1940 Winter Olympics in the context of "1944 Winter Olympics"

Athletes from Germany have taken part in most of the modern Olympic Games held since 1896. Germany has hosted three Olympic Games, in 1936 both the Winter and Summer Games, and the 1972 Summer Olympics. In addition, Germany had been selected to host the 1916 Summer Olympics as well as the 1940 Winter Olympics, both of which had to be cancelled due to World Wars. After these wars, Germany was banned from participating in the 1920, 1924 and 1948 Olympics.

While the country was divided, each of the two German states boycotted one of the Summer Games. In 1980, West Germany was one of 66 nations which did not go to Moscow in protest at the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, and in 1984 East Germany joined the Soviet Union and several others in the boycott of the Summer Games in Los Angeles. In 1990, East Germany and West Germany would reunite, with Germany once again competing as a single full sovereign state since the 1992 Olympic year.

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games (Japanese: 第18回オリンピック冬季競技大会, Hepburn: Dai Jūhachi-kai Orinpikku Tōkikyōgi Taikai) and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (Japanese: 長野1998), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics (which were later cancelled), as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.

The games hosted 2,176 athletes from 72 nations competing in 7 sports and 68 events. The number of athletes and participating nations were a record at the time. The Games saw the introduction of women's ice hockey, curling and snowboarding. National Hockey League players were allowed to participate in the men's ice hockey for the first time. Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their debut at the Winter Olympics.

The modern Olympics began in 1896. Since then, summer and winter games have usually celebrated a four-year period known as an Olympiad. From the inaugural Winter Games in 1924 until 1992, winter and summer Games were held in the same year. Since 1994, summer and winter Games have been held in staggered even years. The last Olympic games were held at Paris in July-Aug 2024. Through 2024, there have been 30 Summer Olympic Games, held in 23 cities, and 24 Winter Olympic Games, held in 21 cities. In addition, three summer and two winter editions of the games were scheduled to take place but were later cancelled due to war: Berlin (summer) in 1916; Sapporo–Garmisch-Partenkirchen (winter) and Tokyo–Helsinki (summer) in 1940; and Cortina d'Ampezzo (winter) and London (summer) in 1944. The 1906 Intercalated Olympics were officially sanctioned and held in Athens. However, in 1949, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to unrecognize the 1906 Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were postponed for the first time in the Olympics history to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the 2022 Winter Olympics being held roughly six months later in Beijing which also hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Five cities and regions have been chosen by the IOC to host upcoming Olympic Games: the 2026 Winter Olympics will be the first Olympic Games officially shared between two host cities (Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo); Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics; the 2030 Winter Olympics will be the first Olympic Games to be hosted by a region (the French Alps—comprising 7 cities and towns); Brisbane will host the 2032 Summer Olympics; and Utah will host the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in Tokyo City, Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July to 4 August 1940, in Helsinki, Finland following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. They were ultimately cancelled because of World War II alongside the 1940 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, and were the third games to be cancelled due to war.

Helsinki would eventually host the 1952 Summer Olympics. Tokyo would also later host the 1964 and 2020 Summer Olympics, the latter being postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (German: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Later that year, the country also hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in Berlin. It was the last year in which the Summer and Winter Games both took place in the same country (the cancelled 1940 Olympics would have been held in Japan, with Tokyo hosting the Summer Games and Sapporo hosting the Winter Games).