The , officially known as the '''Games of the VII Olympiad''', were held in
1920 in
Antwerp ,
Belgium . The 1920 Games were awarded to Antwerp to honor the suffering that had been inflicted on the Belgian people during the war.
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The
1916 Summer Olympics , to be held in the
German Empire capital
Berlin had been canceled. The
Aftermath Of World War I and the
Paris Peace Conference, 1919 affected the Olympic Games not only due to new states being created, but also by sanctions against the nations that lost the war and received the blame for starting it.
Budapest had initially won to host the 1920 games over
Amsterdam and
Lyon , but as the
Austro-Hungarian Empire had been a German ally in the First World War, not only the right to host the Games was stripped in April 1919 from the now independent
Hungary , but also the right to participate, along with other
Central Powers allies
Germany ,
Austria ,
Bulgaria and
Turkey . Germany, which unlike other remained banned until 1925, instead hosted a series of games called
Deutsche Kampfspiele , starting with the Winter edition of 1922 that predated the first Winter Olympics.
- These Olympics were the first in which the Olympic Oath was uttered, the first in which doves were released to symbolize peace, and was the first time the Olympic Flag was flown.
- The USA won 41 Gold, 27 Silver, and 27 Bronze medals, the most won by any of the 29 nations attending. Sweden, Great Britain, Finland and Belgium round out the top 5 medal winning nations.
- The Games also featured a week of winter sports, with Figure Skating and Ice Hockey making their Olympic debut.
- Duke Kahanamoku retained the 100m swimming title he won before the war.
- Nedo Nadi won 5 gold medals in the fencing events.
- At the age of 72, Sweden's running deer double-shot event champion Oscar Swahn won in the team event to become the oldest Olympic champion ever.
- 23 year old Paavo Nurmi won the 10,000 and 8,000 meter cross country, took another gold in team cross country, and a silver in 5,000 meter run. His contributions for Finland broke the U.S. dominance record in track and field with 9 medals.
A total of 29 nations participated in the Antwerp Games, only one more than in 1912, as
Germany ,
Austria ,
Hungary ,
Bulgaria and
Turkey were not invited. From the newly created European states, only
Estonia took part, and
Czechoslovakia , succeeding
Bohemia which had sent athletes prior to
World War I as part of the
Austrian Empire .
Yugoslavia ,
Brazil ,
Monaco competed as nations at the Olympic Games for the first time.
New Zealand , which had competed as part of a combined team with
Australia in 1908 and 1912, competed on its own for the first time.
See Also: 1920 Summer Olympics medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1920 Games.
