Editing 1948 Summer Olympics (section)

==Election as host city==

In June 1939, the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) awarded the [[1944 Summer Olympics|1944 Olympic Summer Games]] to London, ahead of [[Rome]], [[Detroit]], [[Budapest]], [[Lausanne]], [[Helsinki]], [[Montreal]] and [[Athens]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/past.html |title=Past Olympic Host City Election Results |publisher=gamesbids.com |access-date=29 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513052645/http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/past.html |archive-date=13 May 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> World War II stopped the plans and the Games were cancelled so London again stood as a candidate for 1948. Great Britain almost handed the 1948 games to the United States due to post-war financial and rationing problems, but King [[George VI]] said that this could be the chance to restore Britain from [[World War II]]. The official report of the London Olympics shows that there was no case of London being pressed to run the Games against its will. It says:

:The Games of 1944 had been allocated to London and so it was that in November 1945, the Chairman of the [[British Olympic Council]], [[David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter|Lord Burghley]], went to [[Stockholm]] and saw the president of the International Olympic Committee to discuss the question of London being chosen for this great event. As a result, an investigating committee was set up by the British Olympic Council to work out in some detail the possibility of holding the Games. After several meetings they recommended to the council that the [[Lord Mayor of London]] should be invited to apply for the allocation of the Games in 1948.<ref>Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), p. 17</ref>

In June 1946 the IOC, through a postal vote, gave the summer Games to London and the winter competition to [[St Moritz]]. London was selected ahead of [[Baltimore]], [[Minneapolis]], [[Lausanne]], [[Los Angeles]], and [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_1364.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728090143if_/http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_1364.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2014 |url-status=deviated |title=Olympic Games Fonds |publisher=International Olympic Committee Historical Archives |date=6 November 2007 |access-date=29 April 2010}}</ref>

London, which had previously hosted the [[1908 Summer Olympics]], became the second city to host the Olympics twice; Paris hosted the event in 1900 and 1924. London later became the first city to host the Olympics for a third time when the city hosted the [[2012 Summer Olympics]].