1948 Summer Olympics

Multi-sport event in London, England July 2011 July 2020 1948 Summer Olympics 1948 Summer Olympics logo.svg 180 Emblem of the 1948 Summer Olympics The Palace of Westminster, a Gothic architecture building with two towers, sits behind the Olympic rings. The words "XIVth Olympiad" is written across the top in a semi-circular shape, while the words "London 1948" is written at the bottom of the logo. London, United Kingdom 591948 Olympic-Museum webpage 4,396 (Olympic Museum)4,104 (3,714 men, 390 women; other) 153 in 21 sports (23 disciplines), 3 art competitions1948 Olympic Games - Arts event pictogram, 18 total pictograms 29 July 1948 14 August 1948 King George VIFactsheet – Opening Ceremony of the Games f the Olympiad https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf live International Olympic Committee 13 September 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20160814215458/https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf 14 August 2016 22 December 2018 John Mark Wembley Stadium Berlin 1936← grey 1944 Summer Olympics London 1944 Helsinki 1952 St. Moritz 1948← grey 1944 Winter Olympics Cortina 1944 Oslo 1952 The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus caused by the outbreak of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics 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 hosted the Olympic Games, having previously hosted them in 1908, making it the second city to host the Summer Olympics twice (after Paris). The Olympics would return again to London 64 years later in 2012, making London the first city to host the games three times, and the only such city until Paris, who hosted their third games in 2024, and Los Angeles, who will host theirs in 2028. The 1948 Olympic Games were also the first of two summer Games held under the IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström. The 1948 Summer Olympics were the only Summer Olympics to be held in the 1940s, as the 1940 and 1944 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to World War II. It was also the first Summer Olympics that took place during the Cold War. The 1948 Olympics came to be known as the "Austerity Games" due to the difficult economic climate and the rationing imposed in the aftermath of World War II.McDowell Linda Working Lives: Gender, Migration and Employment in Britain, 1945-2007 2013 Chichester 53 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. Israel requested to participate (symbolically represented by Raya Bronstein and Frieda Berson-Lichtblau he פרידה ליכטבלאו) but was denied as the International Olympic Committee did not yet recognize the country, while the Olympic mandate of Palestine expired. This in turn shifted the view of the Arab countries who had intended to boycott the event and now decided to take part. 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, 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 of Finland, who took three golds, a silver and a bronze in men's gymnastics. The United States topped the medal table. 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.http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/past.html Past Olympic Host City Election Results gamesbids.com 29 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20090513052645/http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/past.html 13 May 2009 dead 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 hosting the Olympics would help to restore Britain from World War II. The official report of the London Olympics shows that London was not 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, Lord Burghley, went to Stockholm 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.Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), p. 17 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 Baltimore, Minneapolis, Lausanne, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_1364.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20140728090143if_/http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_1364.pdf 28 July 2014 deviated Olympic Games Fonds International Olympic Committee Historical Archives 6 November 2007 29 April 2010 London, which had previously hosted the 1908 Summer Olympics, 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.August 2026 Organization thumb|1948 London Olympic medals being minted at the works of John Pinches in Clapham thumb|Medal used at the 1948 games 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.http://en.beijing2008.cn/29/30/article212013029.shtml David George Burghley – lord of the hurdles (photos attached) 27 April 2010 The official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090429105356/http://en.beijing2008.cn/29/30/article212013029.shtml 29 April 2009 The other members of the committees were: Colonel Evan Hunter, General Secretary of the British Olympic Association, and Chief de mission for Great Britain; Lord Aberdare, 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.Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), p. 18 Olympic pictograms were introduced for the first time.Any attempt to link the symbols from the 1948 Olympics used on tickets with the pictograms first introduced in 1964 is seemingly unverified synthesis unless verified with a reliable source. This link to Olympic pictograms is not in any source provided. July 2021 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.Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), pp. 131, 135Two sample tickets from 1948 Summer Olympics https://web.archive.org/web/20080523124049/http://en.beijing2008.cn/tickets/samples/n214074036.shtml 23 May 2008 at the Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Olympic pictograms appeared again 16 years later, and were used at all subsequent Summer Olympics.August 2026 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.https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/1948-olympics-we-had-much-more-fun-and-a-greater-sense-of-achievement-than-modern-athletes-do-497866.html https://web.archive.org/web/20140228070907/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/1948-olympics-we-had-much-more-fun-and-a-greater-sense-of-achievement-than-modern-athletes-do-497866.html 1948 Olympics: 'We had much more fun and a greater sense of achievement than modern athletes do' The Independent Mike Rowbotham 7 July 2005 28 February 2014 dead 26 April 2010 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.https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA354L6FHKU412LLQ9JN7WB90IO-OPENING-OF-OLYMPIC-CENTRE-IN-LONDON Opening Of Olympic Centre In London 1948 5 July 1948 Reuters Gaumont British Newsree Motion picture, black and white film id:VLVA354L6FHKU412LLQ9JN7WB90IO 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.http://www.olympics.org.uk/gamesabout.aspx?gt=s&ga=12 London 1948 British Olympic Association 26 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20090408081536/http://www.olympics.org.uk/gamesabout.aspx?gt=s&ga=12 8 April 2009 dead Torch relay 1948 Summer Olympics torch relay Nicknamed "relay of peace" due to crossing through several countries in Europe to represent their union after the Second World War, the torch relay for these games took place from 17 to 29 July 1948, over a distance of 3160 km and 1,416 torchbearers.http://www.olympic-museum.de/torches/torch1948.htm Torch Relay 1948 September 10, 2023 Olympic Museum https://web.archive.org/web/20131030114901/http://www.olympic-museum.de/torches/torch1948.htm 30 October 2013 The torch was designed by Ralph Lavers. There were three types of torches: the standard one made of aluminium and powered by solid fuel, a special one powered by butane gas (used aboard Whitesand Bay K633 6) and a third one used in Wembley Stadium, made of stainless steel and powered by a magnesium candle. The journey began with the lighting of the flame in Olympia. Due to the civil war taking place in Greece, the Greek part of the relay went directly to Corfu, where HMS Whitesand Bay picked up the flame to transport it to Bari. From there, the flame crossed Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium. After a boat trip from Calais to Dover (aboard Bicester L34 6), the flame travelled to several towns in South East England until its arrival at Wembley for the opening ceremony. The cities and towns visited by the Olympic flame were as follows: Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll8/id/5245/rec/19 September 8, 2023 1951 Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 220789552 Torch Relay 210 Nation Cities and towns Greece old Olympia, Katakolon, Corfu. Italy Bari, Foggia, Pescara, Ancona, Rimini, Bologna, Parma, Piacenza, Milan, Domodossola, the Simplon Pass. Switzerland Brig, Martigny, Montreux, Lausanne, Geneva, Perly. France St. Julien en Genevois, Belgarde, Nantua, Lons-le-Saulnier, Poligny, Besançon, Vesoul, Épinal, Nancy, Metz, Thionville, Évrange. Luxembourg Frisange, Esch, Luxembourg City, Ettelbruck, Wiltz. Belgium Bras, Bastogne, Marche, Namur, Brussels, Renaix, Tournai, Hertain. France Lille, Armentières, St. Omer, Calais. England,United Kingdom Dover, Canterbury, Charing, Maidstone, Westerham, Redhill, Reigate, Dorking, Guildford, Bagshot, Ascot, Windsor, Slough, Uxbridge, London. Opening ceremony thumb|upright=1.15|The XIV Olympic Games opens in London, 1948 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 and Queen Elizabeth, with Queen Mary and other members of the Royal Family, 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."Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), p. 221 At 4 pm, the time shown on the clock tower on the London Games symbol, the King declared the Games open, 2,500 pigeons were set free and the Olympic Flag raised to its 35 ft m on flagpole at the end of the stadium. The Royal Horse Artillery sounded a 21-gun salute to welcome the last runner in the Torch Relay: John Mark, a British track and field sprinter and student at the University of Cambridge with impressive Olympian good looks. Mark ran a lap of the track – created with cinders from the domestic coal fires of Leicester – 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.August 2026 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.Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), p. 225 Television coverage The opening ceremony and over 60 hours of Games coverage was broadcast live on BBC television, which was then officially available only in the London area.https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/1948-olympic-games Broadcasting the 1948 Olympic Games History of the BBC 29 March 2020 However, the BBC's transmissions could be received much further away in the right conditions, and some of the Games were watched by at least one viewer in the Channel Islands.https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fgenome%2Fentries%2Fbd8d120c-75be-41c2-af34-a4fd3a7caa53 International Football at the 1948 Olympics Hayes Paul BBC Online June 8, 2021 BBC Genome Project June 14, 2021 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.http://www.bl.uk/sportandsociety/exploresocsci/sportsoc/media/articles/landmarks.pdf Landmarks in the history of the media and the Olympics The British Library 28 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20121019003244/http://www.bl.uk/sportandsociety/exploresocsci/sportsoc/media/articles/landmarks.pdf 19 October 2012 dead 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 program do also still exist. Sports The 1948 Summer Olympics featured 136 medal events, covering 23 disciplines in 17 different sports and in arts.August 2026 In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses. 17em Aquatics Diving 4 d Swimming 11 d Water polo 1 d Athletics 33 d Basketball 1 d Boxing 8 d Canoeing 9 d Cycling d Road (2) Track (4) Equestrian d Dressage (2) Eventing (2) Show jumping (2) Fencing 7 d Field hockey 1 d Football 1 d Gymnastics 9 d Modern pentathlon 1 d Rowing 7 d Sailing 5 d Shooting 4 d Weightlifting 6 d Wrestling d Freestyle (8) Greco-Roman (8) These Games also included Lacrosse and Swedish (Ling) gymnastics as demonstration sports.Demonstration sports : history at the Olympic Summer Games / The Olympic Studies Centre Olympic World Library 2024-01-19 https://library.olympics.com/doc/SYRACUSE/619826 https://web.archive.org/web/20240119230639/https://library.olympics.com/doc/SYRACUSE/619826 2024-01-19 live 2024-01-27 Athletics Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics thumb|Start of the 50 km walk thumb|Delfo Cabrera crossing the finish line to take gold in the marathon 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.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/ATH/ Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games sports-reference.com 27 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100323175821/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/ATH/ 23 March 2010 dead Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands, a 30-year-old mother of two childrenJune 2021 nicknamed "The Flying Housewife", won four gold medals, in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 80 metre hurdles, and 4 × 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.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/ 1948 London Summer Games 27 April 2010 sports-reference.com https://web.archive.org/web/20100511151605/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/ 11 May 2010 dead Duncan White won the first medal of any kind for Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) 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.http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/02/04/supstory.asp?id=s35 Sports striving for greater heights after Independence Chris Dhambarage Daily News 4 February 2010 27 April 2010 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100209052030/http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/02/04/supstory.asp?id=s35 9 February 2010 https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/apr/01/jamaican-champs-athletics Cradle of champions where Jamaican sprinters earn their spurs The Guardian Donald McRae 1 April 2010 27 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100430201330/http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/apr/01/jamaican-champs-athletics 30 April 2010 live 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 became the first woman of colour 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' 61 4"). She also was the only American woman to win an athletics gold medal during the 1948 Olympics.Alice Coachman – First African American Gold Medallist http://www.olympics30.com/30greatest/alice-coachman.asp olympics30.com 27 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060015/http://www.olympics30.com/30greatest/alice-coachman.asp 24 September 2015 dead 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 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 Olympic marathon David E. Martin Roger W. H. Gynn 188 2000 Human Kinetics 978-0-88011-969-6 registration https://archive.org/details/olympicmarathon00mart/page/188 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."https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-02-obit-mathias_x.htm Former congressman Bob Mathias dies at 75 Associated Press USA Today 3 September 2006 29 April 2010https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/03/AR2006090300002.html Bob Mathias; Congressman, Twice Olympic Champion Martin Weil The Washington Post 3 September 2006 29 April 2010 Arts Art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics Categories: sports-related architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. These Olympics were the last time art competitions were considered Olympic events.August 2026 Basketball Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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 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.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/sports/BAS/mens-basketball.html Basketball Men's Basketball Medalists sports-reference.com 27 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100404040307/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/sports/BAS/mens-basketball.html 4 April 2010 dead Brazil defeated Mexico 52–47 to claim bronze.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/BAS/mens-basketball-final-round.html https://web.archive.org/web/20200417162238/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/BAS/mens-basketball-final-round.html dead 17 April 2020 sports-reference.com Basketball at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Basketball Final Round 27 April 2010 Boxing Boxing at the 1948 Summer Olympics Eight different classifications were contested ranging from flyweight, for boxers weighing less than 51 kg, to heavyweight, for boxers over 80 kg. South Africa, Argentina and Hungary each won two gold medals.August 2026 Canoeing Canoeing at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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) and Czechoslovakia three.August 2026 Cycling Cycling at the 1948 Summer Olympics Six events were contested – two road bicycle racing 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.August 2026 Diving Diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948(1951), p. 637 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.http://www.america.gov/st/sports-english/2008/May/20080530165620xlrennef0.5189478.html Asian Americans First Won Olympic Gold 60 Years Ago 30 May 2008 27 April 2010 Melody Merin america.gov https://web.archive.org/web/20100322073148/http://www.america.gov/st/sports-english/2008/May/20080530165620xlrennef0.5189478.html 22 March 2010 dead Equestrian Equestrian at the 1948 Summer Olympics Six gold medals were awarded in equestrian, individual and team dressage, individual and team eventing and individual and team show jumping. Harry Llewellyn and Foxhunter, who would claim a gold medal in Helsinki, won bronze in the team jumping event.August 2026 Fencing Fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics Seven events were contested, six for men and one for women. Ilona Elek, who had won the women's foil competition in 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.http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/e/n214044809.shtml Ilona Elek 27 April 2010 The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games https://web.archive.org/web/20110106060445/http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/e/n214044809.shtml 6 January 2011 dead 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.http://www.acfencers.com/mangiarotti.html Portraits: The Great "Edoardo Mangiarotti" 27 April 2010 schermaonline.com usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20100308065004/http://www.acfencers.com/mangiarotti.html 8 March 2010 https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/edoardo-mangiarotti-1.html https://web.archive.org/web/20200417043714/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/edoardo-mangiarotti-1.html dead 17 April 2020 Edoardo Mangiarotti 27 April 2010 sports-reference.com Field hockey Field hockey at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.August 2026 Football Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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 of Manchester United, 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.https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament=512/edition=197049/overview.html https://web.archive.org/web/20071023011104/http://fifa.com/tournaments/archive/tournament=512/edition=197049/overview.html dead 23 October 2007 London, 1948 FIFA 28 April 2010 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 Gymnastics at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.August 2026 Lacrosse Lacrosse at the Summer Olympics 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 at the Empire Stadium.August 2026 Modern pentathlon Modern pentathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics thumb|Gold medalist William Grut of Sweden (foreground) competing in the running component of the modern pentathlon. Only one modern pentathlon 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 won the gold, with a final points total of 16, and Gösta Gärdin took bronze. American George Moore won the silver medal.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/MOP/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200428145652/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/MOP/ dead 28 April 2020 Modern Pentathlon at the 1948 London Summer Games sports-reference.com 27 April 2010 Rowing Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.August 2026 Sailing Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics The sailing events at the Games took place in Torquay, in the southwest of Great Britain.http://www.sailing.org/1948-olympic-games.php 1948 London Olympic Sailing Competition The International Sailing Federation 4 May 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100425024424/http://www.sailing.org/1948-olympic-games.php 25 April 2010 live Five events were contested, with the United States winning four total medals.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/SAI/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200417054514/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/SAI/ dead 17 April 2020 Sailing at the 1948 London Summer Games sports-reference.com 4 May 2010 One of host nation Great Britain's three gold medals at the Games came in the Swallow class from Stewart Morris and David Bond. In the Firefly class Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm 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 Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/London-1948/ London 1948 olympic.org 28 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20091004170211/http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/London-1948/ 4 October 2009 live Swimming Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.August 2026 Water polo Water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.August 2026 Weightlifting Weightlifting at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/WLT/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200417054544/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/WLT/ dead 17 April 2020 Weightlifting at the 1948 London Summer Games 29 April 2010 sports-reference.com Rodney Wilkes won the first medal for Trinidad and Tobago in an Olympic games, winning silver and Mohammad Jafar Salmasi won the first medal for Iran in an Olympic games, winning bronze in the featherweight division; gold medal was won by Egyptian Mahmoud Fayad, with a new Olympic and World record of 332.5 kg.http://tabletsbaratas.blogs.elle.es/ Help Wilkes now Trinidad and Tobago Express Patrick Watson 27 November 2008 29 April 2010https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/WLT/mens-featherweight.html https://web.archive.org/web/20200418132315/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/WLT/mens-featherweight.html dead 18 April 2020 Weightlifting at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Featherweight sports-reference.com 29 April 2010 Wrestling Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics 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.August 2026 Political defection London was the first Olympics to have a political defection. Marie Provazníková, the 57-year-old Czechoslovak 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.https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/london-1948-to-london-2012-rags-to-riches-for-the-highclass-del-boy-who-dreamt-of-gold-not-money-783305.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/london-1948-to-london-2012-rags-to-riches-for-the-highclass-del-boy-who-dreamt-of-gold-not-money-783305.html 1 May 2022 subscription live London 1948 to London 2012: Rags to riches for the 'high-class Del Boy' who dreamt of gold, not money The Independent 17 February 2008 Alan Hubbard 4 May 2010http://archive.guardian.co.uk/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=R1VBLzE5NDgvMDgvMTkjQXIwMDYxMw==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom https://web.archive.org/web/20120117233149/http://archive.guardian.co.uk/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=R1VBLzE5NDgvMDgvMTkjQXIwMDYxMw==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom dead 17 January 2012 A Political Refugee The Guardian 19 August 1948 4 May 2010 Media For the 1948 Olympics, the Technicolor Corporation devised a bipack colour filming process – dubbed "Technichrome" – whereby hundreds of hours of film documented the events in colour, without having to use expensive and heavy Technicolor cameras.http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor1.htm The History and Technology of Technicolor The American Widescreen Museum 2003 7 August 2010 26 September 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070926231146/http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor1.htm dead Slightly over 2,000 journalists attended the 1948 Games.Toney James 20 December 2012 Sports Journalism: The Inside Track Bloomsbury Publishing 8 9781408178348 Venues thumb|Poster promoting the 1948 Olympics Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics No new venues were built for the Games. A cinder track was laid inside Empire Stadium and all other venues were adapted.http://www.olympics.org.uk/contentpage.aspx?page=307 British Olympic Movement British Olympic Association 26 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20080408094923/http://www.olympics.org.uk/contentpage.aspx?page=307 8 April 2008 dead For the first time at the Olympics, swimming events were held under cover, 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, so 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.Last remaining 1948 Olympic Games venue is saved https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/9463862.stm BBC Sport 26 April 2011 21 April 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110429084019/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/9463862.stm 29 April 2011 live Wembley Empire Exhibition GroundsAugust 2026 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 venuesAugust 2026 Empress Hall, Earl's Court – boxing preliminaries, wrestling, weightlifting, gymnastics Harringay Arena, Harringay – basketball & wrestling Royal Regatta Course, Henley-on-Thames – 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 – football preliminaries Craven Cottage, Fulham – football preliminaries Cricklefield Stadium, Ilford – football preliminaries Griffin Park, Brentford – football preliminaries Champion Hill, Dulwich – football preliminaries Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow – football preliminaries White Hart Lane, Tottenham – football preliminaries Lyons' Sports Club, Sudbury – field hockey preliminaries Guinness Sports Club, Park Royal – field hockey preliminaries Polytechnic Sports Ground, Chiswick – field hockey preliminaries National Rifle Association Ranges, Bisley – shooting, modern pentathlon (shooting) Finchley Lido, Finchley – water polo preliminaries English Channel, Torbay – yachting Fratton Park, Portsmouth – football preliminaries Goldstone Ground, Brighton – football preliminaries Royal Military Academy – modern pentathlon (running) Participating National Olympic Committees thumb|left|300px|1948 Summer Olympics Poster map showing with the flags of the nations expected to be in the Summer Olympics of that year. thumb|upright=1.1|Participants thumb|Number of athletes per country A total of 59 nations sent athletes. Thirteen made their first official appearance: British Guiana (now Guyana), Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Iraq, Jamaica, Korea, Lebanon, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2432940/Countdown-to-the-Beijing-Olympics.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2432940/Countdown-to-the-Beijing-Olympics.html 12 January 2022 subscription live Countdown to the Beijing Olympics The Daily Telegraph Christopher Lyles 14 July 2008 28 April 2010 It was the first time that Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, India and Pakistan competed as fully independent nations at the Olympic Games. Germany and Japan, under Allied military occupations, were not allowed to send athletes to the games. Due to continuing labour shortages, German prisoners of war were used for the construction of the facilities for the games, in particular Olympic Way.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8564401.stm 'Wembley Way' built by German Prisoners of War BBC News 15 March 2010 22 May 2010 Italy, although originally an Axis power, had defected to the Allies in 1943 following Benito Mussolini being deposed, and was allowed to send athletes. The Soviet Union was invited but chose not to send any athletes, sending observers instead to prepare for the 1952 Olympics.https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/4352644.stm 'A very British Olympics' BBC Sport 18 October 2005 28 April 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20081004195344/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/4352644.stm 4 October 2008 live The nations that returned to the games were Cuba, Iran (The last participation of a Persian athlete was in Paris 1900), Ireland, Panama and Spain.August 2026 Other nations, besides Germany and Japan, that participated in the previous games in Berlin 1936 but were absent in London 1948 were Bolivia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In the case of the Baltic nations, they had been occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union, only returning to the games many decades later. Bulgaria, Romania and Mandatory Palestine accepted invitations for the Games but withdrew a few days before it began.Jul 29, 1948, page 4 - Birmingham Gazette at Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/783621827/ 2025-07-28 Newspapers.com en Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States, made its Olympic debut as an independent team. Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore and British Guyana were part of the British Empire.August 2026 Participating National Olympic Committees22em AFG 1948 Summer 25 ARG 1948 Summer 199 AUS 1948 Summer 75 AUT 1948 Summer 144 BEL 1948 Summer 152 BER 1948 Summer 12 BRA 1948 Summer 70 BIR 1948 Summer 4 CAN 1948 Summer 118 CEY 1948 Summer 7 CHI 1948 Summer 54 ROC 1948 Summer 31 COL 1948 Summer 6 CUB 1948 Summer 53 TCH 1948 Summer 87 DEN 1948 Summer 162 EGY 1948 Summer 85 FIN 1948 Summer 129 FRA 1948 Summer 316 GBR 1948 Summer 404 (host) GRE 1948 Summer 61 GUY 1948 Summer 4 HUN 1948 Summer 129 ISL 1948 Summer 20 IND 1948 Summer 79 IRI 1948 Summer 36 IRQ 1948 Summer 11 IRL 1948 Summer 73 ITA 1948 Summer 213 JAM 1948 Summer 13 KOR 1948 Summer 46 LIB 1948 Summer 8 LIE 1948 Summer 2 LUX 1948 Summer 45 MLT 1948 Summer 1 MEX 1948 Summer 88 MON 1948 Summer 4 NED 1948 Summer 149 NZL 1948 Summer 7 NOR 1948 Summer 81 PAK 1948 Summer 35 PAN 1948 Summer 1 PER 1948 Summer 41 PHI 1948 Summer 26 POL 1948 Summer 37 POR 1948 Summer 48 PUR 1948 Summer 9 SIN 1948 Summer 1 RSA 1948 Summer 35 ESP 1948 Summer 65 SWE 1948 Summer 181 SUI 1948 Summer 181 SYR 1948 Summer 1 TRI 1948 Summer 5 TUR 1948 Summer 58 USA 1948 Summer 300 URU 1948 Summer 61 VEN 1948 Summer 1 YUG 1948 Summer 90 Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees IOC Letter Code Country Athletes GBR GBR 1948 Summer 404 FRA FRA 1948 Summer 316 USA USA 1948 Summer 300 ITA ITA 1948 Summer 215 ARG ARG 1948 Summer 199 SUI SUI 1948 Summer 186 SWE SWE 1948 Summer 181 DEN DEN 1948 Summer 162 BEL BEL 1948 Summer 152 NED NED 1948 Summer 149 AUT AUT 1948 Summer 147 FIN FIN 1948 Summer 129 HUN HUN 1948 Summer 128 CAN CAN 1948 Summer 118 YUG YUG 1948 Summer 90 MEX MEX 1948 Summer 88 TCH TCH 1948 Summer 87 EGY EGY 1948 Summer 85 NOR NOR 1948 Summer 81 IND IND 1948 Summer 79 AUS AUS 1948 Summer 75 IRL IRL 1948 Summer 72 BRA BRA 1948 Summer 70 ESP ESP 1948 Summer 65 GRE GRE 1948 Summer 61 URU URU 1948 Summer 61 TUR TUR 1948 Summer 58 CHI CHI 1948 Summer 54 CUB CUB 1948 Summer 53 KOR KOR 1948 Summer 50 POR POR 1948 Summer 48 LUX LUX 1948 Summer 45 PER PER 1948 Summer 41 POL POL 1948 Summer 37 IRN IRI 1948 Summer 36 PAK PAK 1948 Summer 35 ZAF RSA 1948 Summer 35 AFG AFG 1948 Summer 31 ROC ROC 1948 Summer 31 PHI PHI 1948 Summer 26 ISL ISL 1948 Summer 20 JAM JAM 1948 Summer 13 BER BER 1948 Summer 12 IRQ IRQ 1948 Summer 12 PUR PUR 1948 Summer 9 LIB LIB 1948 Summer 8 CEY CEY 1948 Summer 7 NZL NZL 1948 Summer 7 COL COL 1948 Summer 6 BIR BIR 1948 Summer 5 TRI TRI 1948 Summer 5 GUY GUY 1948 Summer 4 MON MON 1948 Summer 4 LIE LIE 1948 Summer 2 MLT MLT 1948 Summer 1 PAN PAN 1948 Summer 1 SGP SGP 1948 Summer 1 SYR SYR 1948 Summer 1 VEN VEN 1948 Summer 1 Total 4,104 Medal count 1948 Summer Olympics medal table Olympic medal table 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 27 medals, including four golds.https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/london-1948/medals London 1948 Medal Table International Olympic Committee flagIOC 1948 Summer 38 27 19 17 11 18 11 6 15 8 7 5 10 5 12 8 11 8 6 4 2 6 2 3 5 10 5 5 7 8 See also Art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics 1948 Summer Olympics Gold (2018 film), about the Indian national hockey team at the 1948 Summer Olympics References 30em External links 1948 Summer Olympics Parliament & the 1948 London Olympics - UK Parliament Living Heritage http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1948/OR1948.pdf The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948 27 April 2010 Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948 1951 Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad London 1948 https://web.archive.org/web/20100506013820/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1948/OR1948.pdf 6 May 2010 dead 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. soly London (1944) cancelled due to World War II XIV OlympiadLondon 1948 Helsinki Olympics United Kingdom London Sports 1940s Category:Sports events at Wembley Stadium Category:History of the London Borough of Brent Category:Summer Olympics in London Olympics Games Olympic Games Category:Olympic Games in the United Kingdom Category:Summer Olympics by year Olympic Games Olympic Games Category:20th century in Middlesex Olympic Games