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1944 London
The bid was won in 1939, but war was still raging five years later and the Games were cancelled. London was awarded the first Olympics after the war without an election.

1948 London
Based at Wembley and often referred to as the Austerity Olympics, it saw the first limited coverage on the BBC.Fanny Blankers-Koen, the Dutch housewife, won four athletics golds.

1952 Helsinki
Iron Curtain countries joined the Olympic movement. Emil Zatopek won gold in 10,000m, 5,000m and marathon.

1956 Melbourne
The first Games in the southern hemisphere. New South Wales athlete Betty Cuthbert, a torch-bearer at the 2000 Olympics, won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

Back to reality for golden generation

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BACKGROUND

• How the Brits became world beaters

• London double-decker arrives in Beijing

• Olympics proves capacity for greatness

• New dawn for British sport as Olympic sun sets

Multimedia

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1960 Rome
Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali, showed his worth with gold in the light-heavyweight boxing. British swimmer Anita Lonsbrough won gold and Don Thompson walked to victory.

1964 Tokyo
Long jump gold medals for Britain’s Mary Rand and Lynn Davies. Joe Frazier won gold in the heavyweight boxing. South Africa were absent for the first time because of international opposition to the apartheid regime.

1968 Mexico
Politics entered the arena as America’s Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in the Black Power salute on the medal rostrum after the 200m — now considered one the iconic Olympic moments but both were heavily criticised and received lifetime bans from the IOC. Bob Beamon jumped over 29 feet and Dick Fosbury introduced the high jump flop.

1972 Munich
Overshadowed by the kidnap and murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. Mark Spitz won seven swimming gold medals and gymnast Olga Korbut was the darling of the Games.

1976 Montreal
Boris Onischenko, a Soviet Union fencer, was disqualified after cheating, while 28 nations boycotted the Games in an anti-apartheid protest. Romania’s Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10.

1980 Moscow
The United States withdrew in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Daley Thompson won decathlon gold, Sebastian Coe won the 1,500m and Steve Ovett the 800m. Gymnast Alexander Dityatin set an Olympics record by winning eight medals.

1984 Los Angeles
Soviet athletes boycotted America’s Games. Carl Lewis matched Jesse Owens’s quadruple gold. Daley Thompson did it again and Tessa Sanderson won gold in the javelin.

1988 Seoul
Infamous for Ben Johnson’s 100m drugs disgrace. Britain won men’s hockey gold. Tennis was reintroduced into the Games with Steffi Graf completing her “Golden Slam” by claiming gold.

1992 Barcelona
The year of golden glory for 100m sprinter Linford Christie, 400m hurdler Sally Gunnell and cyclist Chris Boardman. In rowing, the Searle brothers and Garry Herbert won gold and Steve Redgrave won his third Olympic title with Matthew Pinsent. South Africa returned to the Games.

1996 Atlanta
Marred by a terrorist bomb explosion in which one woman died and 111 were injured. Steve Redgrave won his fourth gold medal, again with Pinsent, while sprinter Michael Johnson claimed double gold in the 200m and 400m and the USA’s all-star Dream Team took the basketball honours.

2000 Sydney
Dubbed the “best-ever” Games. Steve Redgrave became the most successful Olympian in an endurance event by winning gold for the fifth successive Games. Aborigine Cathy Freeman united the whole of Australia with an emotional run to claim 400m gold.

2004 Athens
Kelly Holmes claimed double gold for Britain in the 800m and 1,500m. Hicham El Guerrouj won 1,500m and 5,000m gold for Morocco, while Chinese superstar Liu Xiang won the 110m hurdles. In the pool, Michael Phelps won eight medals, six gold, tying Alexander Dityatin’s record.