Next time when the athletes of the world gathered together under the olympic flag, the world had experienced again a devastating war that had cost lives of numerous olympic athletes and medalists. The healing process was wanted to start immediately and the Olympic movement was to be revived again. Howver the choose of the host city was to be very problematic as many of the major cities in the world were either severely damaged or destroyed in the war.
In 1944 the games were supposed to be held in Tokyo in Japan but they were moved to London but then the games were eventually cancelled. The British Olympic Commitee approached the IOC with a proposal of having the 1948 games in London. The members of IOC held a postal vote in 1946 and decided to approve the suggestion and the games were given to London.
Same time in London there was an Empire exhibition and the games were decided to attach to the exhibition. The central stage of exhibition, Wembley, was chosen also as the central stage of the Olympic games by building Empire Stadium, which later became just the Wembley Stadium. Attached to the stadium a Wembley Arena was built for the swimming competition and and the Hall of British Technology was chosen a venue for fencing competition. Other venues were scattere around and outside London
The British public accepted the games as their own as the games would be a perfect way to heal from the devastating war. For example the German POW's were used to build the Olympic way from the Wembley underground station to the Olympic Stadium.
Because of the war, the Germany and Japan were not invited to participate to the games. Also the newly formed National Olympic Commitee of Soviet Union declined the invitation to the games
A good idea of the efficency of the Organizing Commitee is that only two years after being given the games, all the venues, daily programme were ready, the invitations were sent and everything was ready for the opening ceremonies of the Games of the XIV Olympiad in London.
The opening ceremonies were organized at the Wembley Stadium on the 29th July where the participants of 59 countries marched in front of the King Edward VII. His Majesty declared the games officially opened, British athlete John Mark lit the olympic flame and Lord Burghley took the Olympic oath. The two weeks of sports celebrations were ready to start.
So, my own Olympic Adventure was moved to my "Home field" London. Wembley Stadium is only 1,5 miles away from where I live so visiting the old sports venues was without any greater hassle. However unfortunately to my great sorrow many of the venues were already demolished so only memories were left.
The other problem to my adventure was caused the present use of the venues. The shooting centre of Bisley which hosted the shooting events and city of Aldershot that hosted the Modern Pentathlon and most of the equestrian events were areas for the British Army and due to security reasons I was unable to visit them not to mention take photograps in here.
However most of the venues were there to be visited so I have a great pleasure to join me to an Olympic adventure in my present home town London
WEMBLEY STADIUM
Originally the 1948 main stadium was planned to be the old White City stadium from the 1908 olympic games. The White City stadium would've been an ideal stadium as it was very useful with it's multiple venuest for the olympic sports
However a special exhibition of British Empire was set up to show how the Brits had recovered from the Second World War in the area of Wembley. At the exhibition venue was located a 1923 built giant stadium. Due to the exhibition the stadium was named as the Empire Stadium, but eventually it was named the Wembley. The spectator capacity was 125.000 officially, but for example at the opening football match in 1923 200.000 spectators squeezed in.
In 1948 the Wembley Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, the final Grand Prix competition of equestriasm. In addition the medal matches of hockey and football were played at the stadium.
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Wembley Stadium 1948 |
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The opening ceremony of 1948 Olympic Games |
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My personal picture of Wembley 1997 |
Personally I had a chance to visit the old legendary stadium twice in 1997 and in 2000 when I saw the international football game between England and Ukraine.
After the 1948 games, the stadium became a venue for the biggest events organised in UK. For example the stadium became the stadium for the English national football team, In addition the annual FA-cup finals were played at the Wembley
Perhaps the most famous events organised at the Wembley were the 1966 World Cup and 1996 football's European Championships. The English Rugby Union also played all the international matches at the stadium.
Wembley became also a great venue for international concerts. Almost every international star performed at the Wembley stage. Many of them even more than once
Despite a huge objection from many, the old traditional stadium was decided to be demolished in 2000. The symbols of the Wembley - the twin towers were demolished in 2003 when also last ever football match was between England and Germany was played.
The new Wembley stadium was finished in 2007 at the same spot, but the glamour of the good old times was gone forever
The new Wembley Stadium 2016 |
The interior of the new Wembley 2016 |
WEBMLEY ARENA
1934 London hosted the Games of British Empire. These games are now better known as the Commonwealth Games. For the event a new venue for inside sports was needed and a new venue was decided to be built next to the main stadium. The venue was originally named as the Empire Hall but eventually it became quite quickly Wembley Arena.
Just before the Olympic games the organising commitee decided to move the aquatic events to indoors in the Wembley Arena due to high costs building an outside pool. This caused some opposition from the organisers of the boxing events as the arena was initially planned to be used only for boxing events. A full size swimming pool with diving tower was built in the arena and for the second week of the games a platform was erected on the top of the pool to host the boxing competitions.
In the 1948 games Wembley Arena hosted the swimming, diving, water polo and boxing events.
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The Empire Pool 1948 |
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The Wembley Arena during boxing events 1948 |
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Wembley Arena 1948 |
After the olympics the Wembley arena became a very popular sports venue. For example two major London ice hockey teams played their games in here.
The owners of the venue also found out the popularity of the arena as a venue for major music events. Now days actually the Wembley Arena is more used in concerts than in the sports events. However in 2012 the Olympics returned back to Wembley when the arena hosted the events of badminton and rhytmic gymnastics.
The official name of the arena is now the SSE Arena, but it still goes with the locals as the Wembley Arena. As an interesting trivia I can mention that if the floor of the present arena would be taken up, you still could find the old swimming pool in there fully functional.
THE PALACE OF ENGINEERING
In 1948 there were not so many venues left from the British Empire
Exhibition in 1924. Together with the main stadium there was only the
Palace of Engineering left close to the stadium. The organisers of the
1948 games decided to take the palace as venue of the fencing
competitions. In the central hall of the Palace an auditorium of 7.000
spectators was built.
Palace of Engineering |
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Palace of Engineering during fencing competition 1948 |
Even that the palace wasn't used, the local authorities of Wembley didn't want to demolish the old building. Probably due to high costs of demolition. However in 1970's the time caught up with the Palace of the Technology and it was decided to be demolished to make room for the development of the Wembley area.
Now the site is occupied by a hotel and office building.
Tekniikan Palatsin sijaintipaikka 2016 |
EARL'S COURT EXHIBITION CENTRE
In 1887 the British government decided that London needed a great venue for events. Earls Court was that time still a swamp area but a great hall was erected in there very fast. The great hall hosted many international events and it was told that even the Queen Victoria was a regular visitor in these events.
In 1937 the Earl's Court was sold to the city of London and a new event centre was decided to be built. In 1948 when the aquatic events were transferred to the Wembley Arena, a new venue was needed to host the events taking place inside. Earl's Court was found to be a perfect venue for this.
Earls Court hosted in 1948 games the preliminary rounds of boxing and events of gymnastics, weight lifting and wrestling.
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Earls Court 1948 |
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Inside Earls Court during gymnastics 1948 |
Earl's Court also saw the Olympic history, when in the men's pommel horse competition, the gold medal was shared by four gymnasts and they all came from same country - Finland. This hasn't happened in the Olympics since.
After the Olympics the Earl's Court became one of the biggest venue for sports and music events. For example almost all the major music names performed at the venue.
In 2012 the Olympics returned to the old venue and the Earl's Court hosted volleyball events.
It was not very well known that behind the scenes a decision had been made in 2010 to demolish this historical exhibition hall. This caused a public outroar. For example British politicians from all parties made strong objections against the decision. Despite all the objections, mayor Boris Johnson signed the order to demolish the venue in 2013
Now there are only empty shells of the main entrance left of this magnificant sports venue.
Earl's Court 2016 |
HARRINGAY ARENA
In 1936 General Alfred Critchley decided to built a private indoor sports venue to Northern London in Harringay next to the local dog race stadium. The venue was built in record time only in two months and it was noticed specially because of it's shape. The venue was 120 meters long and the main entrance was octagon shape.
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Harringay Arena 1948 |
In 1948 the organising commitee of the Olympic Games required more venues for the indoor events and the organisers managed to negotiate with the general the use of the arena for the games. Harringay Arena hosted the basketball tournament and some of the wrestling was also competed in here.
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Basketball at the Harringay Arena 1948 |
Harringay Arena also held it's position as a sports venue. Specially international boxing venue.
Despite an impressive usage of the venue, the arena was decided to be demolished in 1958 when it held the last ever event.
Now in the spot where the arena was located, there is the Harringay shopping center.
Location of the Harringay Arena 2016 |
Located in the South East part of London, the Herne Hill Velodrome is one of the oldest still active track cycling stadiums in the world. Velodrome was built in 1891 and it has been in active use ever sinc
The 1948 organisers chose the velodrome as "the only suitable cycling venue for this size of event". The track was re-furbished and the bends were risen to international specifications. In addition the stadium also received permanent stands for 3000 spectators
During the olympics the stadium received a lot of positive feedback as a sports venue but the organisation of the games got bad revues. For example the final of tandem race was competed at 9pm and as there were no light systems in place the race was held in twilight and the use of the photo finish was impossible due to lack or external lights. However the spectators enjoyed the events and stands were full every day of the games.
After the olympic games against the original plans the velodrome was decided to keep as it is as a training venue for the British cycling team. The inner field of the Velodrome was even for a short period of time the home venue for Crystal Palace football team.
Herne Hill is still used as a venue for track cycling. The team GB used the velodrome until the new velodrome was built for the 2012 summer olympic games. The Herne HIll is still a good addition for the track cycling practices and when I visited the velodrome, there were training sessions going on
POLYTECHNIC STADIUM OF CHISWICK
The field hockey got unexected number of entries to the 1948 games and the organisers had to start looking for stadiums to organise the preliminary rounds of the sport as the Wembley stadium was too much in use during the games.
The polytechnical university of Chiswick had some of it's students in the British olympic team and the university decided to offer it's cricket ground to the use of the hockey preliminaries.
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A game between Belgium and India in Chiswick 1948 |
The cricket ground was transformed to a field hockey arena and temporary stands were erected for the spectators. The old score board of the field was also transformed to serve the spectators during the matches.
After the olympics the field was returned back to the cricket and it is still active cricket field. When I visited the venue the old score board was still there but this was the only thing remaining from the former olympic glory.
Board naming the location of the Cricket Ground 2017 |
The Polytechnic Cricket Ground of Chiswick 2017 |
The original score board 2017 |
The number of the participating countries on the water polo tournament of 1948 surprised the organisers and they had to search for another venue in addition to the Wembley Arena.
1931 was a Roman style outdoor bath complex opened in the London borough of Finchley and it included also an olympic style swimming pool. With this the organisers had found the venue for the preliminary rounds of the water polo tournament.
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Finchley Lido 1948 |
From the original complex there is still left a plaque revealed by the King George the VI. The plaque can still be seen by the public in the local restaurant which is located on the spot of the old swimming pool.
HENLEY-ON-THAMES
Eight miles north east from London is located a small pictoresque town of Henley-on-Thames. This beautyful town has become the head quarters of the British rowing.
Ever since 1839 has Henley organised annual Royal Regatta which has now become a sports event equalent to the Royal Ascot.
Henley hosted olympic rowing competitions already in 1908 so the organisers of the 1948 games had no doubt about Henley's capability organising this size of eveent again. In addition to 1948 programme caanoeing had it's premiere in the olympic history.
The olympic regatta was a success to the organisers as the banks of river Thames were packed with spectators each day and the organisers had a good reason to be happy about their choce of venue.
Henley is today still the head quarters of British Rowing Association. By the river close to the finish line there is a boat shed which has on it's wall a number of the olympic medals won so far by the athletes who had trained in there and at the time of my visit the number was respectful 61
The Royal Regatta is still organised every year but doubtly they will not see another olympic event. However the venue is still an excellent training venue for the British rowing teams.
THE GREAT PARK OF WINDSOR
The King George VI was well known eager sportsman and the organisers asked him for a possibility to bring some event to his home to the Windsor Castle. The King was very enthusiastic of the idea nad he agreed to host the road race of the cycling in Windsor.
The Great Park of the Windsor Castle hosted the start and the finish of the road race. The start and finish line were located at the gate of the private entrance of the Royal family.
The venue was ideal for the road race as the first and last two miles of the competition were visible for the spectators. Apart from the Olympic protocol, the King himself started the race and he was also at the finish line to welcome the winner. This was very unusual as that time the royal family did not appear public apart from the public engagements.
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Start of the road race 1948 |
The Great Park of Windsor is still open for public and very popular place to spend a day having a picnic or jogging or cycling. It is also very popular place for the tourists who visit the Windsor Castle
The Great Park of Windsor Castle 2016 |
The Great Park of Windsor Castle 2016 |
As very well known, London is not located by the sea so the organisers started searching for a venue for the Olympic sailing regatta.
The British south coast had a lot of good canditates but the city of Torquay in Cornwall was chosen to host the regatta.
The bay of city of Torquay was chosen for the sailing and the spectators had a good view to the sailings from the both sides of the bay.
Because of the long distance from London, the organisers also had the olympic flame lit in it's own cauldron in the harbour of Torquay where the victory ceremonies were also held.
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Torbay 1948 |
Torquay is still very popular destination for a day visits from London. However during my own visit to the city there was a heavy rain almost whole day but we are used to this kind of weather here in UK
The games of 1948 were called as the games that saved the olympic movement. Only three years after devastating World War II the Brits succeeded to restore the belief in the olympic spirit. New countries had been formed some countries had been lost but the olympic tradition kept on going
Economically the games was a big success, in modern money the games made over two million pounds profit. In modern olympic world this is a small amount but in 1948 this was something that British society really needed.
The most successful athlete in the games was Finnish gymnast Veikko Huhtanen who won three gold, one silver and one bronze medal
Well, now my olympic adventure moves from my present home to my former home in Helsinki which hosted the summer olympic games of 1952. So let's move to another familiar city again
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Traditional Olympic Selfie at the new Wembley |
* London 1948 were the first Olympic games that broadcasted live TV coverage to the homes.
* The track of Wembley stadium was covered with charred coal collected from British homes
* American siver medalist in weightlifting Toshiyuki Sakata became better known as the bowlerhat throwing villain Oddjob in the James Bond movie Goldfinger
* In gymanstics the judges of pommel horse competition could not find any difference between five Finnish gymnasts and so five gold medals were presented to the gymnasts
* Dutch athlete Fanny Blankens-Koen was told to be "too old" to compete in the Olympics at the age of 30. However she showed to the other competitors by winning three personal and one relay gold medal
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