The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were held in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki had been elected as the host city over rival bids from Amsterdam, Athens, Lausanne, and Stockholm and five American cities: Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Philadelphia on the 40th IOC session on June 21 1947. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics but they were canceled due to World War II.