Editing Summer Olympic Games (section)

===Start of the 21st century===
In [[2004 Summer Olympics|2004]], the Olympic Games returned to their birthplace in Athens, Greece. At least $7.2&nbsp;billion was spent on the 2004 Games, including $1.5&nbsp;billion on security. [[Michael Phelps]] won his first Olympic medals, tallying six gold and two bronze medals. [[Pyrros Dimas]], winning a bronze medal, became the most decorated weightlifter of all time with four Olympic medals, three gold and one bronze. Although unfounded reports of potential terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions at the first weekend of the Olympics (14–15&nbsp;August 2004), attendance picked up as the Games progressed. A third of the tickets failed to sell,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-07-28-olympics-tickets_N.htm|work=USA Today|title=Tickets to Olympic events in Beijing sold out|date=28 July 2008|access-date=24 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305040248/https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-07-28-olympics-tickets_N.htm|archive-date=5 March 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> but ticket sales still topped figures from the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics ([[1988 Summer Olympics|1988]] and [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992]]). IOC President [[Jacques Rogge]] characterised Greece's organisation as outstanding and its security precautions as flawless.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/3609818.stm|work=[[BBC Sport]]|title=Rogge hails Athens success|date=29 August 2004|access-date=19 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-date=30 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040830022624/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/3609818.stm}}</ref> All 202 NOCs participated at the Athens Games with over 11,000 participants.

The [[2008 Summer Olympics]] was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Several new events were held, including the new discipline of [[BMX]] for both men and women. Women competed in the [[Steeplechase (athletics)|steeplechase]] for the first time. The fencing programme was expanded to include all six events for both men and women; previously, women had not been able to compete in team foil or sabre events, although women's team épée and men's team foil were dropped for these Games. Marathon swimming events were added, over the distance of {{convert|10|km|1|abbr=on}}. Also, the doubles events in table tennis were replaced by team events.<ref name=2008program>{{cite news|title=Beijing 2008: Games Program Finalized|website=IOC|url=https://olympics.com/ioc/news/beijing-2008-games-programme-finalised|date=27 April 2006|access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref> American swimmer Michael Phelps set a record for gold medals at a single Games with eight, and tied the record of most gold medals by a single competitor previously held by both Eric Heiden and Vitaly Scherbo. Another notable star of the Games was Jamaican sprinter [[Usain Bolt]], who became the first male athlete ever to set world records in the finals of both the 100 and 200&nbsp;metres in the same Games. Equestrian events were held in Hong Kong.

London held the [[2012 Summer Olympics]], becoming the first city to host the Olympic Games three times. In his closing address, Jacques Rogge described the Games as "Happy and glorious". The host nation won 29 gold medals, the best haul for Great Britain since the [[1908 Summer Olympics|1908 Games]] in London. The United States returned to the top of the medal table after China dominated in 2008. The IOC had removed [[baseball]] and [[softball]] from the 2012 programme. 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 1&nbsp;million applications for 40,000 tickets for both the Opening Ceremony and the 100m Men's Sprint Final. Such was the demand for tickets to all levels of each event that there was controversy over seats being set aside for sponsors and National Delegations which went unused in the early days. A system of reallocation was put in place so the empty seats were filled throughout the Games.