There was not enough money to build an athletes’ village, so competitors were housed mainly in private accommodation, and the BBC’s winning bid for the broadcasting rights was £1,000.
As the inventors of World War II, Germany and Japan were not invited to participate, while Russia declined to send a team because they were busy preparing refrigerators for the Cold War.
If Great Britain’s haul of three gold medals, and 23 in all, was a modest return for the hosts, the unrivalled star on Wembley Stadium’s cinder track was Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen, a 30-year-old mother nicknamed the Flying Housewife.
Twelve years earlier, Jesse Owens’ four gold medals in Berlin had sent Adolf Hitler goose-stepping from his box in an ideological huff. Like Owens, Blankers-Koen became the face of the Games after striking gold four times – in the 100m, 200m, sprint relay and 80m high hurdles.
As world record holder in the long jump and high jump, she would probably have gone on to win even more, but female athletes were limited to entering only three individual events.
There was a dramatic finish in the marathon, where Belgium’s Etienne Gailly entered the stadium first but he was so exhausted he could barely run. Argentina’s Delfo Cabrera and Britain’s Thomas Richards overhauled him, although Gailly heroically lasted the course to take bronze.
London 1948 was also the scene of the Olympic movement’s first political defection. Czech Marie Provaznikova, president of the international gymnastics federation, refused to return home, citing “lack of freedom” after the country’s inclusion in the post-war Soviet Bloc.
