Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump

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Men's long jump
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Jerome Biffle 1950.jpg
Jerome Biffle (1950)
Venue Helsinki Olympic Stadium
DateJuly 21, 1952
Competitors27 from 19 nations
Winning distance7.57
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Jerome Biffle
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Meredith Gourdine
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Ödön Földessy
Flag of Hungary (1949-1956).svg  Hungary
  1948
1956  
Video on YouTube amateur film TV-icon-2.svg
Video on YouTube amateur film

The men's long jump at the 1952 Olympic Games took place on July 21 at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Twenty-seven athletes from 19 nations competed. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. American athlete Jerome Biffle won the gold medal by 4 cm. [2] It was the United States' sixth consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's long jump. Hungary earned its first long jump medal with Ödön Földessy's bronze.

Summary

In the first round Meredith "Flash" Gourdine took the early lead with a 7.38m. Jerome Biffle, a former NCAA Champion at the University of Denver, was in second place with 7.21m and Ary de Sá was in third with 7.15m. In the second round Ödön Földessy jumped into second place with a 7.23m. In the third round the medals were decided, Gourdine getting a 7.53m to extend his lead, then Biffle carefully came down the runway to leap 7.57 m (24 ft 10 in) to take the lead. That 7.57 would be well within Brown's range but he and Henk Visser failed to get a legal jump in. Biffle also was unable to get another jump in, while Gourdine made three solid attempts but was unable to improve his mark, giving Biffle the gold. Földessy got off a 7.30m in the fifth round to assure himself the bronze medal while de Sá tied Földessy's 7.23 and would have had the tie breaking edge without the 7.30.

Background

This was the 12th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only returning finalist from the 1948 Games was eighth-place finisher Felix Würth of Austria. George Brown of the United States came into the Olympics having been the best long jumper in the world for the previous 3 years and the third man to jump 8 meters ever. But Brown's 41 competition win streak ended at the US Olympic Trials, where he barely qualified for Helsinki. In wet conditions, everyone was having trouble with their run up. [1]

Nigeria, Saar, the Soviet Union, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela each made their first appearance in the event. The United States appeared for the 12th time, the only nation to have long jumpers at each of the Games thus far.

Competition format

The 1952 competition used a two-round format with a divided final. The qualifying round gave each competitor three jumps to achieve a distance of 7.20 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance. The final provided each jumper with three jumps; the top six jumpers received an additional three jumps for a total of six, with the best to count (qualifying round jumps were not considered for the final). [1] [3]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Jesse Owens  (USA)8.13 Ann Arbor, United States 25 May 1935
Olympic recordUS flag 48 stars.svg  Jesse Owens  (USA)8.06 Berlin, Germany 4 August 1936

No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Schedule

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

DateTimeRound
Monday, 21 July 195210:00
16:10
Qualifying
Final

Results

Qualifying round

Qualifying Performance 7.20 (Q) or at least 13 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

RankGroupAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1A Meredith Gourdine US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 7.197.417.41Q
2A Jerome Biffle US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 6.737.407.40Q
3B Neville Price Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa X7.117.367.36Q
4A George Brown US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 7.327.32Q
5A Ödön Földessy Flag of Hungary (1949-1956).svg  Hungary 7.157.257.25Q
6A Ary de Sá Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil 7.247.24Q
7B Henk Visser Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 7.037.217.21Q
8B Masaji Tajima Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 7.04X7.137.13q
9B Karl-Erik Israelsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 5.266.987.107.10q
10A Paul Faucher Flag of France.svg  France 7.006.667.107.10q
11B Pentti Snellman Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 6.89X7.097.09q
12A Leonid Grigoryev Flag of the Soviet Union (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union 7.09XX7.09q
B Jorma Valtonen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland X7.09X7.09q
14B Carlos Vera Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 6.546.827.077.07
15B Felix Würth Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 6.99XX6.99
16B Sylvanus Williams Flag of Nigeria (1914-1952).svg  Nigeria X6.856.986.98
17B Jorma Valkama Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 6.97XX6.97
18B Karim Olowu Flag of Nigeria (1914-1952).svg  Nigeria 6.846.966.896.96
19A Toni Breder Flag of Saar (1947-1956).svg  Saar 6.876.686.886.88
20A Brígido Iriarte Flag of Venezuela (1930-1954).svg  Venezuela X6.826.82
21A Henryk Grabowski Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 6.72X6.776.77
22A Nikolay Andryushchenko Flag of the Soviet Union (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union X6.74X6.74
23B Geraldo de Oliveira Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil X6.426.716.71
24B Pat Leane Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 6.356.405.186.40
25B Kamtorn Sanidwong Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 5.314.43X5.31
A Avni Akgün Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey XXXNo mark
B Khandadash Madatov Flag of the Soviet Union (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union XXXNo mark
A José Julio Barillas Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala DNS
ABoris BrnadFlag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia DNS
A Francisco Castro Puerto rico national sport flag.svg  Puerto Rico DNS
A Asnoldo Devonish Flag of Venezuela (1930-1954).svg  Venezuela DNS
A Álvaro Dias Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal DNS
ARoy FearonFlag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala DNS
A Paulino Ferrer Flag of Venezuela (1930-1954).svg  Venezuela DNS
BGünther JobstFlag of Germany.svg  Germany DNS
BSebastián JunquerasFlag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain DNS
BMikhail MikhailFlag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece DNS
B Vasilios Sakellarakis Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece DNS

Final

RankAthleteNation123456Distance
Gold medal icon.svg Jerome Biffle US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 7.21X7.57XXX7.57
Silver medal icon.svg Meredith Gourdine US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 7.386.587.537.497.367.517.53
Bronze medal icon.svg Ödön Földessy Flag of Hungary (1949-1956).svg  Hungary 7.047.23X7.177.307.127.30
4 Ary de Sá Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil 7.156.777.067.227.207.237.23
5 Jorma Valtonen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland X7.067.16XX6.977.16
6 Leonid Grigoryev Flag of the Soviet Union (1936-1955).svg  Soviet Union x7.146.925.55x6.677.14
7 Karl-Erik Israelsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden XX7.10Did not advance7.10
8 Paul Faucher Flag of France.svg  France X6.967.02Did not advance7.02
9 Pentti Snellman Flag of Finland.svg  Finland X6.887.02Did not advance7.02
10 Masaji Tajima Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan X7.00XDid not advance7.00
11 Neville Price Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa 6.40XXDid not advance6.40
George Brown US flag 48 stars.svg  United States XXXDid not advanceNo mark
Henk Visser Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands XXXDid not advanceNo mark

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Long Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  2. "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Long Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  3. Official Report, p. 313.