-
Olympic Games Cancelled
The beginning of World War I led to the cancellation of the 1916 Summer Olympics, which were supposed to have been held in Berlin. -
Central Powers Not Invited to Olympics
Following World War I, members and allies of the war’s Central Powers were not invited to participate in the 1920 summer games. -
Germany Rejected from Olympics
Germany was refused an invitation to the summer games in 1924. -
Hitler shows Racism in Olympics
Adolf Hitler refused to acknowledge the multiple-medal victory of African-American Jesse Owens. -
Berlin, Germany during the Olympic Games
The olympics being held in Berlin marked Germany's return to the world community after their post-WWI isolation.
The regime exploited the Olympic Games to present foreign spectators and journalists with a false image of a peaceful Germany. -
Germany and the '36 Olympics
40 teams from around the world participated, more than any other Olympics. Germany had the largest team with 348 athletes and America with 312 members, 18 of which were African American. Germany captured the most medals and German hospitality recieved praise from visitors. -
Boycott of the Summer Games
American boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics was considered due to the Nazi reign at the time. Other movements to boycott the Olympics surfaced in Great Britain, France, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, and the Netherlands. The Amateur Athletic Union of the United States voted for participation, other countries followed and the boycott movement failed. Individual Jewish athletes from a number of countries boycotted. -
Period: to
Summer Olympics CANCELED
The Summer Olympics scheduled to be hosted by Tokyo in 1940 were moved to Helsinki, due to the Second Sino-Japanese War. When World War II broke out, however, the Olympics were suspended entirely, only resuming in 1948. The losing factions of World War II also lost participation privileges in the 1948 Summer Olympics. -
Period: to
U.S.A and U.S.S.R. Rivalry
From the Games held in Helsinki(1952) to the games in Seoul, South Korea(1988), the most dramatic aspects of the Olympics at the time was the Rivalry between the U.S.A. and the Soviets. The success/failure of an olympic team and the medal count would show just who is the better country. -
Munich Massacre
In 1972, the Munich Massacre occurred when Israeli Olympians were taken captive by a Palestinian terrorist group. The death of the 11 Israeli athletes was publicly mourned by a temporary pause in the games. In the summer of 1996, a bombing at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, left one woman dead and several others injured. -
Communist and Democratic Tension turned to Boycotting
The summers of 1980 and 1984 saw a record number of Olympic boycotts due to political tension between communist countries and the West.
