1940 Winter Olympics

1940 Winter Olympics
source
Name	V Olympic Winter Games
Host city	Initially Sapporo, Japan; later re-awarded to St. Moritz, Switzerland, then Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Winter prev	1936 Winter Olympics
Winter next	1944 Winter Olympics

1940 Winter Olympics. The scheduled V Olympic Winter Games were never held, becoming a casualty of global geopolitical tensions and the onset of World War II. Initially awarded to Sapporo, Japan, the event was subsequently re-assigned to St. Moritz, Switzerland, and then to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, before final cancellation. The saga of these Games reflects the profound impact of international conflict on the Olympic movement and directly influenced the planning for the post-war 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz.

Background and bidding

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 1940 Winter Games to Sapporo, Japan, in 1936, marking the first time the event was scheduled outside of Europe or North America. This decision was part of a broader effort to globalize the Olympic Games and coincided with Japan also hosting the 1940 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, Japan's escalating military involvement in the Second Sino-Japanese War led its government to renounce the hosting rights for both Games in July 1938, citing the need to concentrate resources on the conflict. The IOC then hastily re-awarded the Winter Games to St. Moritz, Switzerland, which had previously hosted the 1928 Winter Olympics. This choice was complicated by an ongoing dispute between the IOC and the Swiss Organizing Committee over amateurism rules for alpine skiing, particularly involving ski instructors. Unable to resolve the conflict, the IOC stripped St. Moritz of the Games in June 1939. A subsequent IOC session awarded them to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the host of the successful 1936 Winter Olympics, with the support of Reich Sports Leader Hans von Tschammer und Osten and under the growing shadow of the Nazi Party regime.

Cancellation and aftermath

The final allocation to Garmisch-Partenkirchen proved short-lived. The German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, triggered the start of World War II in Europe, leading the IOC to officially cancel the Games in November 1939. All Olympic activities were suspended, including the planned 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and the subsequent 1944 Winter Olympics awarded to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The German Wehrmacht repurposed the Olympic facilities in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for military use, including as a hospital. The conflict caused the death of numerous athletes who might have competed, such as Finnish speed skater Birger Wasenius and Japanese alpine skier Goro Adachi. The next Winter Games would not be held until 1948, when the IOC returned to the neutral location of St. Moritz for a celebration of post-war recovery, deliberately avoiding any recent aggressor nations.

Planned sports and venues

The planned program for the Games was an evolution of the 1936 Winter Olympics schedule. Core sports included alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, figure skating, speed skating, ice hockey, and bobsleigh. A demonstration sport of military patrol, a precursor to biathlon, was also anticipated. For the Sapporo iteration, venues were to be newly constructed, with plans for a large stadium and ski jumps on the slopes of Mount Okura. Under the German plan, organizers intended to reuse and potentially expand the venues from 1936, such as the Große Olympiaschanze ski jump and the Olympia-Eissport-Zentrum for skating and hockey. The Kreuzeck area would have again hosted alpine events, with the famed Kandahar downhill course likely being utilized.

Legacy and historical significance

The cancellation cemented the 1940 Winter Olympics as a stark symbol of the Olympic Games' vulnerability to global conflict. The episode demonstrated the limits of the IOC's autonomy against the forces of militaristic nationalism, as seen with Japan, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union's contemporaneous actions. It prompted deeper reflection within the Olympic movement on its political neutrality and resilience. The eventual hosting of the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo fulfilled Japan's original ambition, while Garmisch-Partenkirchen later hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978. The narrative of these lost Games is often studied alongside other cancelled Olympics, such as those of 1916 and 1944, highlighting the interplay between international sport and world politics. The facilities in Garmisch-Partenkirchen survived the war and continue to be used for elite events like the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and the Vierschanzentournee ski jumping tournament. Category:1940 Winter Olympics Category:Cancelled Olympic Games Category:1940 in sports