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| Games of the XIV Olympiad | |
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| Host city | London, England |
| Nations participating | 59 |
| Athletes participating | 4,104 (3,714 men, 390 women) |
| Events | 136 in 17 sports |
| Opening ceremony | July 29 |
| Closing ceremony | August 14 |
| Officially opened by | King George VI |
| Athlete\'s Oath | Donald Finlay |
| Olympic Torch | John Mark |
| Stadium | Wembley Stadium |
The 1948 Summer Olympics, the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were held in London, England. After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The 1940 Games had been scheduled for Tokyo, and later Helsinki as WWII started; the 1944 Games had been provisionally planned for London.
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In June 1939, the IOC gave the 1944 Games to London, ahead of Budapest, Lausanne, Helsinki and Athens. War stopped the plans and London again stood for 1948. The official report of the London Olympics that makes it plain that there was no case of London being pressed to run the Games against its will The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, organising committee, London, 1951 . It says:
In early March 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, Lausanne, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.Official website of the International Olympic Committee
Lord Burghley had been Olympic captain in 1932 and 1936 and after the war he became president of the Amateur Athletics Association and of the IAAF, its international equivalent. He was named chairman of the organising and executive committees.
The Games opened on 29 July, a brilliantly sunny day. Army bands began playing at 2pm for the 85,000 spectators in Wembley Stadium. The international and national organisers arrived at 2.35pm and the King and Queen, with Queen Mary and other members of the Royal Family, at 2.45pm. 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:
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." The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, organising committee, London, 1951
At 4pm, the time shown on Big Ben on the London Games symbol, the King declared the Games open, 2,500 pigeons were set free and the Olympic Flag raised to its 35ft 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 - and climbed the steps to the Olympic Bowl. 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:
33 athletics events were contested; 24 for men and 9 for women. Of these, four were making their Olympic debut - the men\'s 10km walk, and the women\'s 200 meters, long jump and shot put. 751 athletes from 53 countries participated in the athletics, including Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland, who captured four gold medals, and Micheline Ostermeyer of France who won two. Duncan White won the first medal of any kind for Sri Lanka, when he finished second in the 400 meter hurdles, and Arthur Wint became the first Jamaican to win an Olympic medal, capturing gold in the men\'s 400 meters and silver in the men\'s 800 meters.
Basketball made its second appearance as a sanctioned sport, returning to indoor competition after inclement weather disrupted the final at the 1936 Berlin games. 23 nations entered the competition, with the United States defeating France 65-21 in the final to claim the gold medal. Brazil defeated Mexico 52-47 to claim bronze.
Eight different classifications were contested, with South Africa, Argentina and Hungary each winning two gold medals.
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.
Six events were contested - two road cycling 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.
Four diving events were contested, two for men, and two for women. All four gold medals, and 10 out of 12 awarded in total, were won by the United States. Both women\'s events were won by Victoria Manalo Draves.
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.
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 women to successfully defend an Olympic title in London, and is still the only woman to win two gold medals in the individual foil competition.
Eighteen teams entered the football competition at these Olympics, including first-time Olympic participants Korea, who progressed to the quarter-finals before falling to Sweden. The gold medal was claimed by Sweden, who defeated Yugoslavia 3-1 in the final. Denmark defeated Great Britain 5-3 to win the bronze medal.
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.
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.
Only one modern pentathlon event was contested, won by William Grut of Sweden.
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 same course as the Henley Royal Regatta.
Five events were contested, with the United States winning four total medals.
Four events were contested, all open to both men and women, although all medals were won by men. In the 50 meter rifle, prone position, only two points separated the top three competitors.
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.
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.
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.
Sixteen wrestling events were held, eight Greco-Roman and eight freestyle. All were open to men only. Six gold medals were won by Turkey and five by Sweden. Between them, these teams claimed 24 total medals.
London was the first Olympics to have a political defection. Marie Provaznikova won a gold medal with the Czechoslovakian gymnastics team and then refused to return home, citing "lack of freedom" there after the country\'s inclusion in the Soviet bloc.
participants
A total of 59 nations sent athletes. Fourteen made their first official appearance: British Guiana (now Guyana), Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Korea, Lebanon, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
These are the ten nations that won most medals. The host nation was 12th, with three gold and 23 total medals.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 38 | 27 | 19 | 84 |
| 2 |  Sweden | 16 | 11 | 17 | 44 |
| 3 |  France | 10 | 6 | 13 | 29 |
| 4 | .svg/58px-Flag of Hungary (1946-1949, 1956-1957).svg) Hungary | 10 | 5 | 12 | 27 |
| 5 |  Italy | 8 | 11 | 8 | 27 |
| 6 |  Finland | 8 | 7 | 5 | 20 |
| 7 |  Turkey | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| 8 |  Czechoslovakia | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 9 |  Switzerland | 5 | 10 | 5 | 20 |
| 10 |  Denmark | 5 | 7 | 8 | 20 |
| Olympic Games | |
|---|---|
| Sports • Medal counts • NOCs Medalists • Symbols | |
| Summer Games | 1896 • 1900 • 1904 • (1906) • 1908 • 1912 • |
| Winter Games | 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • |
| Youth Games | 2010 Summer • 2012 Winter • 2014 Summer • 2016 Winter |
| Recent and upcoming Games: Athens 2004 • Turin 2006 • Beijing 2008 • Vancouver 2010 | |
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
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