The fifth Olympiad, held in Stockholm in 1912, featured the expansion of both women's sports, with the addition of female competitions in swimming and diving, and international competition, as the Stockholm Games were the first to include athletes from five continents.

Since Sweden refused to sanction them, boxing matches were not held at the Games. As a result, the International Olympic Committee voted to curb the amount of control host nations could exercise over the Games' events in the future, after the Stockholm games had ended.

After eleven hours in the ring, middleweight Greco-Roman wrestler Martin Klein of Russia finally defeated Finnish fighter Alfred Asikainen in the tournament's semifinal bout and went on to win a silver medal in the final.

Of all the athletes at the Games, however, none could hold a candle to the astounding athletic feats of Jim Thorpe. With victories in the pentathlon and decathlon, the Native American Thorpe won two gold medals for the U.S. and dazzled audiences in the process. Despite Thorpe's performance, the Swedes edged the Americans in the medal count 65-63.