1944 Winter Olympics in the context of "Cortina d'Ampezzo"

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 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games (Italian: VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 (Ladin: Anpezo 1956 or Ampëz 1956), were a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956.

Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid for the right to host the 1956 Games. The Cortina Games were unique in that many of the venues were within walking distance of each other. The organising committee received financial support from the Italian government for infrastructure improvements, but the rest of the costs for the Games had to be privately financed. Consequently, the organising committee was the first to rely heavily on corporate sponsorship for funding.

The 1944 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 22 July to 5 August 1944 in London, England, United Kingdom. The games were cancelled because of World War II alongside the 1944 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and were the fifth games to be cancelled due to war. However, unofficial celebrations went ahead anyway in Switzerland as well as by Polish prisoners of war held in German-occupied Poland.

The games eventually took place in London in 1948, which later hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics.