Floor Exercise, Men

This was one of the only two gymnastics events at which the Soviets failed to win a medal in Helsinki, the other being the horizontal bar. In fact, the leading Soviet, Hrant Shahinyan, only tied for eighth on floor. William Thoresson won the gold medal, the only medal won by Sweden in men’s gymnastics. The silver medals were shared by Poland’s Jerzy Jokiel and Japan’s Tadao Uesako. Thoresson would return in 1956 and add a silver medal in this event at Melbourne. A floor ex specialist, his next best finish on any other apparatus in Helsinki was 57th on the parallel bars. That was better than Jokiel, whose next best apparatus finish was 87th on the horizontal bar. In contrast, Uesako also won a bronze medal in the vault.