1920 Antwerp Olympics

Also called: Games of the VII Olympiad, Antwerp 1920

The first post-war Games, held in Belgium, which had suffered heavily in the First World War. The Olympic flag with its five rings flew for the first time, and the athletes’ oath and the release of doves began. The defeated powers were not invited.

King Albert I of Belgium opened the Games on 14 August 1920 (some events had begun in April). Some 2,600 athletes from 29 nations took part. Coubertin’s five-ring Olympic flag flew in the stadium for the first time, and the athletes’ oath and the release of doves of peace were introduced. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, which had lost the war, were not invited, and revolutionary Soviet Russia did not come. Finland’s Paavo Nurmi won his first gold medals.