Olympics
I'll start with some bizarre Olympic host city trivia relating to wars, multiple host cities, and some other odd shit.
So today I read that Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics. This interested me because I ilved there in 2016, which would have meant I would've been in the host city, as a resident, of both the 2010 and 2016 Olympics. So an hour later, I have discovered some weird things about host cities
Most know that Berlin hosted the Summer Games in 1936. However, Germany also hosted the 1936 Winter Games in some random-ass Bavarian town of like 10,000. I've always thought, sure, Nazis hosted the Olympics, but these things are awarded years in advance. This is actually very true in this case. Both Games were awarded in April 1931, which was actually 3 months before German banks started collapsing, so it was not just non-Nazi Germany but it was a somewhat thriving Weimer Republic that was awarded these Games.
But then the 1940 Games (both) were awarded to Japan in 1936. Odd because Japan had already left the League of Nations by that point, but it's still technically before they commenced war with China (but not really), so whatever. But still... twice in a row, IOC? Yikes.
Neither 1940 Games ended up happening, but first it gets fucked. In 1939 Japan's war with China is raging, so the IOC decides they need to move it from Sapporo. They pick St. Moritz (Switzerland) which had hosted the Winter Games in 1928. But Swiss authoities withdraw very quickly after a dispute arises between Switzerland and the IOC on whether professional ski instructors would be considered amateur skiers (Swiss said no, IOC said yes). So they gotta move it again, and...they pick the previous host, that random-ass location in Bavaria. This is about six months before WWII "officially" starts. Okay, maybe in 1936 the IOC didn't know better than to award the Games to Japan...but Germany in 1939? How does that possibly happen? Anyway, the Games were cancelled after WWII broke out.
Same with the Summer Games. First taken away from Tokyo, and awarded to Helsinki. To me, this is more reasonable than Germany. When WWII started, though, the Games were not cancelled or rescheduled. They were three months later when the USSR invaded Finland, though. I mean it's one thing for countries to be at war with each other, but we can't host this friendly competition in an area that's currently the site of armed combat! What the hell.
So, the first inkling to these dim-witted IOC officials that things might be going wrong was in early Spring 1939, when they realized Japan couldn't host the Games due to war. What did the IOC do in late Spring 1939? They awarded the Games to London and some Alpine Italian ski town!?!?! In 1941 the IOC cancelled the Winter Games. They cancelled the Summer Games too but I have been unable to figure out if this decision was also made in 1941 or if they waited until Germany started bombing London.
Incidentally, after that, the IOC stopped awarding both Games to the same country (which they'd also done in 1932 - LA/Lake Placid - and 1924 - Paris/Chamonix, the latter of which is the subject of a documentary recommended by Evelen as a "snow movie" that I have been terribly remiss in not viewing).
Okay, so 4 Games cancelled, but because of moving around, 7 cities that had at some point being awarded the Games missed out. For the mossssst part, they all ended up getting the Games.
1948: St. Moritz (Winter), London (Summer)
1952: Helsinki (Winter)
1956: random Alpine village (Winter)
Italy didn't have to wait as long as the other Axis powers, possibly because they switched sides in 1943?!
1964: Tokyo (Summer)
1972: Sapporo (Winter)
That random-ass Bavarian town never got another shot, but Munich did...although it was the Summer Olympics. In 1972. Most infamous Olympics ever. They've never been back to Germany since. Munich lost out on a bid for the 2018 Winter Games, and hasn't come close besides that. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that after the 1916 Berlin Games were cancelled due to war, Berlin was awarded the 1936 Summer Games, and, well, they weren't so chill about that.
The two Games in 1940 were to be the first held outside Europe or the USA. Japan ended up not being the nation to achieve that, as the 1956 Summer Games took place in Melbourne. Except for the horse jumping events, which were held in Stockholm. Why, you ask? Because back then (how's this for a 2021-style fact) Australia had a six-month quarantine law with respect to horses. WTF?? Because of the hemisphere business, the equstrian events were held six months before the rest of the Games. And all the events were actually held in Spring in their respective locations. That's not TOTALLY uncommon. While every Winter Games has commenced between January 26 and February 13, there are a few non-Summer start dates for the Summer (and, previously, the combined) games. The first Games were held in April. Some early combined Games lasted several months, so they started in Spring/Summer and ended in Fall. And in some exceptionally hot climates, e.g. Mexico City, the Summer Games took place in Fall.
But then ALSO... the Summer Games in Sydney in 2000... started in late Winter (finishing in early Spring). WTF! I mean I know Sydney has a temperate climate year-round, but shit, these are the Summer freaking Games. And the weird thing about staggering Summer/Winter Games is there's 2.5 years between Winter and Summer, but 1.5 years between Summer and Winter. If they'd held the 2000 Summer Games in Australia's Summers, FOR ONCE, three consecutive Games would've been spaced exactly two years apart! WTF!!
Fun fact: that random-ass Alpine Village? It will be hosting the ski events when Milan hosts the Winter Games in 2026.
Which also means, starting with the "2020" Summer Games, five straight Games - 2020 through 2028 - will be hosted in cities that have already been host cities (except Beijing will be hosting Winter and previously hosted Summer). Kinda cool, though, they'll be the first city to host both types of Games.
Many cities have hosted the same Games more than once though. Paris was the first to do it - the second combined Games (1900), and the first pure Summer Games (1924), and will again in 2024. That'll join them with London (1908, 1948, 2012) and they'll later be joined by LA (1932, 1984, 2028). Athens hosted the inagraul games in 1896, and then again in 2004. And of course, the "2020" (2021) host, Tokyo, as mentioned above, hosted the 1964 games. These are pretty major cities: London, Paris, LA, Athens, Tokyo, Beijing. What cities have held multiple Winter Games? The aforementioned St. Moritz, Innsbruck, Lake Placid, and soon they'll be joined by the fucking ski town (okay, it's called Cortina d'Ampezzo). Not so major.
In fact, only one city with a population over 1,000,000 has hosted the Winter Games... the wonderful Canadian city of... Calgary...? Not Vancouver?? It's true. Calgary is essentially suburbless. It has about 1,200,000 people and another 100,000 in the surrounding area. Vancouver has only 700,000, but about 1,700,000 in the surrounding area (aka Greater Vancouver). Beijing, of course, will shatter this little fact to pieces. But Canada just doesn't have the largest city to host the Winter Games, but the smallest city to host the Summer Games (Montreal) as well! Perhaps small cities should stick to hosting Winter, and large cities to Summer, though. Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988 are the only two Games ever in which the host country did not win a single Gold medal! (But of course, Canada set the record for Wnter gold medals in Vancouver, so who knows.)
Two more quick tidbits that someone might find interesting:
1. Cancelled Summer (and combined) Games are just... lost, officially anyway. As in Berlin 1936 was #11, and London 1948 was #14. However, for Winter Games, random-ass Bavarian town (okay, it's called Garmisch-Partenkirchen) 1936 was #4, and St. Mortiz 1948 was #5.
2. Rio was the first South American city to host the Games. No African city has ever hosted. Although three East Asian countries (Japan, Korea and China) have hosted multiple games, no South Asian, Southeast Asian, Central Asian or West Asian countries have ever hosted. Of the world's 32 largest countries, 11 are from the developed world and have all hosted, whereas 21 are from the Global South and only Rio has hosted. I'm sure the IOC will rectify this by awarding the Games to Johannesburg or something...
So today I read that Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics. This interested me because I ilved there in 2016, which would have meant I would've been in the host city, as a resident, of both the 2010 and 2016 Olympics. So an hour later, I have discovered some weird things about host cities
Most know that Berlin hosted the Summer Games in 1936. However, Germany also hosted the 1936 Winter Games in some random-ass Bavarian town of like 10,000. I've always thought, sure, Nazis hosted the Olympics, but these things are awarded years in advance. This is actually very true in this case. Both Games were awarded in April 1931, which was actually 3 months before German banks started collapsing, so it was not just non-Nazi Germany but it was a somewhat thriving Weimer Republic that was awarded these Games.
But then the 1940 Games (both) were awarded to Japan in 1936. Odd because Japan had already left the League of Nations by that point, but it's still technically before they commenced war with China (but not really), so whatever. But still... twice in a row, IOC? Yikes.
Neither 1940 Games ended up happening, but first it gets fucked. In 1939 Japan's war with China is raging, so the IOC decides they need to move it from Sapporo. They pick St. Moritz (Switzerland) which had hosted the Winter Games in 1928. But Swiss authoities withdraw very quickly after a dispute arises between Switzerland and the IOC on whether professional ski instructors would be considered amateur skiers (Swiss said no, IOC said yes). So they gotta move it again, and...they pick the previous host, that random-ass location in Bavaria. This is about six months before WWII "officially" starts. Okay, maybe in 1936 the IOC didn't know better than to award the Games to Japan...but Germany in 1939? How does that possibly happen? Anyway, the Games were cancelled after WWII broke out.
Same with the Summer Games. First taken away from Tokyo, and awarded to Helsinki. To me, this is more reasonable than Germany. When WWII started, though, the Games were not cancelled or rescheduled. They were three months later when the USSR invaded Finland, though. I mean it's one thing for countries to be at war with each other, but we can't host this friendly competition in an area that's currently the site of armed combat! What the hell.
So, the first inkling to these dim-witted IOC officials that things might be going wrong was in early Spring 1939, when they realized Japan couldn't host the Games due to war. What did the IOC do in late Spring 1939? They awarded the Games to London and some Alpine Italian ski town!?!?! In 1941 the IOC cancelled the Winter Games. They cancelled the Summer Games too but I have been unable to figure out if this decision was also made in 1941 or if they waited until Germany started bombing London.
Incidentally, after that, the IOC stopped awarding both Games to the same country (which they'd also done in 1932 - LA/Lake Placid - and 1924 - Paris/Chamonix, the latter of which is the subject of a documentary recommended by Evelen as a "snow movie" that I have been terribly remiss in not viewing).
Okay, so 4 Games cancelled, but because of moving around, 7 cities that had at some point being awarded the Games missed out. For the mossssst part, they all ended up getting the Games.
1948: St. Moritz (Winter), London (Summer)
1952: Helsinki (Winter)
1956: random Alpine village (Winter)
Italy didn't have to wait as long as the other Axis powers, possibly because they switched sides in 1943?!
1964: Tokyo (Summer)
1972: Sapporo (Winter)
That random-ass Bavarian town never got another shot, but Munich did...although it was the Summer Olympics. In 1972. Most infamous Olympics ever. They've never been back to Germany since. Munich lost out on a bid for the 2018 Winter Games, and hasn't come close besides that. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that after the 1916 Berlin Games were cancelled due to war, Berlin was awarded the 1936 Summer Games, and, well, they weren't so chill about that.
The two Games in 1940 were to be the first held outside Europe or the USA. Japan ended up not being the nation to achieve that, as the 1956 Summer Games took place in Melbourne. Except for the horse jumping events, which were held in Stockholm. Why, you ask? Because back then (how's this for a 2021-style fact) Australia had a six-month quarantine law with respect to horses. WTF?? Because of the hemisphere business, the equstrian events were held six months before the rest of the Games. And all the events were actually held in Spring in their respective locations. That's not TOTALLY uncommon. While every Winter Games has commenced between January 26 and February 13, there are a few non-Summer start dates for the Summer (and, previously, the combined) games. The first Games were held in April. Some early combined Games lasted several months, so they started in Spring/Summer and ended in Fall. And in some exceptionally hot climates, e.g. Mexico City, the Summer Games took place in Fall.
But then ALSO... the Summer Games in Sydney in 2000... started in late Winter (finishing in early Spring). WTF! I mean I know Sydney has a temperate climate year-round, but shit, these are the Summer freaking Games. And the weird thing about staggering Summer/Winter Games is there's 2.5 years between Winter and Summer, but 1.5 years between Summer and Winter. If they'd held the 2000 Summer Games in Australia's Summers, FOR ONCE, three consecutive Games would've been spaced exactly two years apart! WTF!!
Fun fact: that random-ass Alpine Village? It will be hosting the ski events when Milan hosts the Winter Games in 2026.
Which also means, starting with the "2020" Summer Games, five straight Games - 2020 through 2028 - will be hosted in cities that have already been host cities (except Beijing will be hosting Winter and previously hosted Summer). Kinda cool, though, they'll be the first city to host both types of Games.
Many cities have hosted the same Games more than once though. Paris was the first to do it - the second combined Games (1900), and the first pure Summer Games (1924), and will again in 2024. That'll join them with London (1908, 1948, 2012) and they'll later be joined by LA (1932, 1984, 2028). Athens hosted the inagraul games in 1896, and then again in 2004. And of course, the "2020" (2021) host, Tokyo, as mentioned above, hosted the 1964 games. These are pretty major cities: London, Paris, LA, Athens, Tokyo, Beijing. What cities have held multiple Winter Games? The aforementioned St. Moritz, Innsbruck, Lake Placid, and soon they'll be joined by the fucking ski town (okay, it's called Cortina d'Ampezzo). Not so major.
In fact, only one city with a population over 1,000,000 has hosted the Winter Games... the wonderful Canadian city of... Calgary...? Not Vancouver?? It's true. Calgary is essentially suburbless. It has about 1,200,000 people and another 100,000 in the surrounding area. Vancouver has only 700,000, but about 1,700,000 in the surrounding area (aka Greater Vancouver). Beijing, of course, will shatter this little fact to pieces. But Canada just doesn't have the largest city to host the Winter Games, but the smallest city to host the Summer Games (Montreal) as well! Perhaps small cities should stick to hosting Winter, and large cities to Summer, though. Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988 are the only two Games ever in which the host country did not win a single Gold medal! (But of course, Canada set the record for Wnter gold medals in Vancouver, so who knows.)
Two more quick tidbits that someone might find interesting:
1. Cancelled Summer (and combined) Games are just... lost, officially anyway. As in Berlin 1936 was #11, and London 1948 was #14. However, for Winter Games, random-ass Bavarian town (okay, it's called Garmisch-Partenkirchen) 1936 was #4, and St. Mortiz 1948 was #5.
2. Rio was the first South American city to host the Games. No African city has ever hosted. Although three East Asian countries (Japan, Korea and China) have hosted multiple games, no South Asian, Southeast Asian, Central Asian or West Asian countries have ever hosted. Of the world's 32 largest countries, 11 are from the developed world and have all hosted, whereas 21 are from the Global South and only Rio has hosted. I'm sure the IOC will rectify this by awarding the Games to Johannesburg or something...
still not nearly as weird as Kapuskasing hosting the canadian open chess championship two years in a row
Lol I went to Garmisch last summer and saw the Olympic village, and I went to Cortina last winter. Will have to see if I took any pics...
