| Date | 2 August 1948 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Empire Stadium, Wembley, London |
| Participants | 28 from 18 countries |
| Olympic Record | 50.48 / Ken Carpenter  USA / 5 August 1936 / Details |
Italy’s Adolfo Consolini held the world record from 1941-46 and was the 1946 European Champion. He was the favorite in London, with his teammate Giuseppe Tosi, runner-up at the 1946 Europeans, thought to be his biggest challenger. They did not disappoint, winning the gold and silver medals. Tosi led with his best mark in round one, 51.78 (169-10¾), while Consolini moved ahead of him in the second round to settle the gold medal.
America’s Fortune Gordien was AAU Champion in 1947-48 and had won the 1948 US Olympic Trials. His bronze medal meant that the top three throwers on the year list finished in that order at the Olympics.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 532 | Adolfo Consolini |  ITA | 51.08 (1) | 52.78 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 534 | Giuseppe Tosi | ITA | 50.56 (2) | 51.78 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 550 | Fortune Gordien | USA | 48.40 (3) | 50.77 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 538 | Ivar Ramstad |  NOR | 47.34 (5) | 49.21 (4) | |||
| 5 | 531 | Ferenc Klics |  HUN | 46.65 (7) | 48.21 (5) | |||
| 6 | 523 | Veikko Nyqvist |  FIN | 47.75 (4) | 47.33 (6) | |||
| 7 | 529 | Nikolaos Syllas |  GRE | 47.03 (6) | 47.25 (7) | |||
| 8 | 537 | Stein Johnson | NOR | 46.54 (8) | 46.54 (8) | |||
| 9 | 522 | Arvo Huutoniemi | FIN | 44.77 (12) | 45.28 (9) | |||
| 10 | 547 | Uno Fransson |  SWE | 45.99 (9) | 45.25 (10) | |||
| 11 | 518 | Hermann Tunner |  AUT | 45.92 (10) | 44.43 (11) | |||
| 12 | 541 | Eduardo Julve |  PER | 45.86 (11) | 44.05 (12) | |||
| 13 QR | 548 | Bill Burton | USA | 43.78 (13) | – | |||
| 14 QR | 546 | Félix Erausquin |  ESP | 43.66 (14) | – | |||
| 15 QR | 533 | Giorgio Oberweger | ITA | 43.13 (15) | – | |||
| 16 QR | 551 | Danilo Žerjal |  YUG | 43.07 (16) | – | |||
| 17 QR | 542 | Manuel Consigliere | PER | 43.01 (17) | – | |||
| 18 QR | 517 | Emilio Malchiodi |  ARG | 42.98 (18) | – | |||
| 19 QR | 527 | Jimmy Nesbitt |  GBR | 42.09 (19) | – | |||
| 20 QR | 549 | Vic Frank | USA | 42.00 (20) | – | |||
| 21 QR | 526 | Jack Brewer | GBR | 41.95 (21) | – | |||
| 22 QR | 521 | Cummin Clancy |  IRL | 40.73 (22) | – | |||
| 23 QR | 520 | Eric Coy |  CAN | 39.53 (23) | – | |||
| 24 QR | 519 | Roger Verhas |  BEL | 39.14 (24) | – | |||
| 25 QR | 528 | Laurence Reavell-Carter | GBR | 38.04 (25) | – | |||
| =26 QR | 540 | Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik |  PAK | 36.23 (=26) | – | |||
| =26 QR | 539 | Ahmed Zahur Khan | PAK | 36.23 (=26) | – | |||
| AC QR | 535 | An Yeong-Han |  KOR | – ( | – | |||
| 530 | Aad de Bruyn |  NED | – ( | – | ||||
| 545 | José Carvajal | ESP | – ( | – | ||||
| 525 | Raymond Kirstetter |  FRA | – ( | – | ||||
| 544 | José Luis Torres | ESP | – ( | – | ||||
| 524 | Ignace Heinrich | FRA | – ( | – | ||||
| 536 | In Gang-Hwan | KOR | – ( | – | ||||
| 543 | Mieczysław Łomowski |  POL | – ( | – |
| Date | 2 August 1948 — 11:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 46.00 metres advanced to the final round. |
| Date | 2 August 1948 — 15:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | Round #4 Distance | Round #5 Distance | Round #6 Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Adolfo Consolini | ITA | 52.78 | 49.67 | 52.78 | 47.94 | x | 50.51 | 50.43 | ||
| 2 | 11 | Giuseppe Tosi | ITA | 51.78 | 51.78 | 48.81 | 50.11 | 50.09 | x | 51.18 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Fortune Gordien | USA | 50.77 | 47.95 | 49.20 | 50.77 | x | 48.74 | x | ||
| 4 | 9 | Ivar Ramstad | NOR | 49.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 5 | 7 | Ferenc Klics | HUN | 48.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 6 | 8 | Veikko Nyqvist | FIN | 47.33 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 7 | 10 | Nikolaos Syllas | GRE | 47.25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 8 | 5 | Stein Johnson | NOR | 46.54 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 9 | 4 | Arvo Huutoniemi | FIN | 45.28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 10 | 2 | Uno Fransson | SWE | 45.25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 11 | 12 | Hermann Tunner | AUT | 44.43 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 12 | 6 | Eduardo Julve | PER | 44.05 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
