The British women’s gymnastics team at the 1948 London Olympics. This is a few decades before the Soviet and Romanian gymnasts popularised young girls competing at Olympic level (a change that is being reversed again now, helped along by raised age requirements).
After twelve years and the interruption of the Second World War, the Olympic Games were restored when they were opened in London on the 29th of July, 1948. Some 85 000 people packed Wembley Stadium on a brilliantly sunny day, and a speech was made*:
Your Majesty: The hour has struck. A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality. At the end of the worldwide struggle in 1945, many institutions and associations were found to have withered and only the strongest had survived. How, many wondered, had the great Olympic Movement prospered?
While fifty-nine countries sent competitors, Germany and Japan were not allowed to participate, and German forced labour was used to construct some of the facilities.
The Soviet Union chose not to send any representatives.
I think this poster is a tad disgustingly optimistic (and misleading!). As the product of refugees from the Soviet Union who arrived in the country the year after this poster is supposed to have been produced, I know for a fact Australia hardly welcomed their immigrants with open arms! The term “New Australian” is still thrown about by Anglo-Saxon people of a certain age, and it’s not a compliment. My mother was born here, and they even call her that!
The 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland were the first Olympics since the Second World War. While competitors from twenty-eight countries participated, Germany and Japan were barred due to their actions during the war.
Here’s a picture of Barbara-Ann Scott of Canada and Hans Gerschwiler of Switzerland having fun doing pairs figure skating at the Games.
In Times Gone By... 