Not THAT kind of ‘Olympic style’—AP releases Olympics editorial style guide
August 5, 2012 § 2 Comments
(image via http://yfrog.com/4bfw5mj)
It’s that time of the quadrennium again: time to plunk down in front of the TV, brush up on some world geography, and cheer on athletes for sports you didn’t even know existed (trampoline, anyone?). In honor of the Summer Olympics, here’s the AP’s editorial style guide to the games (not Games, as I learned after reading). Here are a few of the highlights:
Olympics or Olympic Games
Always capitalized. There are Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics, or Summer Games and Winter Games.
Olympics
Noun. Always capitalized.
Olympic
Adjective (without s) and always capitalized: Olympic gold medal, Olympic organizers, Olympic host city, Olympic flame, etc.
Olympiad
A period of four years beginning on Jan. 1 of the Olympic year. Olympiads are numbered consecutively in Roman numerals from the 1896 Athens Games. The XXX Olympiad that includes the London Games began Jan. 1, 2012.
Olympian
Any athlete who has been to the Olympics.
London Games, London Olympics
Capitalized. Also, 2012 Olympics or 2012 Games. London Summer Olympics and London Summer Games.
Games
Capitalized when attached to the host city or year: the London Games and the 2012 Games.
games
Standing alone, lowercase: The games open on July 27.
The year
Always precedes the host city and Olympics: 2012 Olympics, 2012 London Games.
Happy cheering!
MARY GABLE 
Thanks for this! I’ve wondered about “Olympic” vs. “Olympics” but was just too lazy to look it up. Now I know the difference!
Yeah, I had never been quite sure, either. Glad it was helpful!