Great Britain London
XIV Summer International Olympic Games

It so happened that the country hosting the last Olympics of the modern era unleashed the most sanguinary war in the history of the mankind three years later in 1939.
Europe that suffered most heavily as well as the rest of the world treated the wounds for a long time. Three years after the V-Day it was decided to resume celebrations of the Olympics. So 40 years after the London Olympics the Olympic Flame was lit in London for the second time.
Britain hosted 4104 athletes including 390 female ones of 59 nations. Athletes of Burma, British Guiana, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Syria, Trinidad, Ceylon, South Korea and Jamaica made their first appearance at these Games.
136 sets of medals had been played for in 19 sports.
What were the innovations of the Games?
• For the first time unpaid members of the public, volunteers, were officially used in helping the athletes and participants of the Games
• For the first time foot supporters were used for sprinters
• For the first time the Olympics were televised in Britain.
The Olympic Flame was lit at the Wembley Stadium by British athlete John Mark. The Athlete’s Oath was voiced by British athlete Donald Finlay.
On June 29, King George VI of Great Britain officially opened the Games of the XIV Olympiad.
The Olympic medals were made up to the standards adopted by the International Olympic Committee:
• The first prize – the silver-gilt medal
• The second prize – the silver medal
• The third prize – the bronze medal.
The design of the Olympic medals was a replica of the medals stricken for the preceding Games. The only difference was in the name of the host city and date of the XIV Olympiad.
OBVERSE: a figure of the Greek Goddess of Victory, holding a laurel wreath in her right hand, hand raised, and a palm leaf in her left hand. On the left of the goddess, there is a Panathenaean amphora standing on a shelf rock, with depicted competing athletes. A view of an amphitheatre looking like the Roman Coliseum appears on the right of the goddess. A horizontal four-line inscription in English reading “XI – Olympiad – London – 1948” is engraved in the right upper segment.
REVERSE: a scene of an Olympic champion with a palm leaf in his left hand carried in triumph by other athletes; his right hand is raised to hail.
The designer’s initials “G.C.” (Giuseppe Cassioli) are engraved at the right edge of the medal next to an athlete figure. 

COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS
The Organizers of the Olympics provided bronze commemorative medals of three types:
• Gilt-bronze medals for officials
• Silver medals for sponsors
• Bronze medals for athletes and IOC members.
OBVERSE: The obverse design is a replica of rather successful design of the commemorative medals issued for the 1908 London and 1912 Stockholm Olympics – a classic Greek chariot drawn by four horses, with two male figures in it, one is a charioteer and the other is a judge, with a palm leaf in his left hand and laurel crown in the right one, ready to award a triumphant athlete. The designer’s initials “B. M.” (Bertram Mackennal) are engraved at the left bottom edge.
REVERSE: This concept of designing the reverse was borrowed from French designer R. Binar, author of the commemorative medal issued for the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics, i. e. a view of the Palace of Westminster in London in the upper medal hemisphere. Below is the three-line inscription in English “XIV Olympiad – London – 1948” with the Olympic rings in a unique configuration underneath, and designer’s initials “B. M.” (Bertram Mackennal) below.

GOLD WINNER MEDAL (FIRST PRIZE)

Metal	silver-gilt
Diameter	51 mm
Thickness	3,8 mm
Weight	69 g
Designer	Ciuseppe Cassioli
Mint	John Pinches Ltd. (London, England)

SILVER WINNER MEDAL (SECOND PRIZE) 

Metal	silver
Diameter	51 mm
Thickness	3,5 mm
Weight	65 g
Designer	Ciuseppe Cassioli
Mint	John Pinches Ltd. (London, England)

BRONZE WINNER MEDAL (THIRD PRIZE)

Metal	bronze
Diameter	51 mm
Thickness	4,1 mm
Weight	64 g
Designer	Ciuseppe Cassioli
Mint	John Pinches Ltd. (London, England)

GILT-BRONZE COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL

Metal	gilt bronze
Diameter	51 mm
Thickness	5 mm
Weight	61 g
Designer	Bertram Mackennal and John Pinches
Mint	John Pinches Ltd. (London, England)

BRONZE COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL