1948-1972
The 1940 Olympics awarded to Japan- the Winter games to Sapporo and the Summer games to Tokyo-but when Japan invaded China and became involved in a major war, the Games were resigned to Helsinki. When the Soviet Union invaded Finland the games were cancelled all together. The British Association took up the task of organizing the Summer Olympics in twelve years because London was still building after WWII. Financing was limited and the athletes had to be housed in army camps and remodeled school rooms. As aggressor nations, Germany and Japan were banned from the Games, but a record-setting 59 nations took part in these Games. The 1948 Games were the first to be shown on home television, although very few people in Great Britain actually owned sets. The 1952 Helsinki Games began with a 55 and 62 year old athletes who carried the torch and lit the cauldron. The athletes of 69 nations, gathered on the infield. The Soviet Union entered the Olympics for the first time. Although their athletes were housed in a separate "village", warnings that the Cold War rivalries would lead to clashed proved unfounded. Melbourne won the right to host the 1956 Olympics, by one vote over Buenos Aires. Melbourne were the first Games to be held in the Southern Hemisphere, so they were staged between November 22 and December 8, the latest in Olympic history. Fifty- four years after Italy had to give up hosting the Olympics following the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Rome finally got it's chance. It made the most dramatic history, holding the wrestling competition in the Basilica of Manentius, site of the wrestling matches 2000 years earlier. Among the other antique sites that were used were the Caracalla Baths (gymnastic) and the Arch of Constantine (finish of the Marathon). The 1964 Tokyo Games were the first to he held in Asia. South Africa was banned from competition because of its governmental racial policies. In 1962 Indonesia hosted the Asian Games in Jakarta. The choice of Mexico City to host the 1968 Olympics was controversial because of the cities high altitude (7546 feet). This meant that the air contained less oxygen and made it harder fro the athletes to compete. These Summer Olympics were the first to include gender test for the women. Also, the first drug disqualification was seen in these Olympics. The 1972 Munich Games were the largest yet, setting records in all categories, with 195 events and 7,173 athletes from 121 nations. They were supposed to celebrate peace, but then eight Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village and made their way to Israel's room. Where two athletes were immediately killed and nine were taken hostage. They got as far as the military airport when West Germans opened fire and the rest to the nine athletes, five terrorist and one policeman. The Olympics were suspended and a memorial service was held in the main stadium. The Olympics resumed after 34 hours.