1944 Summer Olympics

Games of the XIII Olympiad
Host city	London, England, United Kingdom
	Summer ← Berlin 1936; ← Tokyo 1940 London 1948 → Winter ← Garmisch 1936; ← Cortina 1944 St. Moritz 1948 →

The 1944 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, were cancelled because of World War II. They would have been held in London, United Kingdom, which won the bid on the first ballot in a June 1939 IOC election over Rome, Detroit, Lausanne, Athens, Budapest, Helsinki and Montreal. The selection was made at the 38th IOC Session in London in 1939.^[1]

History[]

Because of the cancellation, London went on to host the 1948 Summer Olympics.

In spite of the war, the IOC organised many events to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Held from 17 to 19 June 1944, this celebration was referred to as "The Jubilee Celebrations of IOC" by Carl Diem, the originator of the modern tradition of the Olympic torch relay.^[2]

Polish Prisoners of War (POWs) in the Woldenberg (Dobiegniew) Oflag II-C POW camp were granted permission by their German captors to stage an unofficial POW Olympics during 23 July to 13 August 1944, and an Olympic Flag made with a bed sheet and pieces of coloured scarves was raised. The event has been considered to be a demonstration of the Olympic spirit transcending war.^[3]

Bid results[]

IOC voting^[1]
City	Country	Round 1
London	United Kingdom	20
Rome	Italy	11
Detroit	United States	2
Lausanne	Switzerland	1
Athens	Greece	0
Budapest	Hungary	0
Helsinki	Finland	0
Montreal	Canada	0

Notes[]

^ ^a ^b "Past Olympic host city election results". GamesBids. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
^ "Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Mount Olympus Meets the Middle Kingdom | Beijing 2008 Olympic Games :: History of the Olympic Games". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
^ Grys, Iwona (1996), "The Olympic Idea Transcending War" (PDF), Olympic Review, XXV (8, April–May 1996): 68, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2008, retrieved 26 June 2012.

Summer Olympics
Preceded by Tokyo/Helsinki cancelled due to World War II	XIII Olympiad London 1944 (cancelled due to World War II)	Succeeded by London (1948)

[votes-1] "Past Olympic host city election results". GamesBids. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.

[2] "Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Mount Olympus Meets the Middle Kingdom | Beijing 2008 Olympic Games :: History of the Olympic Games". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 December 2015.

[3] Grys, Iwona (1996), "The Olympic Idea Transcending War" (PDF), Olympic Review, XXV (8, April–May 1996): 68, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2008, retrieved 26 June 2012.

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1944 Summer Olympics

Contents

History[]

Bid results[]

See also[]

Notes[]

Host city	London, England, United Kingdom
Summer ← Berlin 1936 ← Tokyo 1940 London 1948 → Winter ← Garmisch 1936 ← Cortina 1944 St. Moritz 1948 →