The Olympic Games are the largest international competitions that take place every four years. It is an honor for the country to host athletes. However, there have been moments in history when the most significant sporting event had to be canceled.
The history of the Olympic Games is divided into ancient and modern. The first mention in the documents of the Olympiad dates back to 776 BC. At that time, the greatest sporting events took place every five years. During the games, the belligerents were obliged to establish a truce so that nothing would prevent the Greeks from taking part in the competition and enjoying the spectacle. Often this rule was violated, but this did not interfere with the successful holding of the competition.
A huge break in the Olympic Games came after the Romans came to power. After Christianity became the official religion, the Olympic competition fell into disgrace as a manifestation of paganism. In 384 AD, Emperor Theodosius I imposed a ban on the holding of games, which lasted until 1896.
The history of the modern Olympic Games has only three canceled events. All of them did not take place due to the world wars. The first setback was the 1916 Summer Olympics. They were planned to be held in Berlin, and a new stadium was already ready for the competition. Due to the outbreak of the First World War, the sixth Olympic Games were canceled.
The 12th Summer Olympics were supposed to be held in the fall of 1940 in Tokyo, but 1937 marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. To save the day, the International Olympic Committee moved the games to Helsinki, but after the outbreak of World War II, they had to be abandoned completely.
The right to host the thirteenth Summer Olympic Games went to London. These were not simple competitions, they were supposed to be held in the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the IOC, and at this time grandiose festivities were planned. However, due to the ongoing war, it was decided to cancel the games. London was able to host the first post-war games, which were held in 1948.
