1948 - London

The 1948 Olympic Games in London, Kingdom July 29 - August 14, 1948 Mascot - none 59 countries, 4099 athletes (385 women) 17 sports (handball, polo dropped), 136 events Opening - King George VI (UK) Torch lit by - John Mark Candidates: Baltimore, Lausanne, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia The "Flying Housewife", as she came to be unjustly known, arrived in London late in her career. However, this did not stop Fanny Blankers-Koen from winning a total of four gold medals, outshining the entire field at the Games. Austerity and hope After the Second World War the Games in London, like so many European cities affected by the conflict, could not avoid austerity. Over 4000 competitors from 59 countries descended on the capital between July 29 and August 14, but the war, which terminated three years previously, was still fresh in the minds of the people. As such, and at the request of several countries, Germany and Japan were absent. Italy willingly accepted the invitation. The Soviet Union remained true to its 1917-established policy of non-attendance. Yet, in England, the decision to propose hosting the 14th Olympiad was frowned upon by the Press and certain politicians, who argued that it should be a time of reconstruction. For the first time women outstaged the men with mother-of-three (Francina) Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands winning four golds in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and 80m hurdles. France's Micheline Ostermeyer, a concert pianist, also took gold in the discus and shot. Czechoslovakian Emil Zatopek won the 10,000m which marked the start of a long and illustrious career. Conversely, his compatriot, gymnast Maxie Provaznikova, grabbed the headlines for more controversial reasons - she became the first ever Olympic athlete to defect to the west. American Bob Mathias, 17, won a gold in the decathlon - a title he would retain four years later. The Games lacked innovation of any kind, except for the decision not to compete on Sundays. Having been introduced in Berlin, television continued to develop in importance. This, of course, made way for the BBC to buy the rights to transmit the Games, for a cost of $3000 dollars, to an official audience of 500,000 people, although there were reports of residents as far away as the Channel Islands being able to receive the images. LONDON 1948 GOLD MEDAL WINNERS 107 Men, 19 Women, 10 Open Events 12 new events 1 Sailing, 2 Canoe/Kayak, Handball/Polo (1 each) removed ATHLETICS, Men 100m: Harrison Dillard, USA 200m: Mel Patton, USA 400m: Arthur Wint, Jamaica 800m: Mal Whitfield, USA 1500m: Henry Eriksson, Sweden 5000m: Gaston Reiff, Belgium 10000m: Emil Zatopek, Czechoslovakia 4x100m: United States 4x400m: United States 110m Hurdles: Bill Porter, USA 400m Hurdles: Roy Cochran, USA 10km Walk: John Mikaelsson, Sweden 50km Walk: John Ljunggren, Sweden 3000m Steeplechase: Tore Sjorstrand, Sweden Marathon: Delfo Cabrera, Argentina Discus Throw: Adolfo Consolini, Italy Hammer Throw: Imre Nemeth, Hungary High Jump: John Winter, Australia Javelin Throw: Tapio Rautavaara, Finland Long Jump: Willie Steele, USA Pole Vault: Guinn Smith, USA Shot Put: Wilbur Thompson, USA Triple Jump: Arne Ahman, Sweden Decathlon: Bob Mathias, USA ATHLETICS, Women 100m: Fanny Blankers-Koen, Netherlands 200m: Fanny Blankers-Koen, Netherlands 4x100m: Netherlands 80m Hurdles: Fanny Blankers-Koen, Netherlands Discus Throw: Micheline Ostermeyer, France High Jump: Alice Coachman, USA Javelin Throw: Herma Bauma, Austria Long Jump: Olga Gyarmati, Hungary Shot Put: Micheline Ostermeyer, France BASKETBALL Team, men: United States BOXING 51kg: Pascual Perez, Argentina 54kg: Tibor Csik, Hungary 58kg: Ernesto Formenti, Italy 62kg: Gerald Dreyer, South africa 67kg: Julius Torma, Czechoslovakia 73kg: Laszlo Papp, Hungary 80kg: George Hunter, South Africa 80+kg: Rafael Iglesias, Argentina CANOE/KAYAK M\C1 1000m: Josef Holecek, Czechoslovakia M\C1 10000m: Frantisek Capek, Czechoslovakia M\C2 1000m: Bohumil Kudrna/Jan-Felix Brzak, TCH M\C2 10000m: Stephan Macknowski/Stephen Lysak, USA M\K1 1000m: Gert Fredriksson, Sweden M\K1 10000m: Gert Fredriksson, Sweden M\K2 1000m: Hans Berglund/Lennart Klingstrom, Sweden M\K2 10000m: Gunnar Akerlund/Hans Wetterstrom, Sweden W\K1 500m: Karen Hoff, Denmark CYCLING, Men Road Race; Jose Beyaert, France Team Road Race: Belgium 1km Time Trial: Jacques Dupont, France 2000m Sprint: Ferdinando Terruzzi/Renato Perona, ITA Sprint: Mario Ghella, Italy Team Pursuit: France EQUESTRIAN, Open Individual Dressage: Hans Moser, Switzerland Individual Jumping: Humberto Mariles Cortes, Mexico Individual 3-Day Event: Bernard Chevalier, France Team Dressage: France Team Jumping: Mexico Team 3-Day Event: United States FENCING M\Individual Epee: Luigi Cantone, Italy M\Individual Foil: Jehan Buhan, France M\Individual Sabre: Aladar Gerevich, Hungary M\Team Epee: France M\Team Foil: France M\Team Sabre: Hungary W\Individual Foil: Ilona Elek, Hungary FOOTBALL Team, men: Sweden GYMNASTICS M\Floor Exercise: Ferenc Pataki, Hungary M\Horizontal Bar: Josef Stalder, Switzerland M\Parallel Bars: Michael Reusch, Switzerland M\Pommel Horse: Veikko Huhtanen, FIN & Paavo Aaltonen, FIN & Heikki Savolainen, FIN (tie) M\Rings: Karl Frei, Switzerland M\Vault: Paavo Aaltonen, Finland M\Individual All-Around: Veikko Huhtanen, Finland M\Team: Finland W\Team: Czechoslovakia HOCKEY Team, men: India MODERN PENTATHLON  Individual: William Grut, Sweden ROWING Single Sculls: Mervyn Wood, Australia Double Sculls: Bertie Bushnell/Richard Burnell, Great Britain Coxless Pair: John Wilson/W. George Laurie, Great Britain Coxed Pair: Denmark Coxless Four: Italy Coxed Four: United States Eight: United States SAILING X\6m Class: United States X\Dragon: Norway X\Star: United States X\Swallow: Great Britain M\Finn: Paul Elvstrom, Denmark SHOOTING, Men 25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Karoly Takacs, Hungary 300m Free Rifle 3x40: Emil Grunig, Switzerland 50m Free Pistol: Edwin Vasquez Cam, Peru 50m Small-Bore Rifle prone: Arthur Cook, USA SWIMMING, Men 100m Freestyle: Walter Ris, USA 400m Freestyle: William Smith, USA 1500m Freestyle: James McLane, USA 100m Backstroke: Allen Stack, USA 200m Breaststroke: Joseph Verdeur, USA 4x200m Freestyle Relay: United States 3m Springboard: Bruce Harlan, USA 10m Platform: Samuel Lee, USA WATER POLO: Italy SWIMMING, Women 100m Freestyle: Greta Andersen, Denmark 400m Freestyle: Ann Curtis, USA 100m Backstroke: Karen Margrete Harup, Denmark 200m Breaststroke: Nel van Vliet, Netherlands 4x100m Freestyle Relay: United States 3m Springboard: Victoria Draves, USA 10m Platform: Victoria Draves, USA WEIGHTLIFTING 56kg: Joseph Di Pietro, USA 60kg: Mahmoud Fayad, Egypt 67.5kg: Ibrahim Shams, Egypt 75kg: Frank Spellman, USA 82.5kg: Stanley Stanczyk, USA 82.5+kg: John Davis, USA WRESTLING FREESTYLE 52kg: Lennart Vilho Viitala, Finland 57kg: Nasuh Akar, Turkey 62kg: Gazanfer Bilge, Turkey 67kg: Celal Atik, Turkey 73kg: Yasar Dogu, Turkey 79kg: Glenn Brand, USA 87kg: Henry Wittenberg, USA 87+kg: Gyula Bobis, Hungary WRESTLING, GRECO-ROMAN 52kg: Pietro Lombardi, Italy 57kg: Kurt Pettersen, Sweden 62kg: Mehmet Oktav, Turkey 67kg: Gustav Freij, Sweden 73kg: Gosta Andersson, Sweden 79kg: Axel Gronberg, Sweden 87kg: Karl-Erik Nilsson, Sweden 87+kg: Ahmet Mersinli Kirecci, Turkey