Germany at the Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Germany at the Olympics
IOC code	GER
NOC	German Olympic Sports Confederation
Website
Medals Ranked 4th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 317 318 320 955
Summer appearances
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920–1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956–1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956–1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games  Saar (1952)  United Team of Germany (1956–1964)  East Germany (1968–1988)  West Germany (1968–1988)

Athletes from Germany have taken part in most of the modern Olympic Games held since 1896. Germany has hosted three Olympic Games, in 1936 both the Winter and Summer Games, and the 1972 Summer Olympics. In addition, Germany had been selected to host the 1916 Summer Olympics as well as the 1940 Winter Olympics, both of which had to be cancelled due to World Wars. After these wars, Germany was banned from participating in the 1920, 1924 and 1948 Olympics.

While the country was divided, each of the two German states boycotted one of the Summer Games. In 1980, West Germany was one of 66 nations which did not go to Moscow in protest at the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, and in 1984 East Germany joined the Soviet Union and several others in the boycott of the Summer Games in Los Angeles. In 1990, East Germany and West Germany would reunite, with Germany once again competing as a single full sovereign state since the 1992 Olympic year.

The IOC currently splits German results among four codes, even though only the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1968 to 1988 had sent a separate team to compete against the team of the German NOC that represented Germany (GER) since 1896.

German post-WW2 division until 1990

After German organisations had been dissolved by the Allies in 1947, in 1950 the IOC recognized the reorganized Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland for all of Germany, based in (West) Germany.

Due to the Cold War, an East German state (German Democratic Republic) was created in October 1949, and a separate National Olympic Committee (NOC) for East Germany was established in 1951. It was not immediately recognized by the IOC, which until 1965 required that athletes of the NOC of East Germany join the German team represented by the West Germany-based NOC of Germany. This team, which competed together from 1956 to 1964, is nowadays called the United Team of Germany (EUA, "Equipe Unifiée Allemande"), but was Germany (GER) then. As a result of Germany being divided, from 1968 to 1990 two independent teams competed in each of the Games; the original designations were GER for the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and GDR for the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In 1980 the West German code was changed to FRG (which is currently also applied by the IOC in retrospect). After the GDR ceased to exist in 1990 and its states joined the Federal Republic of Germany, Germany once again was represented by a single team, designated GER.

Additionally, in the early 1950s the French-occupied Saar had its own NOC and competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics before joining the German Olympic team in 1956 and the (West) German state by 1957.

Overview of Olympic participation

Further information: Germany at the Summer Olympics and Germany at the Winter Olympics

Timeline of participation

Olympic year/s	team
1896–1912			Germany (GER)
1920–1924	denied participation after WWI
1928–1932			Germany (GER)
1936
1948	occupied country after WWII: former German Olympic Committee was dissolved
1952			Germany (GER)
	Saar (SAA)			East Germany did not participate
1956–1964	United Team of Germany (EUA)
1968–1988	Germany		(FRG)	East Germany (GDR)
since 1992			(GER)

Germany at the Summer Olympics

      Host country

Games	Athletes	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Total	Rank
1896 Athens	19	6	5	2	13	3
1900 Paris	78	4	3	2	9	7
1904 St. Louis	18	4	5	6	15	2
1908 London	81	3	5	5	13	5
1912 Stockholm	185	5	13	7	25	6
1920 Antwerp	did not participate
1924 Paris
1928 Amsterdam	296	10	7	14	31	2
1932 Los Angeles	143	3	12	5	20	9
1936 Berlin	433	33	26	30	89	1
1948 London	did not participate
1952 Helsinki	205	0	7	17	24	28
1956 Melbourne	as the  United Team of Germany (EUA)
1960 Rome
1964 Tokyo
1968 Mexico City	as  West Germany (FRG) and  East Germany (GDR)
1972 Munich
1976 Montreal
1980 Moscow
1984 Los Angeles
1988 Seoul
1992 Barcelona	463	33	21	28	82	3
1996 Atlanta	465	20	18	27	65	3
2000 Sydney	422	13	17	26	56	5
2004 Athens	441	13	16	20	49	6
2008 Beijing	463	16	11	14	41	5
2012 London	392	11	20	13	44	6
2016 Rio de Janeiro	425	17	10	15	42	5
2020 Tokyo	425	10	11	16	37	9
2024 Paris	428	12	13	8	33	10
2028 Los Angeles	future event
Total		213	220	255	688	7

Germany at the Winter Olympics

      Host country

Games	Athletes	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Total	Rank
1924 Chamonix	did not participate
1928 St. Moritz	44	0	0	1	1	8
1932 Lake Placid	20	0	0	2	2	9
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	55	3	3	0	6	2
1948 St. Moritz	did not participate
1952 Oslo	53	3	2	2	7	4
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	as the  United Team of Germany (EUA)
1960 Squaw Valley
1964 Innsbruck
1968 Grenoble	as  West Germany (FRG) and  East Germany (GDR)
1972 Sapporo
1976 Innsbruck
1980 Lake Placid
1984 Sarajevo
1988 Calgary
1992 Albertville	111	10	10	6	26	1
1994 Lillehammer	112	9	7	8	24	3
1998 Nagano	125	12	9	8	29	1
2002 Salt Lake City	157	12	16	8	36	2
2006 Turin	162	11	12	6	29	1
2010 Vancouver	152	10	13	7	30	2
2014 Sochi	153	8	6	5	19	6
2018 Pyeongchang	153	14	10	7	31	2
2022 Beijing	149	12	10	5	27	2
2026 Milan/Cortina	future event
Total		104	98	65	267	3

Combined medals of all German NOCs

Germany has competed at the Olympics under five different designations, including as two separate teams at several Games. Sources vary in how they present the medals won by these teams. The table below shows sourced combinations of these teams, when applied to the main table. Saar competed independently in the Summer Olympic games in 1952, but failed to win any medals. Due to most lists only listing medal counts, it's possible but not certain Saar was included as part of Germany in their calculations.

Medals won by Germany at the Summer Olympic Games between 1896 and 2012 (between 1956 and 1964 as the United Team of Germany and between 1968 and 1988 as a sum of medals of West and East Germany)

Medals won by Germany at the Winter Olympic Games between 1928 and 2014 (between 1956 and 1964 as the United Team of Germany and between 1968 and 1988 as sum of medals of West and East Germany)

Medal counts:
status after the 2024 Olympics, as of August 13, 2024

	Summer Games					Winter Games					Combined total
Team (IOC code)	No.					No.					No.
Germany (GER)	18	213	220	255	688	13	104	98	65	267	31	317	318	320	955
Saar (SAA)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
United Team of Germany (EUA)	3	28	54	36	118	3	8	6	5	19	6	36	60	41	137
East Germany (GDR)	5	153	129	127	409	6	39	36	35	110	11	192	165	162	519
West Germany (FRG)	5	56	67	81	204	6	11	15	13	39	11	67	82	94	243
Total	27	450	470	499	1419	22	162	155	118	435	49	612	625	617	1854

Combined IOC codes	No. Games	1	2	3	Combined total
Germany (GER)	30	317	318	320	955
Germany (GER) (EUA)	37	353	378	361	1092
Germany (GER) (EUA) (FRG)	48	420	460	455	1335
Germany (GER) (EUA) (FRG) (GDR)	59	612	625	617	1854

Hosted Games

For the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, see West Germany at the Olympics.

Unsuccessful bids

See also

In Spanish: Alemania en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• List of flag bearers for Germany at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for Germany
• Germany at the Paralympics