, Great Britain
The 1948 Olympic Games became known as the "Austerity Games" because they were held in Spartan conditions, in an environment of post-war devastation and during the restoration of national economies destroyed by the world war. For the Olympics, not a single new structure was erected, so the athletes competed in conditions as close as possible to Spartan ones.
At the games, the Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Kuhn, who won four gold medals, and during the competition she was pregnant, declared herself. The decathlon was won by 17-year-old American Robert "Bob" Mathias, who became the youngest Olympic champion... V artistic gymnastics a crushing victory was won by the Finnish national team: the leader of the team, Veikko Huhtanen, became the champion in the all-around, in team championship It was the Finnish national team that had no equal, and in horse exercises, Huhtanen and his comrades Paavo Altonen and Heikki Savolainen won three gold medals at once, leaving silver and bronze unallocated. In football, the Swedish national team, led by the percussion trio Gre-No-Lee, consisting of Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Niels Liedholm, celebrated success.
Capital selection
Original text (eng.)
The Games of 1944 had been allocated to London and so it was that in October 1945, the chairman of the British Olympic Council, 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.
In March 1946, the International Olympic Committee, by secret ballot from among the candidates, chose London as the capital of the 1948 Olympic Games. The British were ahead of the delegations of Baltimore, Minneapolis, Lausanne and Philadelphia in this race. At the same vote, it was decided to hold the 1948 Winter Games in St. Moritz. Thus, these games became the second for London.
Innovations
Participants
59 countries took part in the games, which became a record for the Olympics. 4104 athletes participated: 3714 men and 390 women. Germany and Japan, as the countries that unleashed the Second World War, were excluded from the IOC and did not receive the right to participate in the Olympics. The USSR received an invitation to the games, but decided not to send its delegation and postponed its participation until 1952. For the first time, teams from Venezuela, Lebanon, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Puerto Rico and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) took part.
Games opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the games took place on July 29 and began at 14:00 local time. More than 85 thousand spectators attended the Wembley stadium. The ceremony began with a ceremonial performance by a military orchestra. At 14:35, the main representatives of the delegations of the participating countries arrived at the stadium, at 14:45, King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the monarch Queen Mary and other members of the British royal family appeared at the stadium. At 15:00, the parade of the participating countries began, which lasted for 50 minutes. By tradition, the Greek national team was the first, and the host country team (Great Britain) finished the procession. Lord Burley, initiator of London's bid for the 1948 Games, opened the opening address. The King stated the following in his speech:
The hour has struck. A dream that was previously only a vision has now become a glorious reality. By 1945, when the world conflict ended, many institutions and organizations collapsed and only the strongest survived. How, many wondered, managed to withstand the great Olympic movement?
Original text (eng.)
The hour has struck. A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality. At the end of the worldwide struggle in 1945, many institutions and associations were found to have withered and only the strongest had survived. How, many wondered, had the great Olympic Movement prospered?
After inviting the athletes for two weeks of "tough but friendly competition," the king reaffirmed London as "a warm flame of hope for better understanding in a world that has almost burned out." Big Ben's bell was solemnly sounded at 4:00 pm and George VI declared the games open. Two and a half thousand pigeons were released into the sky, and the Olympic flag was raised to a height of 11 meters. The Royal Mounted Artillery fired a volley of 21 guns, and torchbearer John Mark, having completed a circle of honor around the stadium, lit the Olympic flame. The oath of athletes was taken by Donald Finlay, Lieutenant Colonel of the RAF (wing commander). All spectators in the stadium and athletes sang the Great Britain anthem, including the Greek team. The 580-page game report stated the following:
So the Olympic Games in London were opened under the happy patronage. The smooth and precise ceremony, witnessed not only by spectators in the stadium, but also by radio listeners around the world, and the wonderful weather at the ceremony site, gave birth to a spirit that was imbued with fans of the thrilling intense sports over the next two weeks.
Original text (eng.)
Thus were launched the Olympic Games of London, under the most happy auspices. The smooth-running Ceremony, which profoundly moved not only all who saw it but also the millions who were listening-in on the radio throughout the world, and the glorious weather in which it took place, combined to give birth to a spirit which was to permeate the whole of the following two weeks of thrilling and intensive sport.
Opening ceremony and over 60 hours sporting events were broadcast live on the BBC and the games were the first to be shown on television. The cost of the broadcasting rights was £ 1,000.
Medal table
V unofficial standings the USA national team won a landslide victory, winning 84 medals, 38 of which were gold. The British won 23 medals, of which three were gold.
| Place | The country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | USA | 38 | 27 | 19 | 84 |
| 2 | Sweden | 16 | 11 | 17 | 44 |
| 3 | France | 10 | 6 | 13 | 29 |
| 4 | Hungary | 10 | 5 | 12 | 27 |
| 5 |
This period covers the years between the First and Second World Wars and 1946-1948. The political, economic and moral upheavals that the world experienced during this period of the twentieth century were most directly reflected in Olympic sports... During this period, the Games of the XII and XIII Olympiads were not held due to the Second World War, dramatic events developed around the Games of the Berlin Olympics in 1936; because of the Second World War, the Games of the XII and XIII Olympiads, which were supposed to take place in 1940 and 1944, were not held. It was during this period in 1925 that Coubertin resigned.
For all the complexities of the political situation in those years in the world, it should be said that this period was intense in terms of improving the international Olympic movement itself - its structure, organizational and legal framework, IOC relations with states, NOCs and the federation.
Thanks to the activities of the IOC, the program of the Games of the Olympics, the order of demonstration performances, and the system of awarding the winners were streamlined. For the first time at the 1920 Games, the Olympic oath was pronounced by the Belgian fencer Victor Buan: “On behalf of all athletes, I promise that we will participate in these Games, respecting and observing the rules by which they are held, in a truly sporting spirit, for the glory of sport and for the honor of our teams”.
Starting in 1924, the IOC decided to hold the Summer and Winter Games in the same year, but at different times and in different places. A system for preparing the next Games was developed, the practice of conducting training camps and joint athletes in the Olympic village began to be introduced.
The IOC Executive Board has done a lot to make women's participation in the Olympic Games real, not symbolic. Many types of competitions for women were introduced into the programs of the Games - in athletics, swimming, fencing, gymnastics, cross-country skiing, speed skating.
At the beginning of World War II, the IOC was taken over by the Swedish vice-president, Johannes Siegfried Edström, who did a lot after the end of the war to revive the Olympic movement.
Seriously assessing the political situation after the Second World War, the IOC took active steps to involve the USSR in the international Olympic movement. Representatives of the USSR were invited as observers to the 1948 Olympics in London. An active process of involving Soviet sports federations in international ones began, and then the USSR Olympic Committee - in the International Olympic Committee.
At the same time, the rights of the IOC were restored to the NOCs of Germany and Japan, countries that were not invited to participate in the 1948 Games. In 1951, the USSR Olympic Committee was recognized by the IOC, and K.A. Andrianov was elected a member of the IOC. In the same year, the NOCs of Japan and Germany were recognized. The end of the second period of development of the modern Olympic Games was summed up by the IOC sessions held in Helsinki in 1952, on the eve of the Games of the XV Olympiad. J. Siegfried Edström resigned due to his advanced age. Avery Brandage was elected President of the IOC.
It should be noted that the second period of the Olympics took place mostly at an unfavorable time for the development of sports - political tension, wars, post-war devastation and other obstacles. However, the sport continued to develop progressively. During this period, expensive sports facilities appeared in many countries. The system was improved sports training future participants Olympic Games... Achievements in the field of physiology, anatomy, other medical sciences, psychology, pedagogy were used: the general theory of sports training and the methodology of training athletes in certain sports began to develop intensively.
2675 athletes (78 of them women) from 29 countries of the world competed for the highest awards in 158 disciplines from 25 sports. The debutants included Argentina, Brazil, Monaco and Estonia. For the first time, Czechoslovakia acted as an independent state, and in the new structure - the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (previously Serbia took part).
Athletes from Germany and its co-host countries in the First World War (Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) were not invited to the Olympics. Athletes from Soviet Russia (the USSR appeared only in 1922) were also not invited for political reasons.
Despite the fact that the Olympics itself lasted for almost six months, the interval between the official opening of the Games and their closing was only two weeks (between August 14 and 29). With the exception of the soccer tournament, all sporting events took place in Antwerp. The footballers played in Ghent and Brussels.
Competitions between figure skaters and hockey players took place in April, yachtsmen and shooters - in July, football players - in August and September. The program included competitions in rowing, boxing, wrestling, cycling, water polo, gymnastics, equestrian sports, athletics, sailing, swimming, diving, horse polo, rugby, modern pentathlon, shooting, archery, tennis, weightlifting, fencing, football, field hockey. Competitions were also held in winter sports (on artificial ice): along with figure skating, ice hockey was included in the program for the first time. Women competed in swimming and diving, tennis and figure skating on skates.
3,092 athletes (2,956 men, 136 women) from 44 countries participated. 126 sets of medals were played in 17 sports.
The Summer Games were dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Olympic movement. Considering the colossal merits of the founder of the modern Olympic Games - Pierre de Coubertin, his proposal to hold the Games in Paris was accepted. Thus, the French capital became the first city to which the IOC entrusted the organization of the Games twice.
The representativeness, significance and authority of the Games increased. Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Uruguay, Philippines, Ecuador joined the Olympic movement. In track and field alone, 8 world and 14 Olympic records were set.
Team USA won 99 Olympic medals (45 + 27 + 27), Finland - 37 (14 + 13 + 10), France - 38 (13 + 15 + 10). In total, athletes from 27 countries became prize-winners.
Starting from the 1924 Olympics, when summing up the results in the unofficial team competition, six prizes were taken into account: first place is estimated at 7 points; the second - at 5; the third - at 4; the fourth - at 3; the fifth - at 2; sixth - 1 point.
The XII Summer Olympic Games were to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940 in the capital of Japan - Tokyo. However, in connection with the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Japan gave up this honor. On July 16, 1938, the IOC decided to give the 1940 Olympics to the capital of Finland, Helsinki, where they were scheduled to take place from July 20 to August 4, 1940. But in September 1939, hostilities unfolded on the territory of almost all of Europe and on May 2, 1940, the IOC was forced to admit that the games of the twelfth Summer Olympics will not take place. The competition was postponed indefinitely. Despite the cancellation of the Games, they, like the VI Summer Olympic Games that did not take place in 1916, were assigned their own serial number.
The XIII Summer Olympic Games, by the decision of the IOC, adopted in June 1939, were scheduled to be held in 1944 in London. London was ahead of Rome, Detroit, Lausanne, Athens, Budapest, Helsinki, Montreal in the struggle for the right to host the Games. But, the British could not even get enough of the fact that they would hold the Olympic Games, since World War II began a few months later.
In connection with the outbreak of World War II, after the bombing of London, the games were canceled.
The period between the First and Second World Wars in the development of the Olympic movement was characterized by the completion of the organizational structure and the formation of the symbols and rituals of the Olympic Games. Thanks to a clear organization, ideological integrity, focus on strengthening peace and mutual understanding between countries, on promoting humanistic values, the Olympic Games have become the most significant event in the sports and cultural life of society. In this regard, similar games began to be held in many regions of the world. But they were more susceptible to internal political and ideological struggle, therefore they did not acquire such a stable character and organizational harmony as the Olympic Games. The emergence and development of regional games, as well as the growth of the representativeness of the Olympics, testified to the growth of the authority of the Olympic movement.
Games of the XIV Olympiad
London, Great Britain
July 29 - August 14, 1948
4,104 athletes (390 women and 3,714 men) from 59 countries participated. 136 sets of medals were played in 19 sports.
England has not yet recovered from the bombing and economic blockade, but the organizing committee managed to prepare the Games at the proper level. Was re-equipped for track and field competitions football stadium Wembley. The Olympians were housed in barracks, schools and colleges. But, as one of the participants of the Games wrote: “Despite all the troubles and everyday inconveniences, the atmosphere at the competition was joyful. It was so nice to be back together on the sports ground! "
The results in most types of competitions were poor. The most successful were athletes from countries that were far from the battlefields.
Team USA have won 84 Olympic medals (38 + 27 + 19). Neutral Sweden finished second with 44 awards (16 + 11 + 17). Athletes from France confirmed their high sports level - 29 medals (10 + 6 + 13), Hungary - 27 (10 + 5 + 12), Italy - 27 (8 + 11 + 8) and Finland - 20 (8 + 7 + 5) ...
Fani Blankers-Kuhn, a thirty-year-old athlete from Holland, became the heroine of the competition. She was a participant in the 1936 Games, but then failed to achieve serious success. During the war, Fani worked, gave birth to two children and continued to train. In London, she won 4 gold medals in athletics and was nicknamed the Flying Dutchwoman.
Twelve years have passed since the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
World War 2 rumbled over the world.
The 1948 London Olympics became a kind of symbol of the return to peaceful life.
Despite the fact that London suffered quite a lot from the bombing, the authorities of the United Kingdom, and the London City Council, did everything possible to ensure that the 1948 London Olympic Games were held at a decent level.
Nevertheless, these games became the most modest in the history of the modern Olympic movement.
The budget for the London Olympics was only £ 70,000. Not a single new sports facility was built.
For the first time, they refused to build an Olympic village for athletes to live.
The men were housed in military barracks and barracks, and the women in the college building.
Nevertheless, the Games themselves were successful, at a high organizational level and aroused great interest in the world.
Most importantly, it has been proven that the Olympic Movement is alive and well and its story continues.
Participants of the London Olympics 1948
Due to the fact that Germany and Japan were recognized as the aggressor countries, through whose fault the Second World War was unleashed, the IOC decided not to invite the teams of these countries to participate in the 1948 London Olympics. 
At the same time, Italy, a member of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo alliance, received the right to send its delegation, since the fascist regime of Mussolini was overthrown before the end of the Second World War. 
The Soviet Union received an invitation, but it was rejected, mainly due to the country's difficult financial situation in the post-war period and the lack of opportunities for full-fledged training.
In total, 59 national teams took part in the London 1948 Olympic Games.
For the first time, teams from such exotic countries as Guiana, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Venezuela arrived.
The Korean team acted as a single national team, since then the country had not yet been split into the North and South parts.
The team of the Republic of China, in fact, was a national team Taiwan.
Athletes from mainland China did not participate in the London 1948 Olympics.
Opening of the Olympic Games in London 1948
The opening ceremony of the 1948 London Olympics took place at the famous Wembley Stadium on 29 July.
King George of England VI solemnly opened the Olympiad.
Results of the London Olympics 1948
The competition was attended by 4099 athletes (including 385 women).
136 sets of medals were played in 17 sports. 
The USA team took the first place in the unofficial team event.
The Americans have traditionally been the leaders in athletics competitions.
Basketball players won the next gold medals. Male swimmers, as well as wrestlers and weightlifters performed very successfully.
The second place was taken by the Swedish team.
The team of this country won the football tournament. The Scandinavians also achieved great success in Greco-Roman wrestling and canoeing competitions.
The third was the French team.
The success has come mainly from cyclists.
The hosts of the 1948 London Olympics finished 12th overall, winning 2 gold medals in rowing and one in sailing.
Severe Olympiad
The 1948 London Olympics were called "harsh". It's not even about the difficult economic situation in post-war Europe, but about the harsh climatic conditions in which the competition took place.
The sweltering heat was often replaced by torrential rains, when, for example, athletes had to run literally knee-deep in water.
But, nevertheless, the first post-war Olympiad ended on August 14, 1948.
After a 12-year hiatus caused by World War II, in 1948 London hosted the Summer Olympics for the second time. Europe was still in ruins, so this Olympics got the name "Severe Games", as it took place in difficult weather conditions and in conditions close to Spartan - against the backdrop of post-war devastation and the restoration of national economies. The budget for the Olympics was only £ 70,000. Not a single new sports facility was built, for the first time an Olympic village was built for athletes - athletes were settled in military camps and barracks, and women in a college building. Nevertheless, the Games themselves were successful, smoothly and accurately, aroused great interest in the world, and the Olympic Movement proved that it managed to survive after the world conflict.
The record number of participating countries is 59. Germany and Japan were not invited. The USSR received an invitation, but decided to refuse.
The games were held from July 29 to August 14, 1948. 4099 athletes took part in them (including 385 women).
136 sets of medals were played in 17 sports.
Games Emblem
Official poster of the 1948 London Olympics
Gold medal. The medals were presented to the athletes in a box
Olympic torch - 1948
Final preparations. A worker checks the Olympic flame bowl at Wembley
Treadmills are being prepared at Wembley Stadium
Workers set up a sign to the Olympic stadium
Opening day. A torchbearer with a torch runs through Windsor towards the main arena of the Games.
July 29. Opening ceremony for the XIV Olympiad at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 85,000 spectators. Air temperature 32 degrees
Opening of the Games. Gards come out on the field
King George VI of Great Britain welcomes IOC members
Parade of delegations. At Wembley the US team
Participants and teams walk past the main rostrum where the royal family is located
Pakistani athletes march proudly towards Wembley
About 2000 pigeons should take off into the sky. So far they are being sung with water
King George VI Declares London Games Open
For the first time in history, the Olympic Games were televised. BBC camera captures the opening of the Olympics
The Olympic oath on behalf of the athletes is pronounced by the medalist of the 1932 and 1936 Games in hurdles, a lieutenant colonel of the British Air Force, a combat pilot and a participant in World War II Donald Finlay
Track and field athlete John Mark, having made a circle around the stadium, stopped in front of the bowl. The famous saying is written on the scoreboard: "The main thing is not victory, but participation. Baron de Coubertin" (in fact, it was not he who said this)
The famous Wembley was photographed from an airplane during the opening of the Games
John Mark lights the Olympic flame
30-year-old Dutch runner, mother of two Fanny Blankers-Coon wins the 200 meter run with a huge advantage. A true heroine of that Olympics, she won four gold medals (in the 100, 200 and 80 meter hurdles, as well as in the 4x100 meter relay). A record that has not been broken so far. In London, Fanny performed with her third child pregnant. Fanny Blankers-Kuhn is recognized as the best athlete of the 20th century.
Finals of 80 meters hurdles. Fanny Blankers-Coon(far right) and British Maureen Gardner led the entire race
Finish of the 80 meter hurdles race. Only a few hundredths divided the Dutch and the British
The track cycling competition took place at the Herne Hill Velodrome, built back in 1891. This cycle track still exists today, being the oldest in the world.
General view of the "Empire Pool" during the swimming competition. In the same pool, competitions were held for divers, water polo players, as well as the final fights of boxers. Now the pool is not there, and the structure is called "Wembley Arena". During the 2012 Games, badminton and rhythmic gymnasts, Evgenia Kanaeva won her second Olympic gold here
The final of the men's 100m race was won by an American Harrison Dillard(leftmost). Panama Runner Lloyd LaBitch(in a dark jersey) finished third, winning the first Olympic medal for their country
American high jumper Alice Coachman sets a world record - 1.68. Alice became the first ever black female Olympic champion
Swedish kayak-two with Gunnar Åkerlund and Hans Wetterström during the 10 km drive passes the Henley Bridge on the River Thames. Swedes will win gold
The start of the road cycling race. The whole race took place in the rain
American runner Mel Whitfield with a gold medal in the 800 meters
Field hockey. National teams of India and Spain play
Fans and spectators approaching Wembley Stadium
Fanny Blankers-Coon and Maureen Gardner shake hands after dramatic 80m hurdles final
Finish of the 400-meter race. Jamaican Arthur Wint ahead of his compatriot Herba McKinley a few centimeters. Jamaica's first ever Olympic gold
American swimmer Ann Curtis wins 400 meters
Tower Jump Korean American Sammy Lee. He will win gold, and in four years will repeat his triumph in Helsinki. The legendary jumper died on December 2, 2016 at the age of 96.
To be continued...
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The 1948 Olympic Games became known as the "Austerity Games" because they were held in Spartan conditions, in an environment of post-war devastation and during the restoration of national economies destroyed by the world war. For the Olympics, not a single new structure was erected, so the athletes competed in conditions as close as possible to Spartan ones.
At the games, the Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Kuhn, who won four gold medals, and during the competition she was pregnant, declared herself. The decathlon was won by 17-year-old American Robert "Bob" Mathias, who became the youngest Olympic champion. The Finnish national team won a crushing victory in artistic gymnastics: the leader of the team, Veikko Huhtanen, became the champion in the all-around, the Finnish national team had no equal in the team championship, and in horse exercises Huhtanen and his comrades Paavo Altonen and Heikki Savolainen won three gold medals at once. leaving silver and bronze unallocated. In football, the Swedish national team, led by the percussion trio Gre-No-Lee, consisting of Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Niels Liedholm, celebrated success.
The Games of 1944 had been allocated to London and so it was that in October 1945, the chairman of the British Olympic Council, 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.
In March 1946, the International Olympic Committee, by secret ballot from among the candidates, chose London as the capital of the 1948 Olympic Games. The British were ahead of the delegations of Baltimore, Minneapolis, Lausanne and Philadelphia in this race. At the same vote, it was decided to hold the 1948 Winter Games in St. Moritz. Thus, these games became the second for London.
59 countries took part in the games, which became a record for the Olympics. 4104 athletes participated: 3714 men and 390 women. Germany and Japan, as the countries that unleashed the Second World War, were excluded from the IOC and did not receive the right to participate in the Olympics. The USSR received an invitation to the games, but decided not to send its delegation and postponed its participation until 1952. For the first time, teams from Venezuela, Lebanon, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Puerto Rico and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) took part.
The opening ceremony of the games took place on July 29 and began at 14:00 local time. More than 85 thousand spectators attended the Wembley stadium. The ceremony began with a ceremonial performance by a military orchestra. At 14:35, the main representatives of the delegations of the participating countries arrived at the stadium, at 14:45, King George VI, his wife Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the monarch Queen Mary and other members of the British royal family appeared at the stadium. At 15:00, the parade of the participating countries began, which lasted for 50 minutes. By tradition, the Greek national team was the first, and the host country team (Great Britain) finished the procession. Lord Burley, initiator of London's bid for the 1948 Games, opened the opening address. The King stated the following in his speech:
The hour has struck. A dream that was previously only a vision has now become a glorious reality. By 1945, when the world conflict ended, many institutions and organizations collapsed and only the strongest survived. How many wondered how the great Olympic movement managed to survive?
The hour has struck. A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality. At the end of the worldwide struggle in 1945, many institutions and associations were found to have withered and only the strongest had survived. How, many wondered, had the great Olympic Movement prospered?
After inviting the athletes for two weeks of "tough but friendly competition," the King reaffirmed London as "a warm flame of hope for better understanding in a world that has almost burned out," RAF Lieutenant Colonel (Wing Commander). All spectators in the stadium and athletes sang the Great Britain anthem, including the Greek team. The 580-page game report stated the following:
So the Olympic Games in London were opened under the happy patronage. The smooth and precise ceremony, witnessed not only by spectators in the stadium, but also by radio listeners around the world, and the wonderful weather at the ceremony site, gave birth to a spirit that was imbued with fans of the thrilling intense sports over the next two weeks.
Thus were launched the Olympic Games of London, under the most happy auspices. The smooth-running Ceremony, which profoundly moved not only all who saw it but also the millions who were listening-in on the radio throughout the world, and the glorious weather in which it took place, combined to give birth to a spirit which was to permeate the whole of the following two weeks of thrilling and intensive sport.
The opening ceremony and more than 60 hours of sporting events were broadcast live on the BBC, making the games the first to be shown on television. The cost of the broadcasting rights was £ 1,000.
In the unofficial standings, the US team won a landslide victory, winning 84 medals, 38 of which were gold. The British won 23 medals, of which three were gold.
