Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics on a Finnish stamp
No. of events	33
Competitors	963 from 57 nations
←  1948 1956  →

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, 33 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 9 for women. There were a total number of 963 participating athletes from 57 countries.

The timing result point for the running competitions at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium

Medal summary

Men

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres details	Lindy Remigino   United States	10.4	Herb McKenley   Jamaica	10.4	McDonald Bailey   Great Britain	10.4
200 metres details	Andy Stanfield   United States	20.7	Thane Baker   United States	20.8	James Gathers   United States	20.8
400 metres details	George Rhoden   Jamaica	45.9 OR	Herb McKenley   Jamaica	45.9	Ollie Matson   United States	46.8
800 metres details	Mal Whitfield   United States	1:49.2	Arthur Wint   Jamaica	1:49.4	Heinz Ulzheimer   Germany	1:49.7
1500 metres details	Josy Barthel   Luxembourg	3:45.2 OR	Bob McMillen   United States	3:45.2	Werner Lueg   Germany	3:45.4
5000 metres details	Emil Zátopek   Czechoslovakia	14:06.6 OR	Alain Mimoun   France	14:07.4	Herbert Schade   Germany	14:08.6
10,000 metres details	Emil Zátopek   Czechoslovakia	29:17.0 WR	Alain Mimoun   France	29:32.8	Aleksandr Anufriyev   Soviet Union	29:48.2
110 metres hurdles details	Harrison Dillard   United States	13.7	Jack Davis   United States	13.7	Arthur Barnard   United States	14.1
400 metres hurdles details	Charles Moore   United States	50.8 OR	Yuriy Lituyev   Soviet Union	51.3	John Holland   New Zealand	52.2
3000 metres steeplechase details	Horace Ashenfelter   United States	8:45.4 WR	Vladimir Kazantsev   Soviet Union	8:51.6	John Disley   Great Britain	8:51.8
4 × 100 metres relay details	United States  (USA) Dean Smith Harrison Dillard Lindy Remigino Andy Stanfield	40.1	Soviet Union  (URS) Boris Tokarev Levan Kalyayev Levan Sanadze Vladimir Sukharev	40.3	Hungary  (HUN) László Zarándi Géza Varasdi György Csányi Béla Goldoványi	40.5
4 × 400 metres relay details	Jamaica  (JAM) Arthur Wint Leslie Laing Herb McKenley George Rhoden	3:03.9 WR	United States  (USA) Ollie Matson Gene Cole Charles Moore Mal Whitfield	3:04.0	Germany  (GER) Günther Steines Hans Geister Heinz Ulzheimer Karl-Friedrich Haas	3:06.6
Marathon details	Emil Zátopek   Czechoslovakia	2:23:03 OR	Reinaldo Gorno   Argentina	2:25:35	Gustaf Jansson   Sweden	2:26:07
10 kilometres walk details	John Mikaelsson   Sweden	45:02.8 OR	Fritz Schwab   Switzerland	45:41.0	Bruno Junk   Soviet Union	45:41.0
50 kilometres walk details	Pino Dordoni   Italy	4:28:07.8 OR	Josef Doležal   Czechoslovakia	4:30:17.8	Antal Róka   Hungary	4:31:27.2
High jump details	Walt Davis   United States	2.04 OR	Ken Wiesner   United States	2.01 m	José da Conceição   Brazil	1.98 m
Pole vault details	Bob Richards   United States	4.55 m OR	Don Laz   United States	4.50 m	Ragnar Lundberg   Sweden	4.40 m
Long jump details	Jerome Biffle   United States	7.57 m	Meredith Gourdine   United States	7.53 m	Ödön Földessy   Hungary	7.30 m
Triple jump details	Adhemar da Silva   Brazil	16.22 m WR	Leonid Shcherbakov   Soviet Union	15.98 m	Asnoldo Devonish   Venezuela	15.52 m
Shot put details	Parry O'Brien   United States	17.41 OR	Darrow Hooper   United States	17.39 m	Jim Fuchs   United States	17.06 m
Discus throw details	Sim Iness   United States	55.03 OR	Adolfo Consolini   Italy	53.78 m	James Dillion   United States	53.28 m
Hammer throw details	József Csermák   Hungary	60.34 m WR	Karl Storch   Germany	58.86 m	Imre Németh   Hungary	57.74 m
Javelin throw details	Cy Young   United States	73.78 m OR	Bill Miller   United States	72.46 m	Toivo Hyytiäinen   Finland	71.89 m
Decathlon details	Bob Mathias   United States	7,887 pts WR	Milt Campbell   United States	6,975 pts	Floyd Simmons   United States	6,788 pts

Women

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres details	Marjorie Jackson   Australia	11.5	Daphne Hasenjäger   South Africa	11.8	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty   Australia	11.9
200 metres details	Marjorie Jackson   Australia	23.7	Bertha Brouwer   Netherlands	24.2	Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili   Soviet Union	24.2
80 metres hurdles details	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty   Australia	10.9 WR	Mariya Golubnichaya   Soviet Union	11.1	Maria Sander   Germany	11.1
4 × 100 metres relay details	United States  (USA) Mae Faggs Barbara Jones Janet Moreau Catherine Hardy	45.9 WR	Germany  (GER) Ursula Knab Maria Sander Helga Klein Marga Petersen	45.9	Great Britain  (GBR) Sylvia Cheeseman June Foulds Jean Desforges Heather Armitage	46.2
High jump details	Esther Brand   South Africa	1.67 m	Sheila Lerwill   Great Britain	1.65 m	Aleksandra Chudina   Soviet Union	1.63 m
Long jump details	Yvette Williams   New Zealand	6.24 m OR	Aleksandra Chudina   Soviet Union	6.14 m	Shirley Cawley   Great Britain	5.92 m
Shot put details	Galina Zybina   Soviet Union	15.28 m WR	Marianne Werner   Germany	14.57 m	Klavdia Tochonova   Soviet Union	14.50 m
Discus throw details	Nina Romashkova   Soviet Union	51.42 m OR	Elizaveta Bagryantseva   Soviet Union	47.08 m	Nina Dumbadze   Soviet Union	46.29 m
Javelin throw details	Dana Zátopková   Czechoslovakia	50.47 m OR	Aleksandra Chudina   Soviet Union	50.01 m	Yelena Gorchakova   Soviet Union	49.76 m

Records broken

During the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, 26 new Olympic records and 8 new world records were set in the athletics events.

Men's Olympic and world records

Event	Date	Round	Name	Nationality	Result	OR	WR
400 metres	July 25	Final	George Rhoden Herb McKenley	Jamaica	45.9 s	OR
1500 metres	July 26	Final	Josy Barthel Bob McMillen	Luxembourg   United States	3:45.2	OR
5000 metres	July 24	Final	Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	14:06.6	OR
10,000 metres	July 20	Final	Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	29:17.0	OR
110 metres hurdles	July 24	Final	Harrison Dillard Jack Davis	United States	13.7 s	OR
400 metres hurdles	July 21	Final	Charles Moore	United States	50.8 s	OR
3000 metres steeplechase	July 25	Final	Horace Ashenfelter	United States	8:45.4 s	OR
4 x 400 metres relay	July 27	Final	Les Laing Herb McKenley George Rhoden Arthur Wint	Jamaica	3:03.9	OR	WR
10 kilometres walk	July 27	Final	John Mikaelsson	Sweden	45:02.8	OR
50 kilometres walk	July 21	Final	Giuseppe Dordoni	Italy	4:28:07.8	OR
Marathon	July 27	Final	Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	2:23:03.2	OR	WR
High jump	July 20	Final	Walt Davis	United States	2.04 m	OR
Pole vault	July 22	Final	Bob Richards	United States	4.55 m	OR
Triple jump	July 23	Final	Adhemar da Silva	Brazil	16.22 m	OR	WR
Shot put	July 21	Final	Parry O'Brien	United States	17.41 m	OR
Discus throw	July 22	Final	Sim Iness	United States	55.03 m	OR
Javelin throw	July 24	Final	Cy Young	United States	73.78 m	OR
Hammer throw	July 24	Final	József Csermák	Hungary	60.34 m	OR	WR
Decathlon	July 26	Final	Bob Mathias	United States	7887 pts	OR	WR

Women's Olympic and world records

Event	Date	Round	Name	Nationality	Result	OR	WR
200 metres	July 26	Semifinal	Marjorie Jackson	Australia	23.4 s	OR	WR
80 metres hurdles	July 24	Final	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	10.9 s	OR	WR
4 x 100 metres relay	July 27	Final	Mae Faggs Catherine Hardy Barbara Jones Janet Moreau	United States	45.9 s	OR	WR
Long jump	July 23	Final	Yvette Williams	New Zealand	6.24 m	OR
Shot put	July 26	Final	Galina Zybina	Soviet Union	15.28 m	OR	WR
Discus throw	July 20	Final	Nina Romashkova	Soviet Union	51.42 m	OR
Javelin throw	July 24	Final	Dana Zátopková	Czechoslovakia	50.47 m	OR

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States  (USA)	15	10	6	31
2	Czechoslovakia  (TCH)	4	1	0	5
3	Australia  (AUS)	3	0	1	4
4	Soviet Union  (URS)	2	8	7	17
5	Jamaica  (JAM)	2	3	0	5
6	Italy  (ITA)	1	1	0	2
	South Africa  (RSA)	1	1	0	2
8	Hungary  (HUN)	1	0	4	5
9	Sweden  (SWE)	1	0	2	3
10	Brazil  (BRA)	1	0	1	2
	New Zealand  (NZL)	1	0	1	2
12	Luxembourg  (LUX)	1	0	0	1
13	Germany  (GER)	0	3	5	8
14	France  (FRA)	0	2	0	2
15	Great Britain  (GBR)	0	1	4	5
16	Argentina  (ARG)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands  (NED)	0	1	0	1
	Switzerland  (SUI)	0	1	0	1
19	Finland  (FIN)	0	0	1	1
	Venezuela  (VEN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (20 entries)		33	33	33	99

Participating nations

A total of 57 nations participated in the different Athletics events at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

•   Argentina  (16)
•   Australia  (17)
•   Austria  (15)
•   Belgium  (21)
•   Bermuda  (2)
•   Brazil  (10)
•   Bulgaria  (4)
•   Canada  (22)
•   Ceylon  (1)
•   Chile  (15)
•   Cuba  (5)
•   Czechoslovakia  (20)
•   Denmark  (11)
•   Egypt  (7)
•   Finland  (69)
•   France  (54)
•   Germany  (39)
•   Ghana  (7)
•   Great Britain  (66)
•   Greece  (11)
•   Guatemala  (6)
•   Hungary  (35)
•   Iceland  (9)
•   India  (8)
•   Indonesia  (1)
•   Iran  (1)
•   Ireland  (2)
•   Israel  (7)
•   Italy  (33)
•   Jamaica  (7)
•   Japan  (19)
•   Luxembourg  (7)
•   Mexico  (2)
•   Netherlands  (10)
•   New Zealand  (4)
•   Nigeria  (9)
•   Norway  (19)
•   Pakistan  (16)
•   Philippines  (1)
•   Poland  (29)
•   Portugal  (7)
•   Puerto Rico  (10)
•   Romania  (12)
•   Saar  (6)
•   Singapore  (1)
•   South Africa  (13)
•   South Korea  (6)
•   Soviet Union  (77)
•   Sweden  (45)
•   Switzerland  (28)
•   Thailand  (8)
•   Turkey  (13)
•   United States  (71)
•   Uruguay  (2)
•   Venezuela  (7)
•   Vietnam  (1)
•   Yugoslavia  (19)

References

• 1952 Summer Olympics results: athletics, from https://www.sports-reference.com/; retrieved 2010-11-08.
• International Olympic Committee results database
• Athletics Australia