Although the Olympic Games of the Modern Era began in 1896, the first medals won by Brazil in the Summer Olympic Games only occurred in 1920, at the Antwerp Games. A table with the Olympic Games and the medals won by Brazil in each edition of the Games will be presented below.
| Year | Main city | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1920 | Antwerp | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1948 | London | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1952 | Helsinki | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1956 | Melbourne/Stockholm | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960 | Pomegranate | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1964 | Tokyo | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1968 | Mexico | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1972 | Munich | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1976 | Montreal | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1980 | Moscow | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1984 | Los Angeles | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 1988 | Seoul | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1992 | Barcelona | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1996 | Atlanta | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2000 | sydney | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 2004 | Athens | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| 2008 | Beijing | 3 | 4 | 8 |
1920 Games – The medals were won by Guilherme Paraense, in the quick pistol (gold); Afrânio da Costa, in the free pistol (silver); and Guilherme Paraense, Afrânio da Costa, Sebastian Wolf, Dario Barbosa and Fernando Soledade, in the team pistol (bronze).
1948 Games – Won the bronze medal with the men's basketball team, composed of: Alberto Marson, Alexandre Gemignani, Alfredo Rodrigues da Mota, Affonso de Azevedo Évora, João Francisco Brás, Luís Benvenuti, Marcus Vinícius Dias, Massinet Sorcinelli, Nilton Pacheco de Oliveira, Ruy de Freitas and Zenny de Sorrel.
1952 Games – The gold medal was won in the triple jump by Adhemar Ferreira da Silva. The first bronze also came from athletics, in the high jump, by José Telles Conceição, while the second bronze was won by Tetsuo Okamoto, swimming the 1,500m freestyle.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
1956 Games – The only medal in this edition of the Games was won again by Adhemar Ferreira da Silva, in a triple jump event.
1960 Games – Both bronze medals were won in swimming and basketball. Manoel dos Santos won the 100 meter freestyle event. The basketball team, responsible for acquiring the medal, was composed of: Algodão, Amaury, Wlamir, Mosquito, Édson, Fernando, Jathyr, Rosa Branca, Sucar, Moyses, Waldemar and Waldyr.
1964 Games – Basketball once again reached third place in the competition. The team, this time, was composed of: Amaury, Wlamir, Mosquito, Rosa Branca, Jathyr, Edson Bispo and Sucar, Ubiratan, Friedrich Wilhelm Braun, Victor Mirschawka, Sérgio Machado and Edvar Simões.
1968 Games – The best Brazilian result came, once again, with the triple jump, but now Nelson Prudencio was playing. The two bronzes came from boxing, with Servílio de Oliveira, and from sailing, disputed by Reinald Conrad and Burkhard Cordes.
1972 Games – The two medals won were bronze. One of them by Nelson Prudencio, in the triple jump, and the second with judo, in the light heavyweight category, by Chiaki Ishii.
1976 Games – Once again the triple jump was responsible for the Brazilian podium, but this time, with João do Pulo. The other bronze medal came from sailing, with Reinald Conrad and Peter Ficker.
1980 Games – The two gold medals came from sailing, with Alexandre Welter and Lars Bjorkstrom and with Marcos Pinto Rizzo Soares and Eduardo Penido. The bronzes came with João do Pulo, in the triple jump, and with the 4 x 200m relay team in swimming, formed by Jorge Fernandes, Marcus Mattioli, Ciro Delgado and Djan Madruga.
1984 Games – Gold won in athletics, in the 800m dash, by Joaquim Cruz. Men's volleyball and soccer won silver, as did Ricardo Prado, in the 400m medley (swimming), Torben Grael and Daniel Adler, in sailing, and Douglas Vieira, in judo. By the way, judo was also responsible for the two bronzes, with Walter Carmona and Luís Onmura.
1988 Games – Aurélio Miguel, in judo, was responsible for the only Brazilian gold. Silvers were won by Joaquim Cruz, in the 800m dash, and by men's football. Robson Caetano, in the 200 sprints, Torben Grael and Nelson de Barros Falcão, in sailing, and Lars Grael and Clinio Freitas, also in sailing, won third place.
1992 Games – Men's volleyball and judo, with Rogério Sampaio, won gold. Silver was achieved by Gustavo Borges, in swimming.
1996 Games – Brazil won many medals in Atlanta. Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira won two gold medals, in categories other than sailing, as well as women's beach volleyball. Women's beach volleyball also took silver, along with Gustavo Borges, in swimming, and women's basketball. The bronzes were due to the women's volleyball on the court, two achievements in swimming, two in judo, horseback riding, sailing, men's football and 4 x 100m relay in athletics.
2000 Games – In this edition, Brazil did not win the first place in any sport, but won six silvers and six bronzes. The silver was in women's and men's beach volleyball, sailing, two in judo and one in the athletics relay. Basketball, beach volleyball and women's indoor volleyball, sailing, horseback riding and swimming won bronze.
2004 Games – Unlike 2000, the 2004 edition had five Brazilian gold medals: men's beach and court volleyball, horseback riding and two sailing achievements. The women took responsibility for the silver medals in volleyball and football. Two bronze medals were taken for judo and the third for marathon.
2008 Games – Gold won in swimming, long jump and women's volleyball. Men's indoor and outdoor volleyball, women's soccer and sailing won silver. Finally, judo won three bronze, along with swimming, taekwon-do, sailing, men's beach volleyball and men's soccer.
By Paula Rondinelli
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Physical Education from the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” – UNESP
Master in Motricity Sciences from the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” – UNESP
Doctoral Student in Integration of Latin America at the University of São Paulo - USP