Battle of Honey Springs

At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, 33 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 9 for women. Three events made their Olympic debut at these Games: women's 200 metres, women's long jump and women's shot put. There were a total number of 745 participating athletes from 53 countries.

Medal summary

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States1251027
2 Sweden53513
3 Netherlands4026
4 France2338
5 Hungary2013
6 Australia1326
7 Italy1315
8 Finland1203
 Jamaica1203
10 Argentina1102
 Czechoslovakia1102
12 Austria1012
 Belgium1012
14 Great Britain0617
15 Switzerland0112
16 Ceylon0101
 Norway0101
 Yugoslavia0101
19 Panama0022
20 Canada0011
 Denmark0011
 Turkey0011
Totals (22 entries)33333399

Men

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres
details
Harrison Dillard
 United States
10.3 Barney Ewell
 United States
10.4 Lloyd LaBeach
 Panama
10.6
200 metres
details
Mel Patton
 United States
21.1 Barney Ewell
 United States
21.1 Lloyd LaBeach
 Panama
21.2
400 metres
details
Arthur Wint
 Jamaica
46.2 Herb McKenley
 Jamaica
46.4 Mal Whitfield
 United States
46.8
800 metres
details
Mal Whitfield
 United States
1:49.2 Arthur Wint
 Jamaica
1:49.5 Marcel Hansenne
 France
1:49.8
1500 metres
details
Henry Eriksson
 Sweden
3:49.8 Lennart Strand
 Sweden
3:50.4 Wim Slijkhuis
 Netherlands
3:50.4
5000 metres
details
Gaston Reiff
 Belgium
14:17.6 Emil Zátopek
 Czechoslovakia
14:17.8 Wim Slijkhuis
 Netherlands
14:26.8
10,000 metres
details
Emil Zátopek
 Czechoslovakia
29:59.6 Alain Mimoun
 France
30:47.4 Bertil Albertsson
 Sweden
30:53.6
110 metres hurdles
details
William Porter
 United States
13.9 Clyde Scott
 United States
14.1 Craig Dixon
 United States
14.1
400 metres hurdles
details
Roy Cochran
 United States
51.1 Duncan White
 Ceylon
51.8 Rune Larsson
 Sweden
52.2
3000 metres steeplechase
details
Tore Sjöstrand
 Sweden
9:04.6 Erik Elmsäter
 Sweden
9:08.2 Göte Hagström
 Sweden
9:11.8
4 × 100 metres relay
details
 United States (USA)
Barney Ewell
Lorenzo Wright
Harrison Dillard
Mel Patton
40.6  Great Britain (GBR)
Alastair McCorquodale
John Gregory
Ken Jones
Jack Archer
41.3  Italy (ITA)
Michele Tito
Enrico Perucconi
Carlo Monti
Antonio Siddi
41.5
4 × 400 metres relay
details
 United States (USA)
Roy Cochran
Cliff Bourland
Arthur Harnden
Mal Whitfield
3:10.4  France (FRA)
Jean Kerebel
Francis Schewetta
Robert Chef D'Hotel
Jacques Lunis
3:14.8  Sweden (SWE)
Kurt Lundquist
Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt
Folke Alnevik
Rune Larsson
3:16.0
Marathon
details
Delfo Cabrera
 Argentina
2:34:51.6 Tom Richards
 Great Britain
2:35:07.6 Etienne Gailly
 Belgium
2:35:33.6
10 kilometres walk
details
John Mikaelsson
 Sweden
45:13.2 Ingemar Johansson
 Sweden
45:43.8 Fritz Schwab
 Switzerland
46:00.2
50 kilometres walk
details
John Ljunggren
 Sweden
4:41:52 Gaston Godel
 Switzerland
4:48:17 Tebbs Lloyd Johnson
 Great Britain
4:48:31
High jump
details
John Winter
 Australia
1.98 m Bjørn Paulson
 Norway
1.95 m George Stanich
 United States
1.95 m
Pole vault
details
Guinn Smith
 United States
4.30 m Erkki Kataja
 Finland
4.20 m Robert Richards
 United States
4.20 m
Long jump
details
Willie Steele
 United States
7.825 m Theo Bruce
 Australia
7.55 m Herbert Douglas
 United States
7.54 m
Triple jump
details
Arne Åhman
 Sweden
15.40 m George Avery
 Australia
15.36 m Ruhi Sarialp
 Turkey
15.02 m
Shot put
details
Wilbur Thompson
 United States
17.12 m Jim Delaney
 United States
16.68 m Jim Fuchs
 United States
16.42 m
Discus throw
details
Adolfo Consolini
 Italy
52.78 m Giuseppe Tosi
 Italy
51.78 m Fortune Gordien
 United States
50.77 m
Hammer throw
details
Imre Németh
 Hungary
56.07 m Ivan Gubijan
 Yugoslavia
54.27 m Robert Bennett
 United States
53.73 m
Javelin throw
details
Tapio Rautavaara
 Finland
69.77 m Steve Seymour
 United States
67.56 m József Várszegi
 Hungary
67.03 m
Decathlon
details
Bob Mathias
 United States
7139 Ignace Heinrich
 France
6974 Floyd Simmons
 United States
6950

Women

Games Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres
details
Fanny Blankers-Koen
 Netherlands
11.9 Dorothy Manley
 Great Britain
12.2 Shirley Strickland
 Australia
12.2
200 metres
details
Fanny Blankers-Koen
 Netherlands
24.4 Audrey Williamson
 Great Britain
25.1 Audrey Patterson
 United States
25.2
80 metres hurdles
details
Fanny Blankers-Koen
 Netherlands
11.2 Maureen Gardner
 Great Britain
11.2 Shirley Strickland
 Australia
11.4
4 × 100 metres relay
details
 Netherlands (NED)
Xenia Stad-de Jong
Netty Witziers-Timmer
Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs
Fanny Blankers-Koen
47.5  Australia (AUS)
Shirley Strickland
June Maston
Betty McKinnon
Joyce King
47.6  Canada (CAN)
Viola Myers
Nancy MacKay
Diane Foster
Patricia Jones
47.8
High jump
details
Alice Coachman
 United States
1.68 m Dorothy Tyler
 Great Britain
1.68 m Micheline Ostermeyer
 France
1.61 m
Long jump
details
Olga Gyarmati
 Hungary
5.695 m Noemí Simonetto
 Argentina
5.60 m Ann-Britt Leyman
 Sweden
5.575 m
Shot put
details
Micheline Ostermeyer
 France
13.75 m Amelia Piccinini
 Italy
13.09 m Ine Schäffer
 Austria
13.08 m
Discus throw
details
Micheline Ostermeyer
 France
41.92 m Edera Cordiale
 Italy
41.17 m Jacqueline Mazeas
 France
40.47 m
Javelin throw
details
Herma Bauma
 Austria
45.57 m Kaisa Parviainen
 Finland
43.79 m Lily Carlstedt
 Denmark
42.08 m

Records broken

14 new Olympic records were set in the athletics events. No new world records were set.

Men's Olympic records

Event Date Round Name Nationality Result
800 metres 2 August Final Mal Whitfield  United States 1:49.2
5000 metres 2 August Final Gaston Reiff  Belgium 14:17.6
10,000 metres 30 July Final Emil Zátopek  Czechoslovakia 29:59.6
110 metres hurdles 4 August Final William Porter  United States 13.9
400 metres hurdles 31 July Final Roy Cochran  United States 51.1
10 kilometres walk 7 August Final John Mikaelsson  Sweden 45:13.2
Shot put 3 August Final Wilbur Thompson  United States 17.12 m
Discus throw 2 August Final Adolfo Consolini  Italy 52.78 m

Women's Olympic records

Event Date Round Name Nationality Result
200 metres 6 August Final Fanny Blankers-Koen  Netherlands 24.4
80 metres hurdles 4 August Final Fanny Blankers-Koen
Maureen Gardner
 Netherlands
 Great Britain
11.2
High jump 7 August Final Alice Coachman
Dorothy Tyler
 United States
 Great Britain
1.68 m
Long jump 4 August Final Olga Gyarmati  Hungary 5.695 m
Shot put 4 August Final Micheline Ostermeyer  France 13.75 m
Javelin throw 31 July Final Herma Bauma  Austria 45.57 m

References

51°33′20″N 0°16′47″W / 51.5556°N 0.2797°W / 51.5556; -0.2797