| 1952 Summer Olympics medals | |
|---|---|
| Location | Helsinki,  Finland |
| Highlights | |
| Most gold medals |  United States (40) |
| Most total medals | United States (76) |
| Medalling NOCs | 43 |
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. [1] [2] A total of 4,955 athletes representing 69 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated, [1] which included 12 teams making their Olympic debut at the Summer Games: The Bahamas, [3] Guatemala, [4] Hong Kong, [5] Indonesia, [6] Israel, [7] Netherlands Antilles, [8] Nigeria, [9] People's Republic of China, [10] Saar, [11] the Soviet Union, [12] Thailand, [13] and Vietnam. [14] The games featured 149 events across 17 sports in 23 disciplines, including the Olympic debut of women's individual gymnastics events and the transition of equestrian sports becoming mixed. [15] [16] [17] In addition, pesäpallo, a Finnish baseball variant, was played as a non-medal demonstration event. [18]
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China competed under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time, although they only arrived in time to participate in one event. From 1924 to 1948, athletes from mainland China competed as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC). As a result of the Chinese Civil War, a number of government and NOC representatives had fled to Taiwan and claimed to be the proper representative party of China. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted the ROC designation to the group in Taiwan and allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete with the name "China", although the latter withdrew in protest. [19] [20]
Athletes representing 43 NOCs received at least one medal, with 27 NOCs winning at least one gold medal. [21] The United States won the most gold medals, with 40, and the most overall medals, with 78. [21] Bulgaria, [22] Lebanon, [23] the Soviet Union, [24] and Venezuela won their first medals of any kind. [25] Luxembourg, [26] Romania, [27] and the Soviet Union won their first gold medals. [28] Among individual participants, Soviet gymnast Viktor Chukarin won the most gold medals, with four, while fellow Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya won the most overall medals, with seven (two gold and five silver). [29]
