1944 Summer Olympics
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 due to 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. History 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. 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