26 Cycling at the Summer Olympics

Cycling has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics, at which a road race and five track events were held. Mountain bike racing entered the Olympic programme at the Atlanta Olympics, followed by BMX racing in 2008. Prior to the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics, all events were speed races, but the 2020 programme will feature BMX freestyle for the first time.

At the 1896 Summer Olympics, six cycling events were contested at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Cycling. Events were held on 8 April, 11 April, 12 April and 13 April 1896. Nineteen cyclists, all men, from five nations competed.

The 1900 Summer Olympics were held as part of the 1900 World's Fair, during which many cycling events were contested. The IOC website currently affirms a total of 3 medal events, after accepting, as it appears, the recommendation of Olympic historian Bill Mallon regarding events that should be considered "Olympic". These additional events include the men's points race. Thus, three cycling events are considered Olympic events. These three competitions were held between 9 September and 16 September 1900. The cycling part of the World's Fair included 250 competitors, 160 of them French. In the sprint and 25 km events, 72 competitors, all men, from six nations competed.

At the 1904 Summer Olympics, seven cycling events were contested.

At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, one cycling event was contested on Sunday, 7 July. This event was a time trial which also counted as an individual race. For the only time in Olympic history, no track cycling events were held.

The cycling competitions at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp consisted of two road racing events and four track racing events, all for men only. The 50 km track event was held for the first time at these Games.

The cycling competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. The 50 km track event was held for the last time at these Games, having only been introduced in 1920.

The cycling competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. The individual event in road cycling was a time trial over a distance of 168 km; the team competition was decided by aggregating the times of the three fastest riders from each nation. The 50 km track event held in 1920 and 1924 was replaced by a 1 km time trial.

The cycling competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events. The program of events was unchanged from the previous Games.

The cycling competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only.

The cycling competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. The track cycling events were held at the Herne Hill Velodrome in south London. The road race events were held in Windsor Great Park, south of Windsor.

The cycling competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. 215 cyclists from 36 countries competed in the six events.

The cycling competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only.

The cycling competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. The event was marked by the death of cyclist Knud Jensen.

The cycling competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and five track cycling events, all for men only. The 4000m individual pursuit event was introduced at these Games.

The cycling competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and five track cycling events, all for men only.

The cycling competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich consisted of two road cycling events and five track cycling events, all for men only.

The cycling competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. The 2000m tandem event, contested at the previous 13 Games since 1908, was dropped from the Olympic cycling program.

Cycling competitions at the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics were split into two categories: Road and Track. Six events were contested. All four events of the track cycling were held at the Velodrome of the Trade Unions Olympic Sports Centre. The 100 km team time trial event was held along the Moscow-Minsk highway. It started from 23rd kilometre off Moscow, had a turning point at 73.5 kilometre off Moscow and finished not far from the starting point. The individual road race event was held at the Olympic Cycling Circuit of the Trade Unions Olympic Centre.

The cycling competitions at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul consisted of two different categories: road cycling and track cycling. Nine events were contested, including the first women's sprint event at the Olympics.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, 3 different bicycle racing disciplines were contested: Road cycling, track cycling, and mountain biking.

Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of 18 events in three disciplines:Road cycling, held at the Athens historic centre and in Vouliagmeni Olympic Centre. Track cycling, held at the Olympic Velodrome. Mountain biking, held at the Parnitha Olympic Mountain Bike Venue.

Cycling competitions at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from August 9 to August 23 at the Laoshan Velodrome, Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, Laoshan BMX Field and the Beijing Cycling Road Course. The event was dominated by the British team, who claimed 14 medals in total, including eight golds.

The cycling competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London took place at five venues between 28 July and 12 August. The venues were the London Velopark for track cycling and BMX, and Hadleigh Farm, in Essex, for mountain biking. The road races took place over a course starting and ending in The Mall in central London and heading out into Surrey, while the time trials started and finished at Hampton Court Palace in Richmond upon Thames. Eighteen events were contested and around 500 athletes participated.

The cycling competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were held at four venues scheduled to host Eighteen events between 6 August and 21 August.

For the Summer Olympics, there are 76 venues that have been or will be used for cycling.