Wembley Stadium, built for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, was a fitting venue for the return of the Olympic Games after the Second World War. Germany and Japan, the aggressors, were excluded from the Games, as was the USSR, since it had no affiliation to the IOC, while athletes were housed in army barracks, there being no money to build an Olympic village, and had to supply their own food, as rationing was still in force.
More localised political trouble centred on a dispute in the swimming pool when two swimmers from Northern Ireland were refused permission to compete for Eire. Irish swimmers have long swum for Ireland in international competition whether they are from north or south, the exception being the Commonwealth Games.
The Games were opened by King George VI, flanked by Sigfrid Edstrom, the new IOC president from Sweden. Statistically, the London Games, were the biggest yet, with a total of 4,099 athletes, including 385 women, from 59 nations taking part in 136 events.
En route to London, the Olympic torch was sent from Mount Olympus via the tomb of Pierre de Coubertin in Lausanne, a route that dictated that the runners did not have to pass through a disgraced Germany on their way to Wembley.
The undisputed star of the show was Fanny Blankers-Koen, the Dutchwoman who became known as the "flying housewife" after the mother of two won track events in the 100 and 200m, the 80m hurdles and the 4 by 100m relay. Had the programme not worked against her, Blankers-Koen, then world long jump record holder, might have won a fifth title. However, she did not enter and Hungarian Olga Gyarmati took the crown.
Her's was one of ten victories by a very successful Hungarian team that included Ilona Elek, the fencer who proved that the war was no impediment to her sporting success when she retained her 1936 crown in London. Her male teammate Aladar Gerevich added two more gold medals to a tally that remains one of the most impressive in Olympic history; between 1932 and 1960, he won seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
The most medalled male in London was Veikko Huhtanen, the Finnish gymanst with three gold medals, a silver and a bronze, while the Dane Paul Elvstrom started a winning streak that was to prove a record in its own right; his victory in the Finn Class Yachting event was the first of four wins in that event at consecutive Olympic Games. He shares that accolade today with Al Oerter, the US discus thrower and Steve Redgrave, the British oarsman.
The US, which was less affected than European nations by the Second World War, comfortably topped the medals table with 38 victories, 27 silver and 19 bronze medals. Sweden were runners-up with 16 titles, while Britain finished 12th with three triumphs.
CRAIG LORD
The Times
