The first Summer Olympics after WWII took place in 1948. It was hosted by London, United Kingdom. Listed below is the information you requested.
Executive summary
The first Summer Olympics after World War II were the Games of the XIV Olympiad, held in London, United Kingdom, from 29 July to 14 August 1948 [1] [2]. These “Austerity Games” were staged on shoestring budgets, reused venues and rationed supplies, and are remembered both as a symbol of postwar recovery and for notable athletic achievements amid constrained circumstances [3] [4].
1. Host, dates and official designation
London was confirmed as host for the 1948 Summer Olympics—the Games of the XIV Olympiad—officially branded “London 1948,” with the opening ceremony at Wembley Stadium on 29 July and the Games running through 14 August 1948 [1] [5] [2].
2. Why London and how the choice was made
London’s selection followed a disrupted Olympic timetable: the 1940 and 1944 Games were cancelled because of the war, and London—previously awarded the 1944 Games—was chosen for 1948 by the IOC after a postal vote and subsequent confirmation at the 40th IOC Session in Lausanne in 1946 [1] [6]. Organisers accepted the Games despite financial strain; there was debate inside Britain about whether running the Olympics was feasible, with King George VI cited as arguing the event would help national recovery [1].
3. The “Austerity Games” character and logistics
Organisers leaned on existing facilities and wartime infrastructure rather than new construction: venues around London were repaired or reused, there was no purpose-built luxurious Olympic Village and even athletes faced rationing and modest accommodation—details that earned the 1948 edition the nickname “Austerity Games” [3] [4] [7]. The BBC broadcast events on TV and radio, making 1948 the first Summer Games shown on British television even though few households owned sets [5] [4].
4. Participation: who competed and who did not
A record 59 nations participated with 4,104 athletes, but key Axis powers were excluded: Germany and Japan were not invited while the Soviet Union declined to send athletes (though it sent observers), and Italy was the only major former Axis nation to take part [8]. The Games also included many countries newly independent or returning to international competition after wartime interruption, underlining both political and sporting re‑entry into peacetime life [9].
5. Sporting highlights and cultural meaning
Competition produced enduring performances—Fanny Blankers‑Koen of the Netherlands won four athletics golds and Emil Zátopek announced himself as a distance force by winning the 10,000 meters—moments that fed the perception that the Olympics offered morale and healing after the war [2] [6] [10]. The official Olympic results and medal lists remain archived by the IOC, with athletics, boxing, sailing and canoeing among sports that showcased future legends [11] [2].
6. Legacy, limitations and contested narratives
The 1948 London Games are celebrated as a successful revival of the Olympic movement under severe constraints—popular, widely covered, and historically significant as the first post‑war Games—but the narrative of triumph sits alongside frank accounts of austerity and compromise: venues patched rather than rebuilt, athletes subject to rationing, and political exclusions that reflected the unsettled postwar order [3] [4] [8]. Reporting from the IOC, contemporary press and later historians converge on the basic facts—host, dates, scale and context—while interpretations vary between emphasis on symbolic recovery and reminders of the era’s material hardships [1] [9].