Bedtime Facts (43/365)
The World's Northernmost Locality to Host the Summer Olympic Games is Helsinki, Finland in 1952
Helsinki hosted the Summer Olympics in 1952. It was a very imporant summer for Finland. The country was recovering from economic hardship brought about by the war. The year 1952 was the first year Coca-Cola was sold in Finland. Life was still hard but the Olympic Games brought a glimmer of better times to the country. The 1950's saw the beginning of fast economic post-war growth also in Finland.
Helsinki Olympic Stadium was built for the games. It is still the largest stadium in the country. Oh, the stadium is at 60°11′13″ northern latitude.
An oddity was the participation of Saarland in the Olympics with its own team. Saarland was occupied by France between 1947 and 1956 after which it was made a state in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Olympic Games will never again be hosted in Finland. The country is far too small to host a huge event like that with the budget in the tens of billions of dollars. That is was possible in 1952 is indicative of the fact how much the Olympic Games have grown in terms of the number of events and spectators.
They don't know what they miss not hosting Olympic Games in Finland.
I like the country, It's a beautiful place to live.
I never knew Finland hosted the Olympics. I think I need to upgrade my sport history..
Thanks for the bed time facts
Never heard of Saarland before today. Always nice reading your posts.
This is a good information. I have never thought of the fact that size is part of the criteria to host Olympics events.
It is not part of any list of formal criteria. It is simply a practical matter. Small localities will no longer even apply. There is a high risk of significant economic losses when organizing the Olympic Games.
I regret that you can not celebrate the Olympic Games in your country again.
For your emotional way that you do the story, I know that to celebrate them again you would be the first to attend. True?
Did it sound emotional? Perhaps but not intentionally. It may have been the "never again ..." in the last paragraph. My going to watch the Olympic Games, if they were held in Finland again, would depend on the ticket prices and the time and date of the events interesting to me. My wife is not into watching sports at all. They'd probably be held in Helsinki again about an hour's drive from where I live. Maybe I'd go to at least see all the hustle and bustle first hand.
Wow, my wife does not like watching sports either, well I hope she can go, if they celebrate the games in her country. Here in Venezuela it would be a great thing to happen, but I see it very uphill with this government that we have. Hope is the last thing that is lost, if this government continues in power and I have to flee from my own country for the sake of My daughters, the countries that I have in mind are eligible for Olympic games.
Thanks for the information related to the size and capacity of the country to celebrate the games.
you better watch out cause im going to be competing soon in the olympics (just kidding)
But I hope, one day we all could witness these mega events again in Finland too, lets hope for the best xx
it's amazing how sporting events can revive a country's economy, these games generate more economic activity than any other type of event with huge budget, but now not only the capacity of the country to host the event influence, the ambition to win the host for sporting events is sick.
Finland's post-war economic recovery and boom did not have much to do with the Olympic Games. The root cause of the global phenomenon of fast post-war growth was, in my opinion, technological advancement, some of which was accelerated by the war. For example, aviation was vastly improved during the war. The first production-ready jet engines were developed in Germany during the late stages of the war. Also radar technology advanced in leaps and bounds during the war.
Well the truth assumed a bit, since most of these events raise a lot of money for the host country. anyway, thank you for the correction and clarification.
I'm sure it did have a positive short-term effect.
I had not been born yet in the year of 1952, but your post has led me to think that countries in spite of war, natural disasters, bad rulers, etc. are always oriented towards a better future. I have certainly enjoyed your post. Best regards
Hmm, interesting history to think about so that we know where e we are coming from. Wake up tomorrow to charter a new course. I love the thinking behind bringing this up late in the night. Thanks