The
anticipated 1940 Winter
Olympics, which would have been officially known as
the V Olympic Winter Games, were to be celebrated
in 1940 in Sapporo, Japan
.
The games were cancelled due to the onset of
World War II.
Sapporo was selected to be the host of the
fifth edition Winter Olympics scheduled February 3-12, 1940, but
Japan gave the Games back to the IOC
in July 1938, after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in
1937.
The IOC
then decided to give the Winter Olympics to St Moritz
, Switzerland
, which had hosted in 1928. Due to controversies
between the Swiss organizing team and the IOC, the Games were
withdrawn again.
In the
spring of 1939, the IOC gave the 1940 Winter Olympics, now
scheduled for February 2-11, to Garmisch-Partenkirchen
, Germany
, where the
previous 1936 games had been
held. Three months later Germany invaded Poland
on September
1 to ignite World War II, and the
Winter Games were cancelled in November. Likewise, the 1944 games, awarded in 1939 to Cortina
d'Ampezzo
, Italy
, were
cancelled in 1941.
St Moritz held the first post-war games in
1948; Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted in
1956, and Sapporo in
1972.
Germany has not hosted the winter games since 1936.
Neighboring Austria
hosted at
Innsbruck
in 1964 and
again in 1976, as a substitute
following Denver
's withdrawal
in late 1972.
See also
External links
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
