The XV Summer Olympics were held in Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki was originally awarded the 1940 summer games, after the IOC stripped the privilege from Tokyo, because of the Sino-Japanese War. The 1940 games were later canceled, due to World War II, so not until 1952 was Helsinki able to host the Olympic games. 69 nations competed in the 149 events (17 sports) during the XV Games. The games were opened by the Finnish President Juho Kuski Paasikivi.