1956 Summer Olympics in the context of "1980 Summer Olympics"

The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the Kingdom of Greece, and the most recent was held in 2024 in Paris, France. This was the first international multi-sport event of its kind, organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founded by Pierre de Coubertin. The tradition of awarding medals began in 1904; in each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals for second place, and bronze medals for third place. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympic Games, which are regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi-sport international event in the world.

The Summer Olympics have increased in scope from a 42-event competition programme in 1896 with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 nations, to 339 events in 2021 (2020 Summer Olympics) with 11,319 competitors (almost half of whom were women) from 206 nations. The Games have been held in nineteen countries over five continents: four times in the United States (1904, 1932, 1984, and 1996), three times in Great Britain (1908, 1948, and 2012) and in France (1900, 1924, and 2024), twice each in Greece (1896 and 2004), Germany (1936 and 1972), Australia (1956 and 2000), and Japan (1964 and 2020), and once each in Sweden (1912), Belgium (1920), the Netherlands (1928), Finland (1952), Italy (1960), Mexico (1968), Canada (1976), Russia (1980), South Korea (1988), Spain (1992), China (2008), and Brazil (2016).

The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It marked the second time the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, in 1956.

Teams from 199 countries participated in the 2000 Games, which were the first to feature at least 300 events in its official sports program. The Games were estimated to have cost A$6.6 billion. These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch before the arrival of his successor Jacques Rogge.

Sweden first participated at the Olympic Games at the inaugural 1896 Games, and has sent athletes to compete in every Games since then with one exception, the sparsely attended 1904 Summer Olympics. Sweden has earned medals at all Olympic games except for two, the 1896 Games and the 1904 Games (the latter of which Sweden did not compete at). Sweden is the country with the longest Olympic Games medalling streak in history, having earned medals at every Olympic game since 1908.

Sweden hosted the Games on one occasion, the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. The equestrian events of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne were held in Stockholm, due to quarantine reasons.

The Netherlands first sent athletes to the Olympic Games in 1900, and has participated in almost all Games since then, except for the 1904 Games in St. Louis, which were attended by only a handful of countries due to travel difficulties and limited international participation. Netherlands boycotted the main events of the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, joining several other nations in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary, due the Hungarian Uprising. However, one Dutch rider did take part in the equestrian events , which were held earlier that year in Stockholm, Sweden, due to Australian quarantine laws.

The first individual gold medal at the Summer Games was earned by Maurice Peeters in cycling at the 1920 Summer Olympics, in the men's 1000 metres sprint event. The first gold medal at the Winter Games was earned by Sjoukje Dijkstra in ladies' figure skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics.

The 1968 Summer Olympics (Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad (Spanish: Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (Spanish: México 1968), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Olympic Games to be staged in Latin America, the first to be staged in a Spanish-speaking country, and the first to be staged in the Global South. Consequently, these games also marked the first time that there would be a gap of two Olympic Games not to be held in Europe. They were also the first Games to use an all-weather (smooth) track for track and field events instead of the traditional cinder track, as well as the first example of the Olympics exclusively using electronic timekeeping equipment.

The 1968 Games were the third to be held in the last quarter of the year, after the 1956 Games in Melbourne and the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The 1968 Mexican Student Movement was crushed days prior, hence the Games were correlated to the government's repression.

Spain first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, and has sent athletes to compete in most Summer Olympic Games since 1920. Spain has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1936. Its team is organised by the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE, Comité Olímpico Español) created in 1924.

Spain withdrew from the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany because of the Civil War, and also boycotted the 1956 Games in Melbourne because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary. The equestrian events in 1956 were held five months earlier in Stockholm, and Spain did participate in those events.

India competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was the country's fourth participation in the Summer Olympics its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. The Indian team consisted of 21 athletes and competed in two sports. India competed in the men's field hockey event for the first time in the history of the Games, and won the gold medal. It was the country's first gold medal, and the began a streak in the sport that continued through the 1956 Games.