# Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics

At the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, 29 athletics events were contested, all for men only. The competitions were held from August 15, 1920, to August 23, 1920.

## Medal summary

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Charles Paddock United States | 10.8 | Morris Kirksey United States | 10.9 | Harry Edward Great Britain | 10.9 |
| 200 metres details | Allen Woodring United States | 22.0 | Charles Paddock United States | 22.0 | Harry Edward Great Britain | 22.2 |
| 400 metres details | Bevil Rudd South Africa | 49.6 | Guy Butler Great Britain | 50.1 | Nils Engdahl Sweden | 50.2 |
| 800 metres details | Albert Hill Great Britain | 1:53.4 | Earl Eby United States | 1:53.6 | Bevil Rudd South Africa | 1:53.6 |
| 1500 metres details | Albert Hill Great Britain | 4:01.8 | Philip Noel-Baker Great Britain | 4:02.4 | Lawrence Shields United States | 4:04.3 |
| 5000 metres details | Joseph Guillemot France | 14:55.6 | Paavo Nurmi Finland | 15:00.0 | Eric Backman Sweden | 15:13.0 |
| 10,000 metres details | Paavo Nurmi Finland | 31:45.8 | Joseph Guillemot France | 31:47.2 | James Wilson Great Britain | 31:50.8 |
| 110 metres hurdles details | Earl Thomson Canada | 14.8 WR | Harold Barron United States | 15.1 | Feg Murray United States | 15.1 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Frank Loomis United States | 54.0 WR | John Norton United States | 54.6 | August Desch United States | 54.7 |
| 3,000 metres steeplechase details | Percy Hodge Great Britain | 10:00.4 OR | Patrick Flynn United States | 10:21.1 | Ernesto Ambrosini Italy | 10:32.0 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States (USA) Charles Paddock Jackson Scholz Loren Murchison Morris Kirksey | 42.2 WR | France (FRA) René Lorain René Tirard René Mourlon Émile Ali-Khan | 42.5 | Sweden (SWE) Agne Holmström William Petersson Sven Malm Nils Sandström | 42.8 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | Great Britain (GBR) Cecil Griffiths Robert Lindsay John Ainsworth-Davis Guy Butler | 3:22.2 | South Africa (RSA) Henry Dafel Clarence Oldfield Jack Oosterlaak Bevil Rudd | 3:23.0 | France (FRA) Géo André Gaston Féry Maurice Delvart André Devaux | 3:23.5 |
| 3000 metres team race details | United States (USA) Horace Brown Arlie Schardt Ivan Dresser | 10 pts | Great Britain (GBR) Joe Blewitt Albert Hill William Seagrove | 20 pts | Sweden (SWE) Eric Backman Sven Lundgren Edvin Wide | 24 pts |
| Marathon details | Hannes Kolehmainen Finland | 2:32:35.8 WR | Jüri Lossmann Estonia | 2:32:48.6 | Valerio Arri Italy | 2:36:32.8 |
| 3 kilometres walk details | Ugo Frigerio Italy | 13:14.2 OR | George Parker Australia | (13:19.6) | Richard Remer United States | (13:22.2) |
| 10 kilometres walk details | Ugo Frigerio Italy | 48:06.2 | Joseph Pearman United States | (49:40.2) | Charles Gunn Great Britain | (49:43.9) |
| Individual cross country details | Paavo Nurmi Finland | 27:15.0 | Eric Backman Sweden | 27:17.6 | Heikki Liimatainen Finland | 27:37.0 |
| Team cross country details | Finland (FIN) Paavo Nurmi Heikki Liimatainen Teodor Koskenniemi | 10 pts | Great Britain (GBR) James Wilson Anton Hegarty Alfred Nichols | 21 pts | Sweden (SWE) Eric Backman Gustaf Mattsson Hilding Ekman | 23 pts |
| High jump details | Richmond Landon United States | 1.936 m OR | Harold Muller United States | 1.90 m | Bo Ekelund Sweden | 1.90 m |
| Pole vault details | Frank Foss United States | 4.09 m WR | Henry Petersen Denmark | 3.70 m | Edwin Myers United States | 3.60 m |
| Long jump details | William Petersson Sweden | 7.15 m | Carl Johnson United States | 7.095 m | Erik Abrahamsson Sweden | 7.08 m |
| Triple jump details | Vilho Tuulos Finland | 14.505 m | Folke Jansson Sweden | 14.48 m | Erik Almlöf Sweden | 14.27 m |
| Shot put details | Ville Pörhölä Finland | 14.81 m | Elmer Niklander Finland | 14.155 m | Harry Liversedge United States | 14.15 m |
| Discus throw details | Elmer Niklander Finland | 44.685 m | Armas Taipale Finland | 44.19 m | Gus Pope United States | 42.13 m |
| Hammer throw details | Patrick Ryan United States | 52.875 m | Carl Johan Lind Sweden | 48.43 m | Basil Bennett United States | 48.25 m |
| Javelin throw details | Jonni Myyrä Finland | 65.78 m OR | Urho Peltonen Finland | 63.605 m | Pekka Johansson Finland | 63.095 m |
| 56 lb (25 kg) weight throw details | Pat McDonald United States | 11.265 m OR | Patrick Ryan United States | 10.965 m | Carl Johan Lind Sweden | 10.255 m |
| Pentathlon details | Eero Lehtonen Finland | 14 pts | Everett Bradley United States | 24 pts | Hugo Lahtinen Finland | 26 pts |
| Decathlon details | Helge Løvland Norway | 6803.355 pts | Brutus Hamilton United States | 6771.085 pts | Bertil Ohlson Sweden | 6580.030 pts |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 9 | 12 | 8 | 29 |
| 2 | Finland (FIN) | 9 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | Great Britain (GBR) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Italy (ITA) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 |
| 6 | France (FRA) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | South Africa (RSA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Estonia (EST) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 87 |

## Participating nations

509 athletes from 25 nations competed. Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Estonia, Monaco, New Zealand, and Spain competed for the first time.
| Australia (4)  Belgium (42)  Canada (14)  Chile (2)  Czechoslovakia (16)  Denmark (18)  Egypt (2)  Estonia (7)  Finland (26) | France (59)  Great Britain (41)  Greece (9)  India (3)  Italy (24)  Japan (11)  Luxembourg (7)  Monaco (2)  Netherlands (11) | New Zealand (2)  Norway (16)  South Africa (13)  Spain (14)  Sweden (63)  Switzerland (13)  United States (90) |