Olympic Games

The Olympic Games were an international sporting event on Earth.

History
The Tenth Doctor claimed to have visited the very first Olympics and watched naked men throwing a discus before a giant crowd. (TV: Fear Her) The Eleventh Doctor offered to take Amy Pond and Rory Williams to the first Olympic Games. (TV: The Vampires of Venice)

Vicki, to cover her recognition of Steven Taylor in front of the Trojans, claimed to have met him at the Olympic Games the previous year. (PROSE: The Myth Makers)

The First Doctor and his companions Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright visited Babylon and met Alexander the Great in the Year of the 114th Olympiad, which equated to 323 BC in the Anno Domini Gregorian calendar. (AUDIO: Farewell, Great Macedon)

The 1948 Olympics were held in London. The Doctor enjoyed them so much, he attended them twice. John Mark lit the torch. (TV: Fear Her)

The 1968 Olympics were held in Mexico. While in Atlantis, Polly Wright discovered a souvenir bracelet from the games and she guessed from it that the year was approximately 1970. (TV: The Underwater Menace)

Some time in the 1970s, John Crichton jumped 2.6362 metres in one of the Olympics. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)

The 1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles and were boycotted by the Soviet Union, which announced its intention to do so on 8 May of that year. (AUDIO: The Reaping)



The 2012 Olympics were held in London. The Isolus temporarily brought all the athletes and spectators into a drawing in an effort to stop being lonely, but it wasn't enough. Rose Tyler, using the heat of the Olympic Torch, as well as its status as a beacon of love, heated the Isolus pod, and the spectators and athletes were brought back. When the final runner carrying the Torch collapsed at the opening ceremonies, the Tenth Doctor took over and lit the Olympic Flame. (TV: Fear Her) The United Kingdom issued a commemorative pound coin celebrating the London Olympics, one of which ended up in a coin-operated vending machine in Manchester in 2008. (AUDIO: The Raincloud Man)

The 2044 Olympics were held in Havana, Cuba. Tarak Ital represented Pakistan in athletics and won a gold medal. (TV: The Waters of Mars)

The 2048 Olympics were held in Paris. (TV: The Waters of Mars)

The 2060 Olympics were held in Barcelona. The Fifth Doctor wanted to go there to watch the cricket match, having persuaded the committee to include the sport. (AUDIO: Nekromanteia)

The Tenth Doctor once told Rose Tyler that he could take her to the first Anti-Gravity Olympics. (TV: Tooth and Claw) In 2074, the Eleventh Doctor rode an anti-gravity motorbike in the 2074 Anti-Grav Olympics, and finished last. (TV: The Bells of Saint John)

In the early 22nd century, robots began competing in their own version of the Olympics. (AUDIO: Technophobia)

The First Doctor attempted to visit the 2784 Olympics with Vicki Pallister and Steven Taylor only to end up in Florence in 1514. (AUDIO: The Ravelli Conspiracy)

The Intergalactic Olympic Games were active in the 40th century. The 3999 Intergalactic Olympics were held on Micawber's World. The Eighth Doctor took Sam Jones there. (PROSE: Placebo Effect)

In 4500 when the Fourth Doctor offered to tell Davros what had happened while he was in suspended animation, he said that Betelgeuse had come in second in the Galactic Olympic Games, with Arcturus (TV: Destiny of the Daleks) or Earth coming in first. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks)

After Earth was recolonised by the inhabitants of the Nerva Beacon in 16087, the Olympic Games were resumed. However, the fragmentary historical records stated that the Games were held every fourth of a year instead of once every four years. They were being held in Nerva City, the former site of New York City, at the time of the Sixth Doctor and Flip Jackson's arrival in the city in 16127. (AUDIO: Wirrn Isle)

Behind the scenes
The Tenth Doctor's involvement in the 2012 Olympics sparked a petition from fans all over the world wishing David Tennant to carry the Olympic Torch. The petition was, at its end, signed by a grand total of nearly 40,000 people.

Unfortunately, this did not end up happening. In fact, Doctor Who in the end barely ended up getting featured at all. Although a big, commemorative video for the UK's staple science fiction series was produced and was planned to appear along with an appearance of the TARDIS, this whole presentation was cut last-minute. Only the TARDIS materialisation sound effect appeared at the opening ceremony in the end, during Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Despite the show's absence in the opening ceremony itself, it did gain a small presence during the torch-bearing process. On 26 May 2012, Eleventh Doctor actor Matt Smith carried the Olympic torch from the historic Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay to the National Assembly building, as part of the torch's tour around the United Kingdom.