Bid results
| 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 |
| Host city | London, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
Summer Winter | |
The 1944 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from July to August 1944 in London, England, United Kingdom. The games were canceled because of World War II alongside the 1944 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and were the fifth games to be canceled due to war. However, unofficial celebrations went ahead anyway in Switzerland as well as by Polish prisoners of war held in Nazi-occupied Poland.
The games eventually took place in London in 1948, and would later host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
London won the bid on the first ballot in a June 1939 International Olympic Committee election over Rome, Detroit, Lausanne, Athens, Budapest, Helsinki and Montreal. The selection was made at the 38th IOC Session in London in 1939. [1]
Due to World War II, which by then had been ongoing for four years and had devastated London, the games were canceled. 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 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]
| 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 |
The International Olympic Committee is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories participating; by default the Games generally substitute for any World Championships the year in which they take place. The Olympic Games are held every four years; since 1994, they have been alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year period.
The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC to 394 AD. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the edition that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After this edition, the next one was to be held in 1998 when the 4-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948, were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936.
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from September 21 to October 6, 1940 in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan, and later rescheduled for July 20 to August 4, 1940 in Helsinki, Finland following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. They were ultimately cancelled because of World War II alongside the 1940 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Empire of Japan, and were the third games to be canceled due to war.
The 1916 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were scheduled to be held in Berlin, German Empire, but were eventually cancelled for the first time in their 20-year history due to the outbreak of World War I. Berlin was selected as the host city during the 14th IOC Session in Stockholm on 4 July 1912, defeating bids from Alexandria, Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest and Cleveland. After the 1916 Games were cancelled, Berlin would eventually host the 1936 Summer Olympics, twenty years later.
A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events.
The 1944 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games after the cancellation of 1940 Winter Olympics, were a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held in February 1944 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The games were canceled because of World War II alongside the 1944 Summer Olympics in London, England, and were the fourth games to be canceled due to war.
The 1940 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games and as Sapporo 1940 (札幌1940), was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 3 to 12 February 1940 in Sapporo, Empire of Japan. They were ultimately cancelled because of World War II alongside the 1940 Summer Olympics in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan, and were the third games to be canceled due to war.
London hosted the Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012. The 2012 Summer Olympics made London the first city to have hosted the modern Games of three Olympiads. London is the only city in the United Kingdom to have ever hosted the Olympics; the United States is the only country to have hosted Summer Olympics on more occasions than the UK. Also, London is the only city to have bid more than once and still hold a 100% record.
Three cities made the shortlist with their bids to host the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which were awarded to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on July 2, 2003. The other shortlisted cities were Pyeongchang and Salzburg. Although Bern was originally shortlisted along with Vancouver, Pyeongchang and Salzburg, a referendum held in September 2002 revealed that a majority of the citizens of Bern did not support pursuing the candidacy. There were four other cities vying for the hosting honour, that had been dropped by the International Olympic Committee: Andorra la Vella, Harbin, Jaca and Sarajevo.
National Olympic Committees that wish to host an Olympic Games select cities within their territories to put forth bids for the Olympic Games. The staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bid. Since the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, which successfully appropriated the name of the Ancient Greek Olympics to create a modern sporting event, interested cities have rivaled for selection as host of the Summer or Winter Olympic Games. 51 different cities have been chosen to host the modern Olympics: three in Eastern Europe, five in East Asia, one in South America, three in Oceania, nine in North America and all the others in Western Europe. No Central American, African, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or Southeast Asian city has ever been chosen to host an Olympics.
Oflag II-C Woldenburg was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the town of Woldenberg, Brandenburg. The camp housed Polish officers and orderlies and had an area of 25 hectares with 25 brick huts for prisoners and another six for kitchens, class-rooms, theater, and administration. Now it houses a museum.
Athletes from Germany (GER) have appeared in only 20 of the 22 editions of the Winter Olympic Games as they were not invited to two events after the World Wars, in 1924 and 1948. Germany hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and had been selected to host in 1940 again.
A total of six bids were initially submitted for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Four of the bids were subsequently withdrawn by 1 October 2014, citing either the high costs of hosting the Games or the lack of local support, leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing, China as the only two remaining candidate cities. Beijing was then elected as the host city at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 31 July 2015.
Lausanne 2020 was a successful bid by the city of Lausanne and the Swiss Olympic Association to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. The IOC selected the host city for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31, 2015, which Lausanne won.
