"To look at any film clip from the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, it to sense that a renaissance took place during those ten days of sporting events. For starters, the ultra-picturesque backdrop of blue skies and snow-capped, peaceful mountains of the war-neutral host country provided a sharp contrast to the shattered Europe that was often seen in the mid-to-late 1940s. Then there was the simple fact that an Olympics was actually taking place at all-it was the first Games (winter or summer) since 1936, and the ability for 28 countries to somehow unite in this way, just a few years after a devastating war, was surreal, to say the least. (It's worth noting, though, that neither Germany nor Japan were invited to participate-and as far as slaying went, neither country was re-admitted into the International Skating Union until 1951.)"