1944 Olympics in London Cancelled Due to WW II

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, and after that scrambling to find replacement hosts for 1940, the IOC awarded London the 1944 Summer Games in balloting that also included Athens, Budapest, Detroit, Helsinki, Lausanne, Montreal and Rome.

With England not a feasible host for the Winter Games, that event was awarded to Cortina d'Ampezzo,Italy.

The 1944 Olympics never had a chance.  World War II dragged on until the following year.

London would be awarded the 1948 Summer Games, the first in a dozen years and staged in austere conditions as the city continued to recover from the war.

--GreGen