advocacy
There’s something striking about the fact that the Olympics, with all their talk of units and peace, were stopped three different times: not by internal controversy, not by boycotts, but by war. The cancellations in 1916, 1940, and 1944 reveal how global politics have always hovered over the Games, shaping when and how they could exist. These cancellations are reminders that the Olympic movement, no matter how idealistic, lives inside the real world.
The 1916 Summer Olympics were awarded to Berlin at a moment when Germany wanted to present itself as a modern and stable European power. The country built a brand-new stadium, planned elaborate ceremonies, and hoped the Games would help repair its tense relationships with its neighbors. But by 1914, Europe had descended into World War I. Athletes who were meant to compete now served on battlefields, and many never returned. International travel was impossible, and diplomacy had broken down entirely. The idea of nations gathering for peaceful competition felt absurd. The canceled 1916 Games marked the first time the world was forced to confront a difficult truth: the Olympics could not exist without international cooperation. They were not above politics; they were bound to it.
The 1940 Games showed how global power shifts reshape the Olympic story. Originally awarded to Tokyo, the choice symbolized Japan’s ambition to position itself as a modern world leader. It would have been the first non-Western host in modern Olympic history. But Japan’s expansion into China in 1937 changed everything. As the Second Sino-Japanese War grew more violent, international pressure intensified. Japan eventually gave up the Games, and the IOC reassigned them to Helsinki. Before Helsinki could prepare, Europe was once again at war. The 1940 Olympics, both Summer and Winter, were officially canceled. These cancellations weren’t just logistical. They reflected a world where alliances were fracturing and where nations no longer shared the common ground needed to compete side by side. The Olympic ideal of peaceful unity simply couldn’t survive the political climate of the moment.
Despite the chaos of World War II, the IOC still awarded the 1944 Summer Olympics to London and the Winter Games to Cortina d’Ampezzo. It was almost a symbolic gesture—a way of insisting that the world would eventually return to stability. But by 1944, large parts of Europe were destroyed. Millions had been displaced, entire cities were bombed, and athletes were soldiers or prisoners. The idea of holding the Games was impossible. Once again, the Olympics were canceled because the world wasn’t united; we were at war.
Across three decades, the canceled Olympics showed how fragile the movement could be. They made it clear that peace is a requirement for the Olympics, not a byproduct of them. The Games cannot bring nations together when those same nations cannot coexist politically. Global conflict changes who gets to shape the Olympic narrative. Japan’s lost opportunity in 1940 shows how war determines which nations are allowed to stand on the world stage.
The Olympics don’t stop wars; they pause because of them. In each case, the world’s violence overshadowed a global display of athletic excellence and forced the Games to disappear. When the Olympics finally returned in 1948, they were shaped by everything the world had endured. Germany and Japan were not invited, and nations that were drawn into the war saw sport as part of rebuilding identity. The Olympics became a space for a renewed belief in international cooperation. These cancellations didn’t produce athlete activism in the way later decades would, but they laid the groundwork for it. These Games stand as reminders that the Games have always been vulnerable to the world around them. Far from existing above politics, they reflect the balance of power, the tensions between nations, and the fragile hope that sport can continue even when the world cannot.