During World War II, the work of the International Olympic Committee was also at a standstill until September 1946 when the International Olympic Committee held a meeting in Lausanne, where two major events were decided. One was that Swedish sports activist Edstrom was elected president of the International Olympic Committee and the other was to hold the 14th Olympic Games in London.

Edstrom was originally the vice president of the International Olympic Committee. The previous president, Latour, died in 1942. However, due to World War II, no new president was selected at that time. Edstrom served as the president of the International Olympic Committee and presided over the work of the International Olympic Committee. Now Edstrom has finally become the leader of the International Olympic Committee with justification.

The first major event Edstrom held after becoming the president of the International Olympic Committee was to host the 1948 Olympic Games.

The last time the Olympics was held was in 1936, and the two subsequent Olympics were suspended, which greatly reduced the influence of the International Olympic Committee. Now that World War II has ended, if the Olympics are not held, other sports organizations may emerge to replace the International Olympic Committee.

The reason why the 1948 Olympic Games was chosen to be held in London was because the 1944 Olympic Games should have been held in London. As early as 1939, the International Olympic Committee determined that London was the host of the 1944 Olympic Games, but the International Olympic Committee had just made this decision and the war broke out in Europe, so the two Olympic Games in 1940 and 1944 could only be stopped. The 1948 Olympic Games was equivalent to giving London a chance to re-host the Olympic Games. The 1940 Olympic Games should have been held by Japan, but Japan was a defeated country, so it lost the opportunity to re-host the Olympic Games.

Britain had just experienced war, and London was bombed by the German army. Many places were dilapidated and most stadiums were damaged. In theory, such cities were not suitable for hosting the Olympics. Moreover, Britain only had less than two years to prepare for the Olympics, and even if it was built immediately, it was too late. Just look at the 2012 London Olympics, you will know that many venues were completed before the opening ceremony was approaching. The British's work efficiency was really unsatisfactory.

What's more, it costs a lot of money to host the Olympics. World War II has already lost all the British's wealth, and now Britain still owes Americans a lot of debts. If the Olympics are held at this time, it will be a big test for Britain's finances.

However, Britain had to hold this Olympic Games. Britain did not want other countries to see that the British Empire had weakened, especially in that era when the colonies pursued national independence. Britain, which had the most colonies, had to show stronger performance. Once the colonies believed that Britain had declined, there would be a greater wave of independence. So Britain could only host the 1948 Olympic Games with a sluggish face.

At the 1948 London Olympics, Germany and Japan were banned from participating in the defeated countries of World War II. However, 59 countries still participated in this Olympics. Compared with the 1936 Berlin Olympics, only 49 countries participated in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and there were only 37 participating countries.

The reason why the participating countries hit a new high is that after the end of World War II, many emerging countries broke away from colonial rule and gained national independence. Although these countries did not have time to train capable players to participate, they would never give up the opportunity to appear on the international stage.

Some of the newly born emerging countries have not even been officially recognized by international organizations. They cannot participate in international organizations for the time being, but they are very eager for recognition from the international community. Therefore, the Olympic Games, which have nothing to do with politics, have become the best way for emerging countries to go to the international stage. In order to make their own voices internationally, those new countries that have just broken away from colonial rule, even if they are poor, have to squeeze out some funds and send their own athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.

In addition, the Olympic Games held in the UK also have unusual significance for those countries that were once British colonies, such as India, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), etc. They were all British colonies, and going to the UK to participate in international activities such as the Olympic Games, obviously confirming the legal rationality of the independence of these countries.

Although there were many participating countries in the 1948 London Olympics, the strength of the contestants was mixed. During World War II, many outstanding athletes died in the war, and those living athletes could not obtain a stable training environment. This deteriorated the level of athletes in the 1948 Olympics to more than 20 years ago. The 1948 London Olympics was also recognized as the "weak chickens pecking each other" Olympics.

For example, Dutch athlete Blankels Cohen was 30 years old when he participated in the London Olympics and was a mother of two children. However, she won four gold medals at the London Olympics and received countless praises and honors. In fact, her 11.9 seconds win in the 100-meter championship, while in the 1936 Berlin Olympics women's 100-meter sprint final, she had to run 11.5 seconds to win the championship. After twelve years, the 100-meter gold medal victory regressed by a full 0.4 seconds. This is the most real epitome of the 1948 London Olympics.

The contestants of this Olympic Games can no longer be described as amateur athletes. Many contestants are at best just sports enthusiasts, including workers, farmers, students, artists, and housewives. In terms of athletes' professionalism, perhaps the first Athens Olympics were better than the London Olympics in 1948.

The low level of the contestants is also one of the reasons why Chen Qiang dares to participate in the 1948 Olympics. Although Chen Qiang is not "Liang Po is old", he is no longer as brave as he used to be. If he meets an opponent like Owens at the Peak, Chen Qiang is really not as good as others. But if his opponent is just a group of sports enthusiasts, Chen Qiang has nothing to worry about. As a world record holder in multiple events, Chen Qiang, a lean camel, is probably bigger than a horse.

...

In order to avoid the hard work of taking a boat, Chen Qiang arrived in London by plane this time.

Chen Qiang was riding on the Boeing 307 passenger plane. This aircraft was transformed based on the B17, and the world's first commercial aircraft using pressurized cabins can fly at an altitude of 20,000 feet and avoid bad weather. This aircraft was also a more mainstream commercial aircraft in the United States at that time.

After Chen Qiang arrived in London, other members of the Chinese delegation had not arrived yet, but Chen Qiang did not stay in the athlete's dormitory, but went directly to the luxury hotel to stay.

The living environment of the 1948 London Olympics was relatively poor. At that time, the Berlin Olympics had built an Olympic village with two athletes. The athlete dormitory of the London Olympics directly used a military camp as a military target. This military camp was bombed by the German army during World War II, and after renovation, it became the residence of athletes.

Chen Qiang must be dissatisfied with such living conditions. He would rather spend money to stay in a hotel by himself, and the organizers of the London Olympics were happy that someone would spend money to stay in a hotel by himself, because even if the athletes were arranged in the military camp, the beds were still very tight.

It is worth mentioning that during the London Olympics, athletes had to charge for meals. At that time, Britain was still implementing a post-war rationing system, and all supplies were limited to supply. Even local athletes in Britain could not eat with their stomachs. Moreover, due to the shortage of supplies, the British government informed all delegations in advance and allowed athletes from all countries to bring their own food. So the New Zealanders brought condensed milk and mutton fat; the Hungarian delegation brought chili and lemon; the Dutch farmers across the sea directly transported fresh vegetables to London; in addition to rice and white flour, the Chinese delegation also brought pickled pickles and tea. The richest Americans airlifted food from the United States every day. In addition to vegetables and meat, they even had free places to transport flowers to London.

Athletes from many countries brought local specialties from their hometowns to London, which also made the athlete's dormitory a huge trading market. Some people would buy food from players from other countries, and some would barter. Many London locals even came to athletes to buy things, such as chocolate brought by Americans, which was very popular among London citizens. Due to the war, British children had not eaten chocolate for many years.

The athletes' residence is also filled with smoke all day long. Since you can bring ingredients, you have to cook your own food. In some countries, there are athletes from chefs in the teams, and the food they make is mouth-watering. Unfortunately, there are no Shaxian in the Chinese delegation, otherwise you can definitely make a lot of money by opening a Shaxian snack.

Although the UK is under material control, material control is often only aimed at ordinary people. Rich and powerful people can still easily obtain various products. For example, the high-end hotel where Chen Qiang stays, as long as he is willing to spend money, he can buy anything from food, so Chen Qiang doesn't have to worry about eating.

Chen Qiang lived in London for a few days and was already accustomed to the weather and soil of London. At this time, the Chinese delegation finally arrived in London.

This time, China sent a total of 33 athletes, all of which were men. The basketball team and the football team occupied 28 places, and there were three track and field athletes, a swimmer and a cyclist. Among them, swimmer Wu Chuanyu is an overseas Chinese in Indonesia, and cyclist He Haohua is an overseas Chinese in the Netherlands. Both of them participated in the competition at their own expense.

As a track and field sports, Chen Qiang only registered for two events this time, 100 meters and 200 meters of sprinting, which are also the two events Chen Qiang first engaged in.

In fact, Chen Qiang chose these two events with great risks. Sprinting has always been the strong point of the United States, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is monopolized by American athletes. The players who participated in the 100-meter and 200-meter race are still very strong, and are one level higher than those of other countries. Chen Qiang signed up for these two events, which is equivalent to choosing a copy of a difficult mode.

The United States did not suffer any damage during World War II. Although domestic sports competitions in the United States decreased, they did not end. The competitions of the two American university sports leagues NCAA and AA were also held as usual, so there were still many excellent track and field athletes in the United States after World War II.

Although the level of American athletes at the 1948 London Olympics also declined, they did not directly decline for twenty years like other countries. At this time, the average strength of American athletes was almost the same as that of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were leading Europe for five to ten years. Therefore, the US team sent 300 people and won nearly one-quarter of the medals.

It’s just that the talented athlete like Jesse Owens who meets once in a decade is not something that can appear in every Olympics. Among the American athletes participating in the London Olympics, there is no such a terrifying existence like Jesse Owens.

Sweden was the second place in the medal list of the 1948 London Olympics. Sweden remained neutral during World War II and did not retreat in its domestic sports level. The host British team sent more contestants than the United States and participated in almost all competitions, but in the end, they only ranked twelfth in the medal list.

Chen Qiang, who is already 34 years old, does not seem abrupt when he appears in the Olympics. At this Olympics, there are a lot of athletes in his thirties, and even many athletes over 40 years old, participating in track and field sports that require extremely high physical requirements.

Some athletes over thirty years old have participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but athletes like Chen Qiang who participated in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics are rare. In this era, the training level is very low, and athletes cannot maintain a competitive state for a long time as they did in later generations. From 1932 to 1948, a full 16 years have passed. Even in the 21st century, it is difficult for ordinary athletes to maintain a competitive state for 16 years.

What's more, there was World War II in between. I don't know how many potential athletes died on the battlefield, or were injured and disabled on the battlefield. The war caused the stagnation of sports development, which also made many athletes give up their sports careers and switch to other things. It was almost impossible for them to persist from 1932 to 1948.

Of course, there are always some special existences in such a big sporting event. For example, there is a fencing athlete named Archibald Craig in the UK who participated in the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was 37 years old at the time. He did not participate in the three Olympics after that. By 1948, there was probably no one in the UK, so he asked the old man to participate again. He was 61 years old when he participated and was the oldest contestant at the London Olympics.

Four years later, the Helsinki Olympics, the UK sent another 65-year-old shooting athlete. This shows that the damage caused by World War II to British sports has not yet recovered by 1952.

65 is not the oldest contestant in Olympic history. At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, Swedish shooting athlete Oscar Swan participated in the competition at the age of 72 and 279 days. The legend only participated in the Olympics for the first time at the age of 60, and also won two golds and one bronze. At the age of 64, he won one gold and one bronze at the Olympics. Even at the age of 72, he won a silver medal in a group. I have to say that this old man has a very good look, but if he was an ordinary person, he would be dazzled at the age of 50.

...

On July 30, the 100-meter sprint will complete the preliminary and rematch.

The 100-meter sprint is the event with the most contestants in the Olympic track and field competitions. After all, this event seems to be the easiest. It is precisely because the threshold for participating in this event is relatively low that many emerging countries that have just obtained independence have signed up for this 100-meter sprint. Anyway, there is no rigid entry standards such as the Olympic A-mark B-mark in this era. Those emerging countries originally wanted to show their faces at the Olympics, and participating in the simplest 100-meter sprint is the best choice.

Countries such as India, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Myanmar and other countries have sent players to participate in the 100-meter sprint. Of course, India and Myanmar are just here to play soy sauce, while Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago are really capable of getting a ranking.

The rules of the preliminary round are still the same as in previous years, with four to six players in a group, and the top two players advanced to the semi-finals.

For Chen Qiang, there is no need to do his best in the preliminary round. According to the experience of previous Olympic Games, you can advance by running 10 seconds 6 or 10 seconds 7.

During the rematch, according to the practice of the past, 10 seconds 5 should be enough to advance. Chen Qiang made a little effort and ran a 10 seconds 4, which led to the first place in the total rematch. In addition to Chen Qiang, two American players also scored 10 seconds 4.

The athletes who advance to the rematch all scored between 10 seconds 4 and 10 seconds 6. Such results cannot tell the athlete's true level at all, or it cannot clearly distinguish the athlete's strength.

This is how the 100-meter sprint is. The slower the speed, the more difficult it is to define strength and weakness. On the contrary, the faster the speed, the easier it is to tell who is better.

According to the standards of professional athletes, those who run 10 seconds 4 are not much better than those who run 10 seconds 6. It can even be said that the two are in the same level, but those who run 9 seconds 8 are several levels better than those who run 10 seconds.

So if you want to test the athlete's true strength, you still have to wait until tomorrow's final.

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Chapter completed!