The anticipated 1944 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, were cancelled due to World War II. They were to have been held in London, England, United Kingdom, which won the bid in a June 1939 IOC election over Rome, Detroit, Lausanne, Athens, Budapest, Helsinki and Montreal on the first ballot.

Because of the cancellation, London went on to host the 1948 Summer Olympics, awarded without election.

In spite of the war, the IOC organized many events to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Held from 17 June to 19 June 1944, this celebration was referred to as "The Jubilee Celebrations of IOC" by Carl Diem, the originator of the modern tradition of the Olympic torch relay.

Polish Prisoners of War (POWs) in the Woldenberg (Dobiegniew) Oflag II-C POW camp were granted permission by their German captors to stage an unofficial POW Olympics during July 23 to August 13, 1944 and an Olympic Flag made with a bed sheet and pieces of coloured scarves was raised. The event has been considered to be a demonstration of the Olympic spirit transcending war.^[1]

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af:Olimpiese Somerspele 1944 ar: 1944 an:Chuegos Olimpicos de 1944 bg: 1944 bs:XIII olimpijske igre - London 1944. ca:Jocs Ol mpics d'estiu de 1944 cs:Letn olympijsk hry 1944 da:Sommer-OL 1944 de:Olympische Sommerspiele 1944 et:1944. aasta suveol mpiam ngud es:Juegos Ol mpicos de Londres 1944 eo:Somera Olimpiko 1944 eu:1944ko Udako Olinpiar Jokoak fr:Jeux olympiques d' t de 1944 gl:Xogos Ol mpicos de 1944 ko:1944 hr:XIII. Olimpijske igre - London 1944. is:Sumar lymp uleikarnir 1944 it:Giochi della XIII Olimpiade he: 1944 la:1944 Olympia Aestiva lv:1944. gada Vasaras Olimpisk s sp les lt:1944 m. vasaros olimpin s aidyn s mk: 1944 mr: nl:Olympische Zomerspelen 1944 ja: (1944 ) no:Sommer-OL 1944 nn:Sommar-OL 1944 pl:Letnie Igrzyska Olimpijskie 1944 pt:Jogos Ol mpicos de Ver o de 1944 ru: 1944 simple:1944 Summer Olympics sl:Poletne olimpijske igre 1944 sr: 1944. sh:Olimpijada 1944 sv:Olympiska sommarspelen 1944 th: 1944 uk: 1944 vi:Th v n h i M a h 1944 yo: w n d je l mp k gb Oru 1944 zh-yue:1944 zh:1944