first Summer Games took place in 1896 in Athens and surprisingly there were only nine sports, 10 disciplines, and 43 events. The total number of sports was less but the sport had a good variety like athletics, cycling (road and track disciplines), fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling.
After 124 years, when the Summer Olympics took place in Tokyo in 2020, the event featured 339 events across 33 different sports. Overall, it had a total of 50 disciplines. The new sports were karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding with baseball and softball making a comeback.
The first Winter Olympics that were held in 1924 had five sports with nine disciplines. The event included bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. Nothing much has changed in the Winter Olympics today as there are seven sports and 15 disciplines.
These sports include biathlon, bobsledding (bobsleigh and skeleton), curling, ice hockey, luge, skating (figure skating, short-track speed skating, speed skating), and skiing (alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding).