| Host City: | London, United Kingdom |
| Summer Prev: | Berlin 1936 ← |
| Summer Next: | London 1948 |
| Winter Prev: | Garmisch 1936 ← |
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 22 July to 5 August 1944 in London, England, United Kingdom. The games were cancelled because of World War II alongside the 1944 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and were the fifth games to be cancelled due to war. However, unofficial celebrations went ahead anyway in Switzerland as well as by Polish prisoners of war held in German-occupied Poland.
The games eventually took place in London in 1948, which later hosted 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 1939 (London).[1]
Due to World War II, which by then had been ongoing for four years and had devastated London, the games were cancelled. 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]
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