At the first Olympic Games, nine sports were contested. Since then, the number of sports contested at the Summer Olympic Games has gradually risen to twenty-eight on the programme from 2000–2008. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, however, the number of sports will fall back to twenty-six following an IOC vote in early 2006 deciding the removal of baseball and softball from the Olympic program. These remain Olympic sports nonetheless, with the possibility of a return to the Olympic programme at the 2016 games.
In order for a sport or discipline to be in included in the Summer Olympics programme (but not necessarily be contested at the Olympics), it must be widely practised by men and women, in at least 75 and 50 countries, respectively, spread over four continents.
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