Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Dates 30 July – 7 August 1948
Medal Events 33

After the ravages of World War II, London seemed an unlikely choice to host the Olympic Games, but as Antwerp had done in 1920, London hosted an austere Olympics, and it has been written that “London saved the Olympic Games.” Track & field was held in Wembley Stadium, which sat 83,000 people. The weather was wet and cool throughout most of the competitions, with several of them being held in downpours. The athletics star was a Dutch housewife, Fanny Blankers-Koen. Koen had competed at the 1936 Olympics in the high jump and running on the 4x100 relay team. By the time of the London Olympics, she was 30 years old, but she was the world record holder in the 100 metres, the 80 metre hurdles, high jump, and long jump. She elected to compete in the 100, 200, high hurdles and on the Dutch relay team, and she won gold medals in all four events, sitting out two events in which she was the world record holder. The 1948 Olympics also saw the Olympic début of two of its great stars, Czech runner Emil Zátopek and American decathlete Bob Mathias. Mathias won the decathlon when only 17-years-old, still the youngest man to win an athletics gold medal at the Olympics, while Zátopek won the 10,000 and placed second in the 5,000. They would both be back for more. As would Blankers-Koen, who competed again in 1952, although she was then past her prime and did not win a medal.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
100 metres, Men Olympic 30 – 31 July 1948 63 33
200 metres, Men Olympic 2 – 3 August 1948 51 28
400 metres, Men Olympic 4 – 5 August 1948 53 28
800 metres, Men Olympic 30 July – 2 August 1948 41 24
1,500 metres, Men Olympic 4 – 6 August 1948 36 22
5,000 metres, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1948 33 21
10,000 metres, Men Olympic 30 July 1948 27 15
Marathon, Men Olympic 7 August 1948 41 21
110 metres Hurdles, Men Olympic 3 – 4 August 1948 28 18
400 metres Hurdles, Men Olympic 30 – 31 July 1948 25 17
3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men Olympic 3 – 5 August 1948 26 12
4 x 100 metres Relay, Men Olympic 6 – 7 August 1948 60 15
4 x 400 metres Relay, Men Olympic 6 – 7 August 1948 60 15
10 kilometres Race Walk, Men Olympic 3 – 7 August 1948 19 10
50 kilometres Race Walk, Men Olympic 31 July 1948 23 11
High Jump, Men Olympic 30 July 1948 27 16
Pole Vault, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1948 19 10
Long Jump, Men Olympic 31 July 1948 21 17
Triple Jump, Men Olympic 3 August 1948 29 18
Shot Put, Men Olympic 3 August 1948 24 15
Discus Throw, Men Olympic 2 August 1948 28 18
Hammer Throw, Men Olympic 31 July 1948 24 17
Javelin Throw, Men Olympic 4 August 1948 23 15
Decathlon, Men Olympic 5 – 6 August 1948 35 20
100 metres, Women Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1948 38 21
200 metres, Women Olympic 5 – 6 August 1948 33 17
80 metres Hurdles, Women Olympic 3 – 4 August 1948 22 12
4 x 100 metres Relay, Women Olympic 7 August 1948 44 11
High Jump, Women Olympic 7 August 1948 19 10
Long Jump, Women Olympic 4 August 1948 26 17
Shot Put, Women Olympic 4 August 1948 19 12
Discus Throw, Women Olympic 30 July 1948 21 11
Javelin Throw, Women Olympic 31 July 1948 15 10
746 (602/144) 53 (53/27)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres, Men Harrison DillardUSA Barney EwellUSA Lloyd LaBeachPAN
200 metres, Men Mel PattonUSA Barney EwellUSA Lloyd LaBeachPAN
400 metres, Men Arthur WintJAM Herb McKenleyJAM Mal WhitfieldUSA
800 metres, Men Mal WhitfieldUSA Arthur WintJAM Marcel HansenneFRA
1,500 metres, Men Henry ErikssonSWE Lennart StrandSWE Wim SlijkhuisNED
5,000 metres, Men Gaston ReiffBEL Emil ZátopekTCH Wim SlijkhuisNED
10,000 metres, Men Emil ZátopekTCH Alain MimounFRA Bertil AlbertssonSWE
Marathon, Men Delfo CabreraARG Tom RichardsGBR Étienne GaillyBEL
110 metres Hurdles, Men Bill PorterUSA Clyde ScottUSA Craig DixonUSA
400 metres Hurdles, Men Roy CochranUSA Duncan WhiteSRI Rune LarssonSWE
3,000 metres Steeplechase, Men Tore SjöstrandSWE Erik ElmsäterSWE Göte HagströmSWE
4 × 100 metres Relay, Men United StatesUSA Great BritainGBR ItalyITA
4 × 400 metres Relay, Men United StatesUSA FranceFRA SwedenSWE
10 kilometres Race Walk, Men John MikaelssonSWE Ingemar JohanssonSWE Fritz SchwabSUI
50 kilometres Race Walk, Men John LjunggrenSWE Gaston GodelSUI Lloyd JohnsonGBR
High Jump, Men Jack WinterAUS Bjørn PaulsonNOR George StanichUSA
Pole Vault, Men Guinn SmithUSA Erkki KatajaFIN Bob RichardsUSA
Long Jump, Men Willie SteeleUSA Bill BruceAUS Herb DouglasUSA
Triple Jump, Men Arne ÅhmanSWE George AveryAUS Ruhi SarıalpTUR
Shot Put, Men Wilbur ThompsonUSA Jim DelaneyUSA Jim FuchsUSA
Discus Throw, Men Adolfo ConsoliniITA Giuseppe TosiITA Fortune GordienUSA
Hammer Throw, Men Imre NémethHUN Ivan GubijanYUG Bob BennettUSA
Javelin Throw, Men Tapio RautavaaraFIN Steve SeymourUSA József VárszegiHUN
Decathlon, Men Bob MathiasUSA Ignace HeinrichFRA Floyd SimmonsUSA
100 metres, Women Fanny Blankers-KoenNED Dorothy ManleyGBR Shirley StricklandAUS
200 metres, Women Fanny Blankers-KoenNED Audrey WilliamsonGBR Mickey PattersonUSA
80 metres Hurdles, Women Fanny Blankers-KoenNED Maureen GardnerGBR Shirley StricklandAUS
4 × 100 metres Relay, Women NetherlandsNED AustraliaAUS CanadaCAN
High Jump, Women Alice CoachmanUSA Dorothy TylerGBR Micheline OstermeyerFRA
Long Jump, Women Olga GyarmatiHUN Noemí Simonetto de PortelaARG Ann-Britt LeymanSWE
Shot Put, Women Micheline OstermeyerFRA Amelia PiccininiITA Ine SchäfferAUT
Discus Throw, Women Micheline OstermeyerFRA Edera Cordiale-GentileITA Jacqueline MazéasFRA
Javelin Throw, Women Herma BaumaAUT Kaisa ParviainenFIN Lily CarlstedtDEN

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 12 5 10 27
Sweden SWE 5 3 5 13
Netherlands NED 4 0 2 6
France FRA 2 3 3 8
Hungary HUN 2 0 1 3
Australia AUS 1 3 2 6
Italy ITA 1 3 1 5
Finland FIN 1 2 0 3
Jamaica JAM 1 2 0 3
Argentina ARG 1 1 0 2
Czechoslovakia TCH 1 1 0 2
Austria AUT 1 0 1 2
Belgium BEL 1 0 1 2
Great Britain GBR 0 6 1 7
Switzerland SUI 0 1 1 2
Norway NOR 0 1 0 1
Sri Lanka SRI 0 1 0 1
Yugoslavia YUG 0 1 0 1
Panama PAN 0 0 2 2
Canada CAN 0 0 1 1
Denmark DEN 0 0 1 1
Türkiye TUR 0 0 1 1