Istanbul bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic Stadium. Turkey has yet to host an Olympic Games. Istanbul has made four previous bids for the Summer Games. The city was a candidate for the 2000 Games which were awarded to Sydney. It bid again for 2004, which were held in Athens, but failed to become a candidate city. It became a candidate for 2008 but lost to Beijing. The Turkish city's most recent bid was for the 2012 Games but it failed to become a candidate. London was awarded the 2012 Games. Istanbul lost to Tokyo for 2020. Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Games. Istanbul hosted the
Olympic Games each holding that honour twice. The most recent Winter Games were held in Pyeongchang in 2018, South Korea's first Winter Olympics and second Olympics overall (including the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul). Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics () are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring