First post‑World War II Summer Olympics held in 1948 London

The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus caused by the outbreak of World War II, these were ...

The 1948 Summer Olympics, held in London, were the first games after World War II and featured 4,099 athletes competing in 17 sports, promoting peace and

Summer 1948. Barely three years since the end of the Second World War. London was still scarred by bombing. People were living on rations. And yet the city buzzed as it hosted the first Olympics since the 1936 Games in Adolf Hitler’s Berlin.

Alice Coachman first won a national title in 1939; in 1940 and 1944 The Olympics were canceled because of World War II. Coachman finally won gold in the high jump at the London 1948 Olympic Games.

Because of time constraints, and the difficulty getting IOC members to travel to a central location for voting on the 1948 Olympic Games, London (Great Britain) was confirmed as the host city by a postal vote. The vote was confirmed at the 40th IOC Session in Lausanne, on 4 September 1946.

With conflict raging across the globe, the IOC canceled the London Olympics and suspended the Games for the duration of the war. The organization would hold a tiny ceremony in neutral Switzerland in the summer of 1944, reminding the world that ...

After the war, London finally hosted the Olympic Games in 1948. Still battered and bruised from the bombing raids of the London Blitz, the city staged an austere version. Helsinki went on to host the games in 1952 and Tokyo would host them in 1964.

He sent a series of circular letters to members but as international travel was very difficult, even he was unable to travel to Lausanne for the celebratory events in 1944 to mark 50 years since the foundation of the IOC and its historic resolution to revive the Olympic Games for the Modern era. Yet even before the end of the war, overtures were made about the resumption of the Games. Once the fighting was officially over, the IOC decided that the 1948 Games “should be celebrated.” · The Executive Committee (known today as the Executive Board) met in London only a week after the Japanese surrender.

The London Games were the 11th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. Despite limited preparation time and after much debate over the need for a sports festival at a time when many countries were still recovering from the destruction of World War II, the 1948 Olympics ultimately were very popular and were perceived as providing relief from the strains caused by the war.