Cook Islands at the 1992 Summer Olympics recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1986. The nation made its first Olympic appearance at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and have sent a delegation to every Summer Olympic Games since. Barcelona was therefore their second time competing in the Summer Olympics, and they have never participated in a Winter Olympic Games. As of 2018 the Cook Islands have never won a medal at the Olympics. The 1992 Summer Olympics were held from 25 July to 9 August; a total of 9,356 athletes represented 169 National Olympic Committees. The Cook Islands' delegation to Barcelona consisted of two competitors,
Summer Olympic Games from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 nations in 1896, to 306 events with 11,238 competitors (6,179 men, 5,059 women) from 206 nations in 2016. The Summer Olympics has been hosted on five continents by a total of nineteen countries. The United States has hosted the Games four times (in 1904, 1932, 1984 and 1996); this is more times than any other nation. The Games have been held three times in the United Kingdom (in 1908, 1948 and 2012); twice each in Greece (1896, 2004), France (1900, 1924), Germany (1936, 1972) and Australia (1956, 2000);