Editing 1948 Winter Olympics (section)

==Politics==
Since these Games were the first since World War II, they were named "The Games of Renewal."<ref name=dyk>{{cite web|title=Did you know?|publisher=The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/winterolympics/stmoritz1948/n214082230.shtml|access-date=26 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429051752/http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/winterolympics/stmoritz1948/n214082230.shtml|archive-date=29 April 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Japan and Germany were not invited to these Games because the international community still ostracized them for their role in World War II.<ref name=judd26>Judd (2009), p. 26</ref>  Their absence was short-lived, though, as they returned to Olympic competition in [[1952 Winter Olympics|1952]].<ref name=fp315/>  The Soviet Union did not send athletes to the St. Moritz Games of 1948, but they did send ten delegates as observers of the Games to determine how successful the Soviet athletes would have been had they competed.<ref name=fp315/><ref>Comité Olympique Suisse (1948) p. 13</ref>

===Impact of World War II===
[[Sapporo]], Japan had been the choice for the [[1940 Winter Olympics|1940 Winter Games]].<ref name=gutt74>Guttman (2002) p. 74</ref>  In 1938, the Japanese decided to decline the invitation to host the Games claiming that preparations for the Olympic Games were draining the country's resources.<ref name=gutt74/>  The IOC turned to the host of the [[1936 Winter Olympics|1936 Games]], [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]], which would make it the only city to host consecutive Games.<ref name=gutt74/>  This became impractical when Germany [[Invasion of Poland|invaded Poland]] on 1 September 1939; subsequently Germany withdrew its bid to host the Games.  Finland believed it could host the Games and extended an invitation to the IOC, but the Soviet Union's [[Winter War|invasion]] of Finland ended all hope of an Olympic Games in 1940.<ref name=gutt74/>  The [[1944 Winter Olympics]] had been awarded to [[Cortina d'Ampezzo]], Italy in 1939. As the war continued, this proved impractical, and the second consecutive [[olympiad]] passed without celebrating the Games. The IOC was presented with two possible host cities for the first post-war Games: [[Lake Placid, New York|Lake Placid]], United States and [[St. Moritz]], Switzerland.  The IOC decided to award the Games to Switzerland, a neutral country immediately following World War II, to avoid political posturing by former combatants.<ref name=fp315>Findling and Pelle (2004) p. 315</ref>

The impact of World War II was still being felt in 1948. The lack of financial resources and human energy made the organization of the Games challenging.<ref name="findling316">Findling and Pelle (2004), p. 316</ref>  Athletes were also affected by a lack of resources. Many competitors arrived with little or no equipment. In one notable case, [[Norway at the 1948 Winter Olympics|Norwegian]] skiers had to borrow skis from the [[United States at the 1948 Winter Olympics|American]] team to compete.<ref name="findling316"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=St. Moritz Olympics 1948 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url-access=registration  |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/428005/Olympic-Games/214322/St-Moritz-Switzerland-1948#ref=ref665138 |access-date=15 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401072853/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/428005/Olympic-Games/214322/St-Moritz-Switzerland-1948 |archive-date=1 April 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>