Germany at the Olympics

Germany at the Olympic Games
Flag of Germany IOC code  GER NOC German Olympic Sports Confederation Website www.dosb.de (German) (English) (French)
Olympic history
Summer Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956–1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956–1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014
Intercalated Games
1906
Other related appearances
United Team of Germany (1956–1964) West Germany (1968–1988) East Germany (1968–1988) Saar (1952)

Athletes from Germany have taken part in most of the Olympic Games since the first modern Games in 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, Germans were banned from participating in 1920, 1924 and 1948. While the country was divided, each of the two German states boycotted the Summer Games: in 1980 West Germany was one of 65 nations which did not go to Moscow in protest at the Soviet 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.

Including the Winter Games of 2014, German athletes have won 1681 medals: 547 gold, 567 silver and 567 bronze. The IOC currently splits these results among four codes, even though only the East 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 the 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.

Participation

Combined medals

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.

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

Combined IOC codes	№ Games				Combined total
Germany (GER)[1]	26	252	260	270	782
Germany (GER) (EUA)[2]	32	288	320	311	919
Germany (GER) (EUA) (FRG)[3]	43	355	402	405	1162
Germany (GER) (EUA) (FRG) (GDR)[4]	54[5]	547	567	567	1681

Timeline of participation

Date	Team(s)
1896–1936	Germany (GER)
1952	Germany (GER)  Saar (SAA)
1956–1964	United Team of Germany (EUA)
1968–1988	West Germany (FRG)  East Germany (GDR)
1992–	Germany (GER)

Medal tables

*Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Medals by Summer Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1896 Athens 19 6 5 2 13 3 1900 Paris 78 4 2 2 8 7 1904 St. Louis 18 4 4 5 13 2 1908 London 81 3 5 5 13 5 1912 Stockholm 185 5 13 7 25 6 1920–1924 did not participate 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 1956–1964 as part of the  United Team of Germany (EUA) 1968–1988 as  West Germany (FRG) and  East Germany (GDR) 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 10 15 41 5 2012 London 392 11 19 14 44 6 2016 Rio de Janeiro 2020 Tokyo Total 174 182 217 573 7

Medals by Winter Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 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 1956–1964 as part of the  United Team of Germany (EUA) 1968–1988 as  West Germany (FRG) and  East Germany (GDR) 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 Total 78 78 53 209 3

Medals by summer sport    Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Canoeing 28 16 19 63 Equestrian 23 11 12 46 Rowing 21 13 14 48 Athletics 16 24 37 77 Swimming 13 19 29 61 Cycling 13 14 15 42 Gymnastics 13 11 13 37 Shooting 7 8 5 20 Weightlifting 6 7 7 20 Fencing 5 7 9 21 Wrestling 4 12 8 24 Boxing 4 9 9 22 Field hockey 4 2 2 8 Sailing 3 4 4 11 Judo 3 2 12 17 Diving 2 8 10 20 Tennis 2 5 2 9 Modern pentathlon 2 0 1 3 Water polo 1 2 0 3 Handball 1 1 0 2 Triathlon 1 1 0 2 Beach volleyball 1 0 1 2 Table tennis 0 2 3 5 Archery 0 1 1 2 Taekwondo 0 1 1 2 Rugby 0 1 0 1 Football 0 0 3 3 Total* 173 181 217 571 *This table does not include two medals – one gold and one silver – awarded in the figure skating events at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Medals by winter sport    Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Biathlon 16 20 9 45 Luge 15 9 7 31 Speed skating 13 15 10 38 Alpine skiing 12 7 7 26 Bobsleigh 10 5 6 21 Ski jumping 5 3 1 9 Figure skating 3 2 3 8 Cross country skiing 2 9 4 15 Nordic combined 2 4 3 9 Snowboarding 1 3 1 5 Skeleton 0 1 1 2 Freestyle skiing 0 1 0 1 Ice hockey 0 0 1 1 Total* 79 79 53 211 *This table includes two medals – one gold and one silver – awarded in the figure skating events at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

See also

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

References

1. International Olympic Committee: Germany
2. Sports Reference: Germany
3. olympicsuniverse.com: All Time Summer Olympics Medal Tally
4. BBC: Timeline: Olympic Powers
5. Counting the eleven Games where both East Germany (GDR) and West Germany (FRG) competed as two appearances.

External links

• "Germany". International Olympic Committee.
• "Results and Medalists". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.
• "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee.
• "Germany". Sports-Reference.com.