World War II and the Winter Olympics

From Wikipedia.

The Winter Olympics started in 1924 and were held every four years until 1936. After that, they were cancelled until 1948 because of World War II.

The 1940 Olympics were originally to be at Sapporo, Japan, but that was rescinded in 1938 because of the Japanese invasion of China. The Winter Olympics were then moved to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, but the German invasion of Poland in 1939 cancelled that. It was then decided not to have them.

The 1944 Winter Olympics were scheduled to be in Cortina-D'Ampezzo, Italy, but that too was cancelled.

The games started again in 1948 and were held at St. Moritz, Switzerland. That country's neutrality during the war had protected it from damage and the venues from the 1928 Winter Olympics were still largely in place.

Athletes from Germany and Japan were not allowed to participate in the 1948 games.

--GreGen