Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, 33 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 9 for women. There were a total number of 963 participating athletes from 57 countries.

Medal summary

Men

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres details	Lindy Remigino Vereinigte Staaten	10.4	Herb McKenley Jamaika	10.4	McDonald Bailey Great Britain	10.4
200 metres details	Andy Stanfield Vereinigte Staaten	20.7	Thane Baker Vereinigte Staaten	20.8	James Gathers Vereinigte Staaten	20.8
400 metres details	George Rhoden Jamaika	45.9	Herb McKenley Jamaika	45.9	Ollie Matson Vereinigte Staaten	46.8
800 metres details	Mal Whitfield Vereinigte Staaten	1:49.2	Arthur Wint Jamaika	1:49.4	Heinz Ulzheimer Deutschland	1:49.7
1500 metres details	Josy Barthel Luxemburg	3:45.2	Bob McMillen Vereinigte Staaten	3:45.2	Werner Lueg Deutschland	3:45.4
5000 metres details	Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia	14:06.6	Alain Mimoun Frankreich	14:07.4	Herbert Schade Deutschland	14:08.6
10,000 metres details	Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia	29:17.0	Alain Mimoun Frankreich	29:32.8	Aleksandr Anufriyev Soviet Union	29:48.2
110 metres hurdles details	Harrison Dillard Vereinigte Staaten	13.7	Jack Davis Vereinigte Staaten	13.7	Arthur Barnard Vereinigte Staaten	14.1
400 metres hurdles details	Charles Moore Vereinigte Staaten	50.8	Yuriy Lituyev Soviet Union	51.3	John Holland Neuseeland	52.2
3000 metres steeplechase details	Horace Ashenfelter Vereinigte Staaten	8:45.4	Vladimir Kazantsev Soviet Union	8:51.6	John Disley Great Britain	8:51.8
4 × 100 metres relay details	Vereinigte Staaten (USA) Dean Smith Harrison Dillard Lindy Remigino Andy Stanfield	40.1	Soviet Union (URS) Boris Tokarev Levan Kalyayev Levan Sanadze Vladimir Sukharev	40.3	Ungarn (HUN) László Zarándi Géza Varasdi György Csányi Béla Goldoványi	40.5
4 × 400 metres relay details	Jamaika (JAM) Arthur Wint Leslie Laing Herb McKenley George Rhoden	3:03.9	Vereinigte Staaten (USA) Ollie Matson Gerrard Cole Charles Moore Mal Whitfield	3:04.0	Deutschland (GER) Günter Steines Hans Geister Heinz Ulzheimer Karl-Friedrich Haas	3:06.6
Marathon details	Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia	2:23:03	Reinaldo Gorno Argentinien	2:25:35	Gustaf Jansson Schweden	2:26:07
10 kilometres walk details	John Mikaelsson Schweden	45:02.8	Fritz Schwab Schweiz	45:41.0	Bruno Junk Soviet Union	45:41.0
50 kilometres walk details	Giuseppe Dordoni Italien	4:28:07.8	Josef Doležal Czechoslovakia	4:30:17.8	Antal Róka Ungarn	4:31:27.2
Long jump details	Jerome Biffle Vereinigte Staaten	7.57 m	Meredith Gourdine Vereinigte Staaten	7.53 m	Ödön Földessy Ungarn	7.30 m
Triple jump details	Adhemar da Silva Brasilien	16.22 m	Leonid Shcherbakov Soviet Union	15.98 m	Arnoldo Devonish Venezuela	15.52 m
High jump details	Walt Davis Vereinigte Staaten	2.04 m	Ken Wiesner Vereinigte Staaten	2.01 m	José da Conceição Brasilien	1.98 m
Pole vault details	Bob Richards Vereinigte Staaten	4.55 m	Don Laz Vereinigte Staaten	4.50 m	Ragnar Lundberg Schweden	4.40 m
Shot put details	Parry O'Brien Vereinigte Staaten	17.41 m	Darrow Hooper Vereinigte Staaten	17.39 m	Jim Fuchs Vereinigte Staaten	17.06 m
Discus throw details	Sim Iness Vereinigte Staaten	55.03 m	Adolfo Consolini Italien	53.78 m	James Dillion Vereinigte Staaten	53.28 m
Javelin throw details	Cy Young Vereinigte Staaten	73.78 m	Bill Miller Vereinigte Staaten	72.46 m	Toivo Hyytiäinen Finnland	71.89 m
Hammer throw details	József Csermák Ungarn	60.34 m	Karl Storch Deutschland	58.86 m	Imre Németh Ungarn	57.74 m
Decathlon details	Bob Mathias Vereinigte Staaten	7,887 pts	Milt Campbell Vereinigte Staaten	6,975 pts	Floyd Simmons Vereinigte Staaten	6,788 pts

Women

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres details	Marjorie Jackson Australien	11.5	Daphne Hasenjager Südafrika	11.8	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty Australien	11.9
200 metres details	Marjorie Jackson Australien	23.7	Bertha Brouwer Niederlande	24.2	Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili Soviet Union	24.2
80 metres hurdles details	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty Australien	10.9	Mariya Golubnichaya Soviet Union	11.1	Maria Sander Deutschland	11.1
4 × 100 metres relay details	Vereinigte Staaten (USA) Mae Faggs Barbara Jones Janet Moreau Catherine Hardy	45.9	Deutschland (GER) Ursula Knab Maria Sander Helga Klein Marga Petersen	45.9	Great Britain (GBR) Sylvia Cheeseman June Foulds Jean Desforges Heather Armitage	46.2
Long jump details	Yvette Williams Neuseeland	6.24 m	Aleksandra Chudina Soviet Union	6.14 m	Shirley Cawley Great Britain	5.92 m
High jump details	Esther Brand Südafrika	1.67 m	Sheila Lerwill Great Britain	1.65 m	Aleksandra Chudina Soviet Union	1.63 m
Shot put details	Galina Zybina Soviet Union	15.28 m	Marianne Werner Deutschland	14.57 m	Klavdia Tochonova Soviet Union	14.50 m
Discus throw details	Nina Romashkova Soviet Union	51.42 m	Elizaveta Bagryantseva Soviet Union	47.08 m	Nina Dumbadze Soviet Union	46.29 m
Javelin throw details	Dana Zátopková Czechoslovakia	50.47 m	Aleksandra Chudina Soviet Union	50.01 m	Yelena Gorchakova Soviet Union	49.76 m

Records broken

During the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, 26 new Olympic records and 8 new world records were set in the athletics events.

Men's Olympic and world records

Event	Date	Round	Name	Nationality	Result	OR	WR
400 metres	July 25	Final	George Rhoden Herb McKenley	Jamaika	45.9 s	OR
1500 metres	July 26	Final	Josy Barthel Bob McMillen	Luxemburg Vereinigte Staaten	3:45.2	OR
5000 metres	July 24	Final	Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	14:06.6	OR
10,000 metres	July 20	Final	Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	29:17.0	OR
110 metres hurdles	July 24	Final	Harrison Dillard Jack Davis	Vereinigte Staaten	13.7 s	OR
400 metres hurdles	July 21	Final	Charles Moore	Vereinigte Staaten	50.8 s	OR
3000 metres steeplechase	July 25	Final	Horace Ashenfelter	Vereinigte Staaten	8:45.4 s	OR
4 x 400 metres relay	July 27	Final	Les Laing Herb McKenley George Rhoden Arthur Wint	Jamaika	3:03.9	OR	WR
10 kilometres walk	July 27	Final	John Mikaelsson	Schweden	45:02.8	OR
50 kilometres walk	July 21	Final	Giuseppe Dordoni	Italien	4:28:07.8	OR
Marathon	July 27	Final	Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	2:23:03.2	OR
High jump	July 20	Final	Walt Davis	Vereinigte Staaten	2.04 m	OR
Pole vault	July 22	Final	Bob Richards	Vereinigte Staaten	4.55 m	OR
Triple jump	July 23	Final	Adhemar da Silva	Brasilien	16.22 m	OR	WR
Shot put	July 21	Final	Parry O'Brien	Vereinigte Staaten	17.41 m	OR
Discus throw	July 22	Final	Sim Iness	Vereinigte Staaten	55.03 m	OR
Javelin throw	July 24	Final	Cy Young	Vereinigte Staaten	73.78 m	OR
Hammer throw	July 24	Final	József Csermák	Ungarn	60.34 m	OR	WR
Decathlon	July 26	Final	Bob Mathias	Vereinigte Staaten	7887 pts	OR	WR

Women's Olympic and world records

Event	Date	Round	Name	Nationality	Result	OR	WR
200 metres	July 26	Semifinal	Marjorie Jackson	Australien	23.4 s	OR	WR
80 metres hurdles	July 24	Final	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australien	10.9 s	OR	WR
4 x 100 metres relay	July 27	Final	Mae Faggs Catherine Hardy Barbara Jones Janet Moreau	Vereinigte Staaten	45.9 s	OR	WR
Long jump	July 23	Final	Yvette Williams	Neuseeland	6.24 m	OR
Shot put	July 26	Final	Galina Zybina	Soviet Union	15.28 m	OR	WR
Discus throw	July 20	Final	Nina Romashkova	Soviet Union	51.42 m	OR
Javelin throw	July 24	Final	Dana Zátopková	Czechoslovakia	50.47 m	OR

Medal table

1	Vereinigte Staaten (USA)	15	10	6	31
2	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	4	1	0	5
3	Australien (AUS)	3	0	1	4
4	Soviet Union (URS)	2	8	7	17
5	Jamaika (JAM)	2	3	0	5
6	Italien (ITA)	1	1	0	2
6	Südafrika (RSA)	1	1	0	2
8	Ungarn (HUN)	1	0	4	5
9	Schweden (SWE)	1	0	2	3
10	Brasilien (BRA)	1	0	1	2
10	Neuseeland (NZL)	1	0	1	2
12	Luxemburg (LUX)	1	0	0	1
13	Deutschland (GER)	0	3	5	8
14	Frankreich (FRA)	0	2	0	2
15	Great Britain (GBR)	0	1	4	5
16	Argentinien (ARG)	0	1	0	1
	Niederlande (NED)	0	1	0	1
	Schweiz (SUI)	0	1	0	1
19	Finnland (FIN)	0	0	1	1
19	Venezuela (VEN)	0	0	1	1

Participating nations

A total of 57 nations participated in the different Athletics events at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of athletes representing each nation.