It was the first Olympic Games since the end of WWII, hosted by London, a city barely beginning to recover from the German bombings, with food supplies short, and rationing still in effect. It was a recipe for disaster, a new book explains.
But the
1948 Games were anything but a disaster, as
The Austerity Olympics: When the Games Came to London in 1948 shows in fascinating detail. Everything was in short supply: food, building materials, housing, and yet this Olympics “contrived, almost by accident, to create one of the friendliest games of the modern era.” The story is somewhat chastening for a generation accustomed to Games that cost millions of dollars, and are plagued by bribery and drug scandals, and even the threat of international boycotts.
The Olympic pool was a converted ice skating rink, the main track had been a dog-racing track, and housing was mostly provided by schools and military camps, with athletes being transported to the events in the London buses. There were far more important things for the British government to spend money on, so needed materials, including the gymnastic equipment, were begged and borrowed from Switzerland, Sweden, and Finland. Athletes were even asked to bring their own towels.
Everybody pitched in and made do; some of the athletes even made their own shorts and other sports clothing from whatever was available. British competitors, who were suffering from the effects of wartime food rationing, received international “care packages” in the run-up to the Games. “After all those dark days - the bombing, the killing, the starvation - the revival of the Olympics was as if the sun had come out. Suddenly there were no frontiers, no more barriers, just the people meeting together.” Germany and Italy weren’t invited to the Games, naturally, which probably contributed to the peaceful atmosphere.
It was very different from more recent games, in other ways. Out of 4,000 competitors, only 385 were women. Many of them were accompanied by chaperones, and their participation was limited by current beliefs about what women were and weren’t capable of. Compared to today’s highly trained athletes who spend years preparing for the Games, the 1948 competitors looked like amateurs, and in at least one case, the word fit perfectly. Micheline Ostermeyer was a concert pianist who had never even picked up a discus until a few weeks before the Games, but won a gold medal for a throw of 41 meters.
The review is calculated to make you want to read more about the trials and tribulations, and the triumphs that were part of this event. Unfortunately, the book is only available in the U.K. right now. Let’s hope it comes to the U.S. very soon.
Here are the details for the book:
The Austerity Olympics by Janie Hampton
Aurum £18.99 pp366
