During World War II, the work of the IOC was also at a standstill, until September 1946, when the IOC met in Lausanne, where two major decisions were made: the election of the Swedish sports activist Edström as president of the IOC, and the convening of the 14th Olympic Games in London.

Edstron was originally the vice president of the International Olympic Committee, and the previous president, Latour, died in 1942, but due to the Second World War, there was no new president at that time, and Edstron acted as the president of the International Olympic Committee, presiding over the work of the International Olympic Committee.

One of the first major events Edstron did as president of the IOC was to host the 1948 Olympic Games.

The last time the Olympics were held was in 1936, and the next two Olympic Games were suspended, which greatly reduced the influence of the IOC, and now that the Second World War is over, if the Olympics are not held again, other sports organizations may emerge to replace the IOC.

London was chosen to host the 1948 Olympics because the 1944 Games were supposed to be held in London. As early as 1939, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided to host London for the 1944 Olympic Games, but no sooner had the IOC made this decision than the war broke out in Europe, so the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games had to be stopped. The 1948 Olympics gave London a chance to make up for it. The 1940 Olympics were supposed to be hosted by Japan, but Japan was a defeated country, so it lost the opportunity to make up for the Olympics.

Britain has just experienced the war, London has also been bombed by the German army, many places are dilapidated, most of the stadiums have been damaged, it is said that such a city, it is not suitable to host the Olympic Games, and Britain has less than two years to prepare for the Olympics, even if it is too late to build immediately. If you look at the London 2012 Olympics, many of the venues were completed close to the opening ceremony, and the efficiency of the British is truly flattering.

What's more, it costs a lot of money to host the Olympic Games, and the Second World War has exhausted the British family, and now Britain still owes a lot of debt to the Americans.

However, this Olympic Games, Britain is indispensable, Britain does not want other countries to see that the British Empire has weakened, especially in that era when the colonies pursued national independence, the United Kingdom, which has the most colonies, must be even stronger, once the colonies think that Britain has declined, then there will be a greater wave of independence. As a result, Britain could only slap its swollen face and become fat, and hosted the 1948 Olympic Games.

Germany and Japan were banned from participating in the 1948 London Olympics as defeated countries in World War II, but 59 countries still competed, compared to 49 in Berlin 1936 and 37 in Los Angeles in 1932.

The reason for the record number of participating countries is that after the end of World War II, many emerging countries got rid of colonial rule and gained national independence, although these countries did not have time to train strong players to compete, but they will 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 the international community, and they cannot participate in international organizations for the time being, but they are very eager for the recognition of the international community, so the Olympic Games, which have nothing to do with politics, have become the best way for emerging countries to enter the international arena. In order to be able to make their voices heard internationally, the new countries that have just emerged from colonial rule, even if they are poor and white, have to squeeze out some of the funds to send their own athletes to the Olympics.

In addition, the Olympic Games held in the United Kingdom also have an unusual significance for countries that were once British colonies, such as India, Afghanistan, Burma, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), etc., all of which were once British colonies.

In the 1948 London Olympic Games, although there were many participating countries, but the strength of the competitors was mixed, in the Second World War, many outstanding athletes died in the war, and those who were alive could not get a stable training environment, which made the level of athletes in the 1948 Olympic Games degraded to more than 20 years ago, and the 1948 London Olympics was also recognized as the "weak chickens pecked each other" Olympic Games.

For example, Dutch athlete Blankles Cohen was 30 years old when she participated in the London Olympics and was a mother of two children, but she won four gold medals at the London Olympics and received countless accolades and honors. In fact, she won the 100m in 11.9 seconds, and in the women's 100m sprint final at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, she needed to run 11.5 seconds to win the gold medal. After 12 years, the gold medal in the 100m has regressed by a full 0.4 seconds, which is the most realistic microcosm of the 1948 London Olympics.

The athletes of this Olympic Games can no longer be described as amateur athletes, many of them are sports enthusiasts at best, among them are workers, farmers, students, artists, housewives, and in terms of athletes' professionalism, perhaps the first Athens Olympics will be better than the 1948 London Olympics.

The low level of the competitors is also one of the reasons why Chen Qiang dared to participate in the 1948 Olympic Games. Although Chen Qiang is not "Lian Po Lao", he is no longer as brave as he used to be, and if he encounters an opponent like Peak Owens again, Chen Qiang is really not comparable to others. But if the 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 skinny camel, is no bigger than a horse.

……

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

Chen Qiang flew on a Boeing 307, a modified B17 aircraft that was the first commercial aircraft in the world to use a pressurized cabin, allowing it to fly at an altitude of 20,000 feet and avoid bad weather. This aircraft was also the mainstream commercial aircraft in the United States at that time.

After Chen Qiang arrived in London, the other members of the Chinese delegation had not yet arrived, but Chen Qiang did not live in the athletes' dormitory, but went directly to a luxurious hotel.

The living environment of the 1948 London Olympics was relatively poor, the Berlin Olympics of that year was specially built with an Olympic Village, two athletes, and the athletes' dormitory of the London Olympics directly used a military barracks as a military target, this barracks was also bombed by the German army in World War II, and became the residence of the athletes after repairs.

Chen Qiang is definitely not satisfied with such living conditions, he would rather spend his own money to live in a hotel, and the organizers of the London Olympics are also happy to have someone spend their own money to live in a hotel, because even if the athletes are arranged in the barracks, the beds are still very tight.

It is worth mentioning that during the London Olympics, athletes had to pay for food, and Britain was still implementing a post-war rationing system at that time, and all supplies were limited, even British athletes could not eat with their bellies open. And due to the shortage of supplies, the British government informed all delegations in advance that athletes from all countries were allowed to bring their own food, so New Zealanders brought condensed milk and mutton fat; The Hungarian team brought peppers and lemons; Dutch farmers across the sea bring fresh vegetables directly to London; In addition to rice and white flour, the Chinese delegation also brought pickles and tea. The richest Americans, who fly food from the continental United States every day, in addition to vegetables and meat, even have a free place to bring flowers to London.

Athletes from many countries bring produce from their hometowns to London, making the athletes' hostels a huge trading market, with some buying food from competitors from other countries and bartering for others. Many London locals even come to buy things from athletes, such as chocolate brought by the Americans, which is very popular with Londoners, and British children have not eaten chocolate for many years due to the war.

The athletes' residence is also full of smoke all day long, since you can bring your own ingredients, of course you have to cook your own food, and in some countries, there are really chef-turned-athletes in the team, and the food they make is mouth-watering. It's a pity that there is no Shaxian in the Chinese delegation, otherwise if you go to open a Shaxian snack, you will definitely make a lot of money.

Although Britain is in the midst of material control, material control is often only for ordinary people, and rich and powerful people can still easily obtain all kinds of goods, such as the high-end hotel where Chen Qiang stays, as long as he is willing to spend money, he can buy anything, and Chen Qiang does not have to worry about eating.

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

This time, China sent a total of 33 athletes, all of whom were men, including the basketball team and the football team taking up 28 places, and three track and field athletes, a swimmer and a cyclist, of which swimmer Wu Chuanyu is an Indonesian overseas Chinese and cyclist He Haohua is a Dutch overseas Chinese, both of whom participated at their own expense.

As a track and field sport, Chen Qiang only signed up for two events this time, the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint, which are also the two events that Chen Qiang was engaged in at the earliest.

In fact, Chen Qiang's choice of these two projects is very risky. 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, and the American athletes in the 100m and 200m are still very strong, a notch higher than those from other countries. Chen Qiang's signing up for these two projects is equivalent to choosing a hardmode copy.

During World War II, the United States did not suffer damage, although the domestic sports competition in the United States has decreased, but it has not stopped, and the two American college sports leagues, the NCAA and AAU, are also held as usual, so there are still many excellent track and field athletes in the United States after World War II.

At the 1948 London Olympics, the level of American athletes also regressed, but not by 20 years, as in other countries. At this time, the average strength of American athletes was about the same as that of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they were five to ten years ahead of Europe. As a result, the U.S. team sent 300 people and took away nearly a quarter of the medals.

It's just that talented athletes like Jesse Owens, who come once in more than ten years, don't appear in every Olympic Games, and among the American athletes participating in the London Olympics, there is no anti-heaven existence like Jesse Owens.

The second place in the medal table at London 1948 was Sweden, which remained neutral during World War II and did not retreat in the country's sporting standards. The host team, Great Britain, fielded more athletes than the United States, competing in almost all events, and ended up only in 12th place in the medal table.

Chen Qiang, who is 34 years old, appeared on the Olympic Games, and it did not look abrupt, this Olympic Games, there are a large number of athletes in their thirties, and there are even many athletes over 40 years old, participating in track and field, which is a sport with extremely high physical requirements.

Some athletes over the age of 30 participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but there were very few athletes like Chen Qiang who participated in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. From 1932 to 1948, 16 years have passed, and even in the 21st century, it is difficult for ordinary athletes to maintain 16 years of competitive condition.

What's more, there is also the Second World War in the middle, and I don't know how many potential athletes died on the battlefield, or were injured and disabled on the battlefield. The war led to the stagnation of the development of sports, and it also caused many athletes to abandon their sports careers and change careers to do other things, which was almost impossible to hold on from 1932 to 1948.

Of course, there are always some special existences in such a big sporting event, for example, there is a fencer in the UK, named Archibald Craig, he once participated in the 1924 Paris Olympics, he was 37 years old at the time, and he did not participate in the next three Olympic Games, and in 1948, Britain was probably really unavailable, so he let this old man compete again, he was 61 years old when he competed, and he was the oldest participant in the London Olympics.

Four years later, at the Helsinki Olympics, Britain sent a 65-year-old shooter. It can be seen that the damage of World War II to British sports has not eased up by 1952.

At 65 years old, not the oldest competitor in Olympic history, Swedish shooter Oscar Swan competed at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics at the age of 72 years and 279 days, the legend made his Olympic debut at the age of 60, and won two gold and one bronze, one gold and one bronze at the age of 64, and even a team silver medal at the age of 72. I have to say that this old man's eyes are so good, and he would be dazzled when he was fifty years old for ordinary people.

……

On July 30, the 100-meter dash will complete the preliminary and semi-finals.

The 100-meter sprint is an event with the most competitors in the Olympic track and field competition, after all, this project seems to be the easiest, and it is precisely because the entry threshold for this event is relatively low, so many emerging countries that have just gained independence have signed up for this 100-meter sprint event.

For example, India, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Myanmar and other countries have sent athletes to participate in the 100-meter sprint, of course, India and Myanmar are just here to play soy sauce, while Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are really capable of achieving rankings.

The rules of the preliminary round are still the same as in previous years, with a group of four to six people, with the top two advancing 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, he can qualify by running a random 10.6 or 10.7 seconds.

At the time of the rematch, according to the practice of the previous session, 10.5 seconds should be enough to advance, Chen Qiang made a little effort and ran a 10.4 seconds, which was the first place in the overall score of the semi-finals, in addition to Chen Qiang, two American players also ran 10.4 seconds.

The players who advanced to the semi-finals all scored between 10.4 and 10.6 seconds, which is completely indistinguishable from the true level of the athletes, or the strength of the athletes cannot be clearly distinguished.

The 100-meter dash is like this, the slower the speed, the more difficult it is to define the strength and weakness, and the faster the speed, the easier it is to tell who is the best player.

By the standards of professional athletes, a person who runs 10.4 seconds is not much better than a person who runs 10.6 seconds, and it can even be said that the two are of the same grade, but a person who runs 9.8 seconds is several levels better than a person who runs 10 seconds.

Therefore, if you want to test the true strength of the athletes, you need to wait until tomorrow's final.

——————

If you have a recommendation ticket, support a few, thank you.