1948: London's Austerity Games Quiz

Answer: Italy

Though both Germany and Japan had representation on the International Olympic Committee, neither was invited to compete in the London Games due to their role in World War II. Japan announced shortly before the Games that they intended to send a team. Frantic diplomatic activity followed, and the Japanese Olympic Committee was eventually persuaded not to do so. The grounds given were that, technically, the terms of the occupation of Japan meant that their athletes were not permitted to leave the country.

The Soviet Union were not excluded on political grounds. The reason for their absence was simply due to the fact that the country had no Olympic committee, without which participation was impossible.

The Italians, though they had been fighting initially against the Allies in World War II, were deemed worthy of an invitation because they had switched sides to join the Allies late in the war.

Answer: Finland

Finland had competed as a Russian province in the previous London Games of 1908 but had entered as an independent nation since 1920.

Koreans had competed in the 1936 Games in Berlin but, at this time, they were compelled to participate as part of the Japanese team, as Korea was occupied by Japan. Korea had regained independence in 1945 and sent a small team who won two bronze medals in boxing and weightlifting.

Pakistan, who gained nationhood in 1947 as part of the process of India's independence from Britain, also made their first appearance. Their best performance in the Games came in the hockey tournament where they missed out on the bronze medal to The Netherlands in a playoff.

The dominion of Ceylon, later Sri Lanka, only gained independence four months before the start of the Games. Duncan White, with silver in the men's 400m hurdles, won their only medal of the Games. It would be 52 years before Sri Lanka claimed another medal of any colour.

Answer: South Africa

The US and UK had sent mixed race teams for many Olympics, but for Bermuda it was a first. South Africa had introduced apartheid, a system of racial segregation that classified every citizen by their skin colour and their ethnic background. Though no specific sporting segregation laws were introduced, black and other coloured athletes were de facto barred from selection for the Olympic team.

One coloured South African did compete in the Games. Ron Eland, a weightlifter, competed for Great Britain.

Answer: Emil Zatopek

Zatopek's style was unique and made him stand out in any field. His explanation for his odd facial expression was that he was "not talented enough to run and smile at the same time." He was, however, talented enough to also claim the silver medal in the men's 5000 metres behind Gaston Reiff of Belgium.

His achievements in 1952 were even more remarkable. He retained his 10,000 metres title and added the 5,000 metres and marathon titles too, each in an Olympic record time.

Answer: Fanny Blankers-Koen

Despite holding six world records and being reigning European champion in the 80m hurdles (won just six weeks after the birth of her second child), Dutchwoman Blankers-Koen was dismissed as being "too old" by British team captain, Jack Crumb. She had competed in Berlin in 1936 as an 18-year-old high jumper, finishing fifth in the final. Having married her team coach, Jan Blankers, in 1940 she had her first child in 1941. By 1943 she had returned to competition and had set her first world records in the 100m, long jump and high jump.

Olympic rules stipulated that no athlete could compete in more than three individual track or field events so Blankers-Koen had to decide which of her two record-holding events she would not compete in. She decided to drop the high jump and long jump and concentrate on track events. Victory in the 100m was followed by a victory by photo finish in the 80m hurdles. Her third individual gold came in the 200m; an event she had only decided to run at the last minute after she had suffered from homesickness. She completed her quartet of golds as the anchor of the Dutch women's 4 x 100m relay team.

Answer: She defected

Provaznikova was the captain of the Czechoslovakian women's gymnastics team that claimed gold in the team competition. Their victory was dedicated to the memory of one of their team, Eliska Misakova, who had died of the effects of polio in London on the eve of the competition.

When the time came for the Czech team to return home, Provaznikova declared that she would be staying in London. Czechoslovakia's recent inclusion in the Soviet Bloc had seen many of the women's gymnastic clubs closed as they were seen as anti-Communist gatherings. Provaznikova stated that her reason for defecting was that there was "no freedom of speech, or the press of the parliament" back home.

Answer: The butterfly stroke as a separate swimming event

The butterfly stroke (or butterfly-dolphin as it was known at the time) was used during the 1948 Games, but it was used by swimmers in the breaststroke competition. It was not until after the London Games that the use of the stroke was deemed as illegal in breaststroke races. It made its debut as a separate race in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

Prior to 1948, all Olympic swimming competitions had been held in outdoor pools and many of the competitors in London, despite the terrible British weather, expected it to be the same there. Many swimmers and divers had never competed indoors before and found it difficult adapting to the different conditions. Regardless of the unfamiliar setting, the US team dominated competition, as they had done in many previous Games, winning eight of the eleven golds available.

Answer: Rowing

Henley-on-Thames is the spiritual home of British rowing, holding an annual Royal Regatta in early July. As it is the home of a long straight section of the River Thames, it was considered an ideal place to host the 1948 rowing competition.

Britain's two gold medals came in the coxless pairs, rowed by Ran Laurie and Jack Wilson, and in the double sculls through Dickie Burnell and Bert Bushnell. Laurie and Wilson had been stationed in Sudan for the previous ten years and had not rowed in that time. They took part in the Olympic trials when back in England on leave. Even though they showed distinct signs of being badly out of practice when they steered their boat into both banks of the river, they were still selected, as their pace was outstanding. The calculated gamble paid off as the pair claimed Britain's first gold medals of the Games.

Answer: Harold Sakata

Harold Sakata, from Hawaii, was narrowly beaten by his compatriot, Stanley Stanczyk, known as "Smiling Stan". Following his weightlifting career, Sakata became a pro wrestler, during which time he was spotted by the producers of the Bond series of films and invited to take the part of "Oddjob" in the 1964 film, "Goldfinger".

Aside from Sakata, 1948 was more notable for athletes who produced famous offspring. Gold medal rower Ran Laurie was the father of actor and comedian, Hugh; Iranian boxer Michael Aghassi (lost in the first round) was father to tennis legend Andre Agassi; and 1500m track finalist Bill Nankeville was the father of British TV actor, Bobby Davro.

Answer: Matt Busby

"Steering Manchester United to the championship of the Football League was child's play besides the problems of sorting out a winning team from spare-time footballers from four different countries", said Busby in an interview in 1957. It was especially difficult because Busby had no control over which players were in his squad. The British Olympic Committee chose the squad, although Busby was free to pick his own team from the players he was given.

The British team won their opening match against The Netherlands, 4-3. France were defeated 1-0 in the second round, leading to a semi-final against a Yugoslavia side who had been together for nearly four years. Yugoslavia won 3-1 and Britain's attempts to claim a consolation bronze medal fell short with a 5-3 defeat against Denmark.