Finland made a legend of an amiable Czechoslovak Army lieutenant named Emil Zátopek, who was intent on improving on his single gold and silver medals from 1948. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for organising the Games and for overseeing the host city's preparations. The city was the fifth in history to host the Games twice and the first Asian city to have this title. The IOC does not currently recognise these games as being official Olympic Games, although many historians do and credit the 1906 games with preventing the demise of the Olympics.

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. At the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, the highlight was 200 meters runner Michael Johnson annihilating the world record in front of a home crowd. These Games introduced the now-universal Fosbury flop, a technique which won American high jumper Dick Fosbury the gold medal. The new marathon distance was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family. The London Games were successful on a commercial level because they were the first in history to completely sell out every ticket, with as many as 1million applications for 40,000 tickets for both the Opening Ceremony and the 100m Men's Sprint Final.Four years later the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris attracted more than four times as many athletes, including 20 women, who were allowed to officially compete for the first time, in croquet, golf, sailing, and tennis. Only five countries have participated in every Summer Olympic Games: Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. Portugalov was also one of the main figures involved in the implementation of the Russian doping programme prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics. The 1936 Berlin Games were seen by the German government as a golden opportunity to promote their ideology. In the medal award ceremony for the men's 200-meter race, black American athletes Tommie Smith (gold medal winner) and John Carlos (bronze medal winner) took a stand for civil rights by raising their black-gloved fists and wearing black socks in lieu of shoes.

The preparation for these Games was overshadowed by controversies, including political instability and an economic crisis in the host country, health and safety concerns surrounding the Zika virus, and significant pollution in the Guanabara Bay. Tokyo, Japan, hosted the 2020 Games and became the first city outside the predominantly English-speaking and European nations to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice, having already hosted the Games in 1964; [3] it is also the largest city ever to have hosted, having grown considerably since 1964. The 1976 Games were boycotted by many African nations as a protest against a recent tour of apartheid-run South Africa by the New Zealand national rugby union team.After much debate, the decision was taken to continue the Games, but the proceedings were understandably dominated by these events. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, consequently Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games.