1948 Summer Olympics
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| Games of the XIV Olympiad | |
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| Host city | London, England |
| Nations participating | 59 |
| Athletes participating | 4,099 (3,714 men, 385 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, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were held in 1948 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. After a hiatus of 12 years caused by the outbreak of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics to be held 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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[edit] Highlights
- With World War II in recent memory, Germany and Japan were not invited to the Games.
- Dutch runner Fanny Blankers-Koen was the star of the Games, winning four gold medals on the track.
- Fencer Ilona Elek (Hungary) and canoeist Jan Brzak (Czechoslovakia) successfully defended their Olympic titles they had won 12 years earlier.
- In field hockey, India and Pakistan first participated as independent nations, and the homeland of the sport, Great Britain, played the triple Olympic champions from India for the first time and lost.
- For the first time, Olympic diplomas were awarded to the six highest placed athletes.
- In a dramatic finish in the marathon, Belgian Étienne Gailly entered the stadium first, but was so physically drained that he could barely walk around the track. Two men passed him before he finally crossed the line.
- Duncan White of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) won the first medal for his country, a silver, in the 400 meter hurdles.
- Harold Sakata, who won a silver medal in weightlifting, later went on to portray Oddjob in the James Bond film Goldfinger.
- Sweden, led by the Gre-No-Li trio, beat Yugoslavia 3-1 in the final to win the football tournament.
- In the sprint athletics events the starting block was first introduced.
- In the star class yachting events 2 father-son group competitors won gold and silver, Hilary and Paul Smart of the USA and Carlos de Cardenas and Carlos de Cardenas jr. of Cuba
[edit] Venues
- Wembley Empire Exhibition Grounds
- Empire Stadium - opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, football finals, hockey finals
- Empire Pool - swimming, boxing
- Palace of Engineering - fencing
- Other Venues
- Empress Hall, Earl's Court - boxing preliminaries, wrestling, weightlifting, gymnastics
- Harringay Arena, Harringay - basketball
- Royal Regatta Course, Henley-on-Thames - canoeing, rowing
- Herne Hill Velodrome, Herne Hill - track cycling
- Richmond Park - cycling road race
- Central Stadium, Aldershot Military Headquarters - equestrian
- Tweseldown Racecourse - equestrian
- Arsenal Stadium, Highbury - football preliminaries
- Selhurst Park - football preliminaries
- Craven Cottage, Fulham - football preliminaries
- Ilford - football preliminaries
- Brentford - football preliminaries
- Champion Hill, Dulwich - football preliminaries
- Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow - football preliminaries
- White Hart Lane, Tottenham - football preliminaries
- Lyons' Sports Club - hockey preliminaries
- Guinness Sports Club - hockey preliminaries
- Polytechnic - hockey preliminaries
- National Rifle Association Ranges, Bisley - shooting
- Finchley Pool, Finchley - water polo
- English Channel, Torbay - yachting
[edit] Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
[edit] Demonstration sports
- Lacrosse
- Swedish gymnastics
[edit] Participating nations
A total of 59 nations sent athletes to compete at the London Games. Fourteen nations made their first official Olympic appearance at these Games: 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.
[edit] Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games. The host nation's team Great Britain was 12th in the medal rankings, with 3 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 |  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 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Sports • Medal counts • NOCs Medalists • Symbols |
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| Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 19061, 1908, 1912, (1916)2, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940)2, (1944)2, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 |
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| Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940)2, (1944)2, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | ||
| Recent and Upcoming Games Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 |
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