The second modern Olympic Games in Paris 1900 were relegated to a sideshow of the World Exhibition, which was being held in this town that summer. The Games suffered from poor organization, with events conducted over a period of five months in venues that often were inadequate.

The track-and-field events were held in a grass field that was uneven and often wet. The swimming events were contested in the Seine River, whose strong current carried athletes to unrealistically fast times. There was such confusion about schedules that few spectators or journalists made it to the events. Officials and athletes often were unaware that they were participating in the Olympics.

The Olympic Village was first introduced at Los Angeles in 1932. The organizing committee provides the village so that competitors and team officials can be housed together and fed at a reasonable price. The village is located as close as possible to the main stadium and other facilities and has separate accommodations for men and women. Only competitors and officials may live in the village, and the number of team officials is limited.

Women, competing in lawn tennis and golf, participated at the Olympics in Paris, 1904, for the first time.

The 400-metre final at London Olympics 1908, was nullified by officials who disqualified the apparent winner, American John Carpenter, for deliberately impeding the path of Wyndham Halswelle of the United Kingdom. A new race was ordered, but the other qualifiers, both American, refused to run. Halswelle then won the gold in the only walkover in Olympic history.