The anticipated 1940 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as Games of the XII Olympiad and originally programmed to be celebrated between September 21 and October 6 1940 in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, were cancelled due to World War II. The Games were retracted from Tokyo by the IOC due to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. They were awarded to the runner-up Helsinki, Finland, and were scheduled to be celebrated between July 20 to August 4 1940.