The Xllth and XIIth OLYMPIADS ----------------------------- The Olympic Games scheduled to be held in 1940 and 1944 had to be abandoned primarily due to World War II. A few facts about this subject are of interest: The Games of the XIIth Olympiad (1940) were awarded to Japan in 1936. The 5th Olympic Winter Games (of 1940) were awarded to Sapporo, Japan (located on the northern island of Hokkaido). Japan's involvement in China, after having won Manchuria, increased during 1937 and 1938. On July 16, 1938, the (Japanese) Organizing Committee of the Tokyo Games drew up the following resolution: "Although the Japanese government has been desirous of holding the Olympic Games,there seems to be no alternative but to forfeit the right to celebrate the XIIth Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo under the present circumstances when the nation is confronted with the necessity of requiring both spiritual and material mobilization in order to realize the ultimate object of the present incident." Helsinki, Finland, had been the other major contestant for the 1940 Games (back in 1936). The International Olympic Committee, spearheaded by President Count Baillet Latour, offered the Games to Helsinki and they were accepted. The 5th Olympic Winter Games were scheduled into Saint Moritz, Switzerland. The Helsinki Committee persisted in its plans to hold the Games even beyond the beginning of World War II, and did not give up until the invasion of Finland by the U.S.S.R. in 1939 finally put an end to the possibility of even a token celebration. The Finnish preparations had proceeded well in that they had gone ahead rapidly with the construction of a stadium on the outskirts of Helsinki. Finland's efforts were well remembered by the International Olympic Committee, who in the summer of 1947 awarded the 1952 Olympic Games to Helsinki. The Winter Games of 1940 were rescheduled from St. Moritz to Garmisch- Partenkirchen and then cancelled. The Games scheduled to be held in London and Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1944 were, of course, also cancelled. Labels, like Olympic Games, are scheduled prior to the event; so several labels were issued for the "un-held" Games in Tokyo, Sapporo, Helsinki and St. Moritz. -- 135 --