How long are the Olympics?

The modern summer and winter Olympic Games stretch across 16 or 17 consecutive days of competition. The summer games generally feature more countries competing in more events, because countries with a lack of cold weather often do not participate in the winter games.

The Olympic Games are held every two years, alternating between summer and winter games since 1994. Previous summer and winter host cities in the United States include St. Louis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Lake Placid, Squaw Valley and Salt Lake City. As of 2014, the countries with the most combined medals in Olympic competition are the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, Germany and France.