London Olympics 1948
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The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus caused by the outbreak of World War II, these were the first
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
held since the 1936 Games in Berlin. The 1940 Olympic Games had been scheduled for Tokyo and then for Helsinki, while the 1944 Olympic Games had been provisionally planned for London. This was the second time London had hosted the Olympic Games, having previously hosted them in
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, forty years earlier. The Olympics would again return to London 64 years later in
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, making London the first city to have hosted the games three times, and the only such city until Paris and Los Angeles host their third games in
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and
2028 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Books, films, and other works published in 1932 will enter the public domain in the United States. * January 12 – Partial lunar eclipse. * January 26 – Small annular solar eclip ...
, respectively. The 1948 Olympic Games were also the first of two summer Games held under the IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström. The 1948 Olympics came to be known as the "Austerity Games" due to the difficult economic climate and rationing imposed in the aftermath of World War II. No new venues were built for the games (with events taking place mainly at Wembley Stadium, also known as Empire Stadium, and the Empire Pool at Wembley Park), and athletes were housed in existing accommodation at the Wembley area instead of an Olympic Village, as were the 1936 Games and the subsequent 1952 Games in Helsinki. A record 59 nations were represented by 4,104 athletes, 3,714 men, and 390 women in 19 sport disciplines. Germany and Japan were not invited to participate in the games; the Soviet Union was invited but chose not to send any athletes, sending observers instead to prepare for the 1952 Olympics. One of the star performers at the 1948 Games was Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen. Dubbed the "Flying Housewife", the thirty-year-old mother of two won four gold medals in athletics. In the
decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...
, Bob Mathias of the United States became the youngest male ever to win an Olympic track and field gold medal at the age of seventeen. The most individual medals were won by
Veikko Huhtanen Veikko Aarne Aleks Huhtanen (5 June 1919 – 29 January 1976) was a Finnish artistic gymnast. He was the most successful gymnast at the 1948 Summer Olympics by taking home five medals, including three gold medals. In the pommel horse event Huhta ...
of Finland, who took three golds, a silver and a bronze in men's gymnastics. The United States won the most gold and overall medals, having 300 athletes compared to the United Kingdom's 404. France fielded the second largest team, with 316 athletes and finished third in the medal standings. The host nation ended up twelfth.


Election as host city

In June 1939, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 1944 Olympic Summer Games to London, ahead of Rome, Detroit, Budapest, Lausanne, Helsinki, Montreal and Athens. World War II stopped the plans and the Games were cancelled so London again stood as a candidate for 1948. Great Britain almost handed the 1948 games to the United States due to post-war financial and rationing problems, but King George VI said that this could be the chance to restore Britain from World War II. The official report of the London Olympics shows that there was no case of London being pressed to run the Games against its will. It says: :The Games of 1944 had been allocated to London and so it was that in November 1945, the Chairman of the
British Olympic Council The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...
, Lord Burghley, went to
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
and saw the president of the International Olympic Committee to discuss the question of London being chosen for this great event. As a result, an investigating committee was set up by the British Olympic Council to work out in some detail the possibility of holding the Games. After several meetings they recommended to the council that the Lord Mayor of London should be invited to apply for the allocation of the Games in 1948. In June 1946 the IOC, through a postal vote, gave the summer Games to London and the winter competition to St Moritz. London was selected ahead of
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, Minneapolis, Lausanne, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. London, which had previously hosted the
1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...
, became the second city to host the Olympics twice; Paris hosted the event in 1900 and 1924. London later became the first city to host the Olympics for a third time when the city hosted the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.


Organisation

Lord Burghley, a gold medal winner at the 1928 Olympics, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and President of the Amateur Athletics Association was named Chairman of the Organising and Executive Committees. The other members of the committees were: Colonel Evan Hunter, General Secretary of the British Olympic Association, and Chef de mission for Great Britain;
Lord Aberdare Baron Aberdare, of Duffryn in the County of Glamorgan, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 August 1873 for the Liberal politician Henry Bruce. He served as Home Secretary from 1868 to 1873. His grandson, the thi ...
, the other British member of the IOC; Sir Noel Curtis-Bennett; Alderman H.E. Fern; E.J. Holt; J. Emrys Lloyd, who became the committee's legal advisor; C.B. Cowley of the London Press and Advertising; R.B. Studdert, Managing Director of the Army & Navy Stores; A.E. Porritt, a member of the IOC for New Zealand who resided in London; S.F. Rous, Secretary of The Football Association; and
Jack Beresford Jack Beresford, CBE (1 January 1899 – 3 December 1977), born Jack Beresford-Wiszniewski, was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession. This record in Olympic rowing was not matched until 2000 when Sir Steve Redg ...
. Olympic pictograms were introduced for the first time. There were twenty of them—one for each Olympic sport and three separate pictograms for the arts competition, the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony. They were called "Olympic symbols" and intended for use on tickets. The background of each pictogram resembled an
escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...
. Olympic pictograms appeared again 16 years later, and were used at all subsequent Summer Olympics. At the time of the Games, food, petrol and building were still subject to the rationing imposed during the war in Britain; because of this the 1948 Olympics came to be known as the " Austerity Games". Athletes were given the same increased rations as dockers and miners, 5,467 calories a day instead of the normal 2,600. Building an Olympic Village was deemed too expensive, and athletes were housed in existing accommodation. Male competitors stayed at RAF camps in Uxbridge and West Drayton, and an Army camp in Richmond Park; female competitors in London colleges. Lord Burghley unfurled the Olympic Flag at the Richmond Park camp at an opening ceremony in July as Minister of Works, Charles Key, declared the camp open. These were the first games to be held following the death of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, in 1937. They were also the last to include an arts competition, which took place at the Victoria and Albert Museum.


Opening ceremony

The Games opened on 29 July. Army bands began playing at 2 pm for the 85,000 spectators in Empire Stadium at Wembley Park. The international and national organisers arrived at 2.35 pm and
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
and
Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...
, with Queen Mary and other members of the
Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
, at 2.45 pm. Fifteen minutes later the competitors entered the stadium in a procession that took 50 minutes. The last team was that of the United Kingdom. When it had passed the saluting base, Lord Burghley began his welcome: :Your Majesty: The hour has struck. A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality. At the end of the worldwide struggle in 1945, many institutions and associations were found to have withered and only the strongest had survived. How, many wondered, had the great Olympic Movement prospered? After welcoming the athletes to two weeks of "keen but friendly rivalry", he said London represented a "warm flame of hope for a better understanding in the world which has burned so low." At 4 pm, the time shown on
Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...
on the London Games symbol, the King declared the Games open, 2,500 pigeons were set free and the Olympic Flag raised to its flagpole at the end of the stadium. The Royal Horse Artillery sounded a 21-gun salute and the last runner in the Torch Relay ran a lap of the track – created with cinders from the domestic coal fires of
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
– and climbed the steps to the Olympic cauldron. After saluting the crowd, he turned and lit the flame. After more speeches, Donald Finlay of the British team (given his RAF rank of Wing Commander) took the Olympic Oath on behalf of all competitors. The National Anthem was sung and the massed athletes turned and marched out of the stadium, led by Greece, tailed by Britain. The 580-page official report concluded: :Thus were launched the Olympic Games of London, under the most happy auspices. The smooth-running Ceremony, which profoundly moved not only all who saw it but also the millions who were listening-in on the radio throughout the world, and the glorious weather in which it took place, combined to give birth to a spirit which was to permeate the whole of the following two weeks of thrilling and intensive sport.


Television coverage

The opening ceremony and over 60 hours of Games coverage was broadcast live on
BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
, which was then officially available only in the London area. However, the BBC's transmissions could be received much further away in the right conditions, and some of the Games was watched by at least one viewer in the Channel Islands. The BBC's official report on the coverage estimated that an average of half a million viewers watched each of their Olympic broadcasts. The BBC paid £1,000 for the broadcasting rights. Of the live television coverage, only a small section of the opening ceremony broadcast still exists in the archives. However, various filmed reports shot for the BBC's ''
Television Newsreel ''Television Newsreel'' is a British television programme, the first regular news programme to be made in the UK. Produced by the BBC and screened on the BBC Television Service from 1948 to 1954 at 7.30pm, it adapted the traditional cinema news ...
'' programme do also still exist.


Sports

The 1948 Summer Olympics featured 136 medal events, covering 23 disciplines in 17 different sports and in arts. In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses. *Aquatics ** ** ** * * * * * **Road (2) **Track (4) * **Dressage (2) **Eventing (2) **Show jumping (2) * * * * * * * * * * **Freestyle (8) **Greco-Roman (8) These Games also included Lacrosse as a demonstration sport.


Athletics

Empire Stadium was the venue for 33 athletics events at the Games; 24 for men and nine for women. Of these, four were making their Olympic debut – the men's 10 km walk, and the women's 200 metres, long jump and shot put. A total of 754 athletes from 53 countries participated in athletics. Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands, a 30-year-old mother of two children nicknamed "The Flying Housewife", won four gold medals, in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 80 metre high hurdles, and 4 x 100 metre relay. As world record holder in the long jump and high jump Blankers-Koen may have been able to win further medals but, at this time, female athletes were limited to three individual events. Duncan White won the first medal of any kind for Sri Lanka (then
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
) when he finished second in the 400 metre hurdles. Arthur Wint became the first Jamaican to win an Olympic gold medal, in the men's 400 metres; he also won silver in the men's 800 metres. Audrey Patterson became the first African-American woman to win a medal, winning bronze in a track and field event. A few days later
Alice Coachman Alice Marie Coachman Davis (November 9, 1923 – July 14, 2014) was an American Athletics (sport), athlete. She specialized in high jump and was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Biography Early life and education Alice Coach ...
became the first woman of color in the world and the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in track and field in the history of the modern Olympics with a jump of 1.68 m (5' 6"). She also was the only American woman to win an athletics gold medal during the 1948 Olympics. The marathon saw a dramatic finish with the first man to enter the stadium, Etienne Gailly of Belgium, exhausted and nearly unable to run. While he was struggling, Argentinian athlete Delfo Cabrera and
Tom Richards Tom Richards may refer to: * Tom Richards (actor) (born 1948), Australian television actor * Tom Richards (athlete) (1910–1985), British marathon runner * Tom Richards (rugby union) (1882–1935), Australian rugby union footballer * Tom Richards ( ...
of Great Britain passed him, with Cabrera winning the gold medal and Richards obtaining the silver. Gailly managed to recover enough to cross the line for the bronze. The decathlon was won by 17-year-old Bob Mathias of the United States. He became the youngest ever Olympic gold medallist in athletics and when asked how he would celebrate he replied: "I'll start shaving, I guess."


Arts

Categories: sports-related architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. These Olympics were the last time art competitions were considered Olympic events.


Basketball

Basketball made its second appearance as a medal sport, appearing as an indoor competition for the first time after poor weather disrupted the matches at the
1936 Berlin Games The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...
. The event, for men only, was contested by 23 nations split into four pools for the preliminary round; the top two in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals with the other teams entering playoffs for the minor placings. The United States and France reached the final which was won by the Americans 65–21 to claim the gold medal. This was the second of the United States' seven consecutive gold medals in Olympic men's and women's basketball. Brazil defeated Mexico 52–47 to claim bronze.


Boxing

Eight different classifications were contested ranging from flyweight, for boxers weighing less than 51 kg, to
heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
, for boxers over 80 kg. South Africa, Argentina and Hungary each won two gold medals.


Canoeing

Nine events were contested, eight for men and one for women. This marked the first time that a women's canoeing event had been contested in the Olympics. Sweden won four gold medals (two by
Gert Fredriksson Gert Fridolf Fredriksson (21 November 1919 – 5 July 2006) was a Swedish sprint canoeist. Competing in four Summer Olympics, he won eight medals including six golds (1948: K-1 1000 m, K-1 10000 m; 1952: K-1 1000 m, 1956: K-1 1000 m, K-1 10000 ...
) and Czechoslovakia three.


Cycling

Six events were contested – two
road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...
events and four track cycling events. No women's cycling events were contested. France won three gold medals and Italy two, while Great Britain captured five medals overall, but none were gold.


Diving

Four diving events were contested, two for men, and two for women. The events are labelled as 3  metre springboard and 10  metre platform by the International Olympic Committee but appeared on the 1948 Official Report as ''springboard diving'' and ''highboard diving'', respectively. All four gold medals, and 10 out of 12 awarded in total, were won by the United States. Victoria Manalo Draves, who won both gold medals in the women's events, and Sammy Lee, who took a gold and a bronze in the men's events, became the first Asian Americans to win gold medals at an Olympic Games.


Equestrian

Six gold medals were awarded in equestrian, individual and team
dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...
, individual and team eventing and individual and team
show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...
.
Harry Llewellyn Sir Henry Morton Llewellyn, 3rd Baronet, (18 July 1911 – 15 November 1999) was a British equestrian champion. He was born the second son of a colliery owner, Sir David Llewellyn, 1st Baronet. Background A younger son, Llewellyn was seco ...
and
Foxhunter Foxhunter (1940–1959) was a champion show jumping horse ridden by Harry Llewellyn, best known for their part in securing Great Britain's only gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics (in the Team Jumping equestrian event). They also were part o ...
, who would claim a gold medal in Helsinki, won bronze in the team jumping event.


Fencing

Seven events were contested, six for men and one for women.
Ilona Elek Ilona Elek, known also as Ilona Elek-Schacherer (née “Elek"; May 17, 1907 – July 24, 1988) was a Hungarian Olympic fencer. Elek won more international fencing titles than any other woman.Berlin, was one of only two competitors to successfully defend an Olympic title in London. Elek's sister, Margit, placed sixth in the same event. Edoardo Mangiarotti won three medals, two silver and a bronze, having previously won a gold medal in the 1936 Games. Throughout his career the Italian won 13 Olympic fencing medals and 27 world championship medals, both of which remain records.


Field hockey

Thirteen nations participated in the field hockey competition. The tournament was ultimately won by India, who defeated Great Britain to claim the country's first gold medal as an independent nation under captain Kishan Lal and Vice-Captain
Kunwar Digvijay Singh Kunwar Digvijay Singh (2 February 1922 – 27 March 1978), popularly known as "Babu", was an Indian field hockey player. He was born in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. He is widely known for his mesmerising passing ability and is considered by ...
.


Football

Eighteen teams entered the football competition at these Olympics. Due to the rise of the professional game during the 12 years since the Berlin Olympics the number of talented amateurs for teams to select from was reduced. The gold medal was won by Sweden, who defeated Yugoslavia 3–1 in the final. Denmark defeated hosts Great Britain, managed by
Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...
of
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, 5–3 to win the bronze medal. In the tournament's 18 matches a total of 102 goals were scored; an average 5.66 goals per match. The joint top scorers with seven goals each were Gunnar Nordahl of Sweden and Denmark's John Hansen. Nordahl and Swedish teammates Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm went on to play for A.C. Milan and together were nicknamed Gre-No-Li. This was the first international football tournament ever to be broadcast on television, with the two semi-finals, the bronze medal match and the final all being shown live in full by the BBC.


Gymnastics

Nine events were contested, eight for men, and one for women. In the men's pommel horse, a tie was declared between three competitors, all Finns, and no medals other than gold were awarded in this event. Finland won six gold medals overall, and Switzerland three.


Lacrosse

Lacrosse was an exhibition sport at these Olympics. An English team composed of players from various universities played a U.S. team represented by
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...
at the Empire Stadium.


Modern pentathlon

Only one
modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...
event was contested, the five component sports– riding, fencing, shooting, swimming, and running- being held over six days. Scoring was by point-for-place system across the five phases with the winner being the athlete with the lowest combined ranking. The sport's international federation, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne was founded during the Games, on 3 August 1948. Sweden won two medals in the event;
William Grut William Oscar Guernsey Grut (17 September 1914 – 20 November 2012) was a Swedish modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he won the gold medal in modern pentathlon.Gösta Gärdin Gösta Gärdin (28 May 1923 – 12 December 2015) was a Swedish Army officer and modern pentathlete who won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Career Gärdin was born on 28 May 1923 in Linköping, Sweden, the son of colonel Georg ...
took bronze. American George Moore won the silver medal.


Rowing

Seven rowing events were contested, all open to men only. Great Britain and the United States each claimed two gold medals. The events were held on the River Thames at Henley, over the same course as the
Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...
.


Sailing

The sailing events at the Games took place in Torquay, in the southwest of Great Britain. Five events were contested, with the United States winning four total medals. One of host nation Great Britain's three gold medals at the Games came in the Swallow class from
Stewart Morris Stewart Morris, OBE, (25 May 1909 – 24 February 1991) was a British sailor, born in Bromley, Kent. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and won a gold medal in the Swallow class with David Bond. Stewart was educated at Chart ...
and David Bond. In the
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
class Danish sailor
Paul Elvstrøm Paul Bert Elvstrøm (25 February 1928 – 7 December 2016) was a Danish yachtsman. He won four Olympic gold medals and twenty world titles in a range of classes including Snipe, Soling, Star, Flying Dutchman, Finn, 505, and 5.5 Metre ...
won gold the despite the Danish Olympic Committee having misgivings about sending him to compete as the 18-year-old could speak no English. This was the first of four consecutive Olympics with a gold medal for Elvstrøm.


Shooting

Four events were contested, all open to both men and women, although all medals were won by men. In the 50 metre rifle, prone position, only two points separated the top three competitors. Károly Takács had been a member of the Hungary's world champion pistol shooting team in 1938 when a grenade shattered his right hand – his pistol hand. Takács taught himself to shoot with his left hand and, 10 years after his injury, he won an Olympic gold medal in the rapid-fire pistol event.


Swimming

Eleven events were contested, six for men and five for women. The United States won eight gold medals, including all six men's events, and 15 medals in total.


Water polo

Eighteen nations fielded a team in these games, which were ultimately won by Italy, who were undefeated throughout. The tournament was conducted in a mult-tier bracket, with the best four teams from the group stages participating in a final round-robin bracket. Silver was claimed by Hungary, and bronze by the Netherlands.


Weightlifting

Six events were contested, all for men only. These games marked the addition of the bantamweight class to the Olympic programme, the first change to the programme since 1920. The United States won four gold medals, and eight overall; the remaining two gold medals were claimed by Egypt.
Rodney Wilkes Rodney Adolphus Wilkes (11 March 1925 – 24 March 2014) was a weightlifter from Trinidad and Tobago. Nicknamed "The Mighty Midget" he remained relatively unknown outside of local competition until he won the gold medal at the 1946 Central America ...
won the first medal for Trinidad and Tobago in an Olympic games, winning silver in the featherweight division; the featherweight gold medal was won by Egyptian
Mahmoud Fayad Mahmoud Fayad ( fa, محمود فیاض; March 9, 1925 – December 18, 2002) was a Featherweight (-60 kg) in the weightlifting Egyptian team at the Summer Olympics of 1948 in London. He scored a Gold medal for Egypt after lifting a rec ...
, with a new Olympic and World record of 332.5 kg.


Wrestling

Sixteen wrestling events were held, eight Greco-Roman and eight freestyle. All were open to men only. Both categories were dominated by two nations. Turkey was the most successful nation with six gold medals followed by Sweden receiving 5 gold medals. These two teams claimed 24 total medals, in other words half of the total medals given.


Political defection

London was the first Olympics to have a political defection.
Marie Provazníková Marie Provazníková (24 October 1890 – 11 January 1991) was a Czechoslovak sports official active in the Sokol movement. Background Marie Provazníková was born in Prague. Career Provazníková was a coach of the Czechoslovak women's gymnasti ...
, the 57-year-old Czechoslovakian President of the International Gymnastics Federation, refused to return home, citing "lack of freedom" after the Czechoslovak coup in February led to the country's inclusion in the
Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
.


Media

For the 1948 Olympics, the
Technicolor Corporation Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...
devised a
bipack colour In bipack color photography for motion pictures, two strips of black-and-white 35 mm film, running through the camera emulsion to emulsion, are used to record two regions of the color spectrum, for the purpose of ultimately printing the image ...
filming process – dubbed "Technichrome" – whereby hundreds of hours of film documented the events in colour, without having to use expensive and heavy Technicolor cameras. Slightly over 2,000
journalists A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
attended the 1948 Games.


Venues

No new venues were built for the Games. A cinder track was laid inside Empire Stadium and all other venues were adapted. For the first time at the Olympics swimming events were held undercover, at the 8000 capacity Empire Pool. As the pool was longer than the standard Olympic length of 50 metres a platform was constructed across the pool which both shortened it and housed officials. In 2010 one of the last remaining venues from the Games, the Herne Hill Velodrome where cycling events were staged, was saved when a new 15-year lease was agreed meaning that repairs could take place. Campaigners and users of the track had feared that it would be forced to close as it was in desperate need of refurbishment. * Wembley Empire Exhibition Grounds ** Empire Stadium – opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, equestrian (jumping), football finals, field hockey finals ** Empire Pool – boxing, diving, swimming, water polo ** Palace of Engineering – fencing * Other venues **
Empress Hall, Earl's Court Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue just west of central London. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds, ...
– boxing preliminaries, wrestling, weightlifting, gymnastics ** Harringay Arena, Harringay – basketball & wrestling ** Royal Regatta Course,
Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...
– canoeing, rowing ** Herne Hill Velodrome, Herne Hill – track cycling ** Windsor Great Park – cycling road race ** Central Stadium, Military Headquarters, Aldershot – equestrian (jumping), modern pentathlon (riding, fencing, swimming) ** Tweseldown Racecourse – equestrian (dressage, eventing) ** Arsenal Stadium, Highbury – football preliminaries **
Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...
– football preliminaries ** Craven Cottage,
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
– football preliminaries ** Ilford – football preliminaries **
Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...
,
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
– football preliminaries ** Champion Hill, Dulwich – football preliminaries ** Green Pond Road Stadium,
Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
– football preliminaries ** White Hart Lane, Tottenham – football preliminaries ** Lyons' Sports Club,
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
– field hockey preliminaries ** Guinness Sports Club,
Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, partly in the London Borough of Brent and partly the London Borough of Ealing. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, toget ...
– field hockey preliminaries ** Polytechnic Sports Ground,
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
– field hockey preliminaries ** National Rifle Association Ranges, Bisley – shooting, modern pentathlon (shooting) ** Finchley Lido,
Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill and H ...
– water polo preliminaries ** English Channel, Torbay – yachting **
Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...
, Portsmouth – football preliminaries ** Goldstone Ground,
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
– football preliminaries ** Royal Military Academy – modern pentathlon (running)


Participating National Olympic Committees

A total of 59 nations sent athletes. Fourteen made their first official appearance:
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
(now
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
), Burma (now
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
),
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
(now
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
), Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Korea, Lebanon, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Singapore,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. It was the first time that the Philippines, India and Pakistan competed as fully independent nations at the Olympic Games. Germany, Japan and Bulgaria, under Allied military occupations, were not allowed to send athletes to the games.
Forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
by
German prisoners of war German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
was used for the construction of the facilities. Italy, although originally an Axis power, defected to the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
in 1943 following
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
being deposed, and was allowed to send athletes. The Soviet Union was invited but they chose not to send any athletes, sending observers instead to prepare for the 1952 Olympics.


Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees (by highest to lowest)


Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1948 Summer Games, ranked by number of gold medals won. The host nation was 12th, with 23 medals, including three golds.


See also

* Art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics * ''Gold'' (2018 film), about the Indian national hockey team at the 1948 Summer Olympics


References


External links

*
Parliament & the 1948 London Olympics - UK Parliament Living Heritage
*
Exploring 20th century London – 1948 Olympics
Objects and photographs from the collections of the Museum of London, London Transport Museum, Jewish Museum and Museum of Croydon. {{Portal bar, Olympics, United Kingdom, London Events at Wembley Stadium History of the London Borough of Brent Summer Olympics in London
Olympics Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
Olympic Games Olympic Games in the United Kingdom Summer Olympics by year Olympic Games Olympic Games 20th century in Middlesex Olympic Games