# Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

The men's discus throw event at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place on 22 July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Thirty-two athletes from 20 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Sim Iness of the United States, the nation's eighth victory in the men's discus throw. Defending champion Adolfo Consolini of Italy took silver, becoming the fourth man to win two medals in the event. American James Dillion won bronze.

## Background

This was the 12th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Eight of the top nine finishers from the 1948 Games returned: gold medalist Adolfo Consolini and silver medalist Giuseppe Tosi of Italy, bronze medalist Fortune Gordien of the United States, fifth-place finisher Ferenc Klics of Hungary, sixth-place finisher Veikko Nyqvist and ninth-place finisher Arvo Huutoniemi of Finland, seventh-place finisher (and 1936 finalist) Nikolaos Syllas of Greece, and eighth-place finisher Stein Johnson of Norway. Consolini, also the 1950 European champion, was favored to repeat. The American team was also strong, as usual, with Gordien holding the world record and Sim Iness winning the U.S. Olympic trials.
Australia, Iceland, Israel, and the Soviet Union each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 12th appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.

## Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 46.00 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top six competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Fortune Gordien (USA) | 56.97 | Hämeenlinna, Finland | 14 August 1949 |
| Olympic record | Adolfo Consolini (ITA) | 52.78 | London, United Kingdom | 2 August 1948 |
The three medalists (Sim Iness, Adolfo Consolini, and James Dillion) all bettered the old Olympic record. Iness was the first to do so, throwing 53.47 metres in the first set of throws in the final. Iness improved on his new record with 54.60 metres in the second set and 55.03 metres in the third.

## Schedule

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Tuesday, 22 July 1952 | 10:00 16:00 | Qualifying Final |

## Results
### Qualifying round

Qualification: Qualifying Performance 46.00 advance to the final.
| Rank | Group | Athlete | Nation | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance | Notes |
| 1 | A | Adolfo Consolini | Italy | 51.89 | — | — | 51.89 | Q |
| 2 | A | Fortune Gordien | United States | 38.84 | 45.61 | 50.34 | 50.34 | Q |
| 3 | A | Oto Grigalka | Soviet Union | 43.21 | 48.93 | — | 48.93 | Q |
| 4 | A | Sim Iness | United States | 48.90 | — | — | 48.90 | Q |
| 5 | A | James Dillion | United States | 47.92 | — | — | 47.92 | Q |
| 6 | B | Nikolaos Syllas | Greece | 47.84 | — | — | 47.84 | Q |
| 7 | A | Ferenc Klics | Hungary | 44.61 | 47.63 | — | 47.63 | Q |
| 8 | B | Roland Nilsson | Sweden | 47.18 | — | — | 47.18 | Q |
| 9 | B | Per Stavem | Norway | 46.74 | — | — | 46.74 | Q |
| 10 | B | Giuseppe Tosi | Italy | 46.59 | — | — | 46.59 | Q |
| 11 | B | Roy Pella | Canada | 46.58 | — | — | 46.58 | Q |
| 11 | B | Jørgen Munk Plum | Denmark | 46.58 | — | — | 46.58 | Q |
| 13 | B | Jean Maissant | France | 45.45 | X | 46.47 | 46.47 | Q |
| 14 | A | Boris Butenko | Soviet Union | 46.43 | — | — | 46.43 | Q |
| 15 | B | Veikko Nyqvist | Finland | 46.41 | — | — | 46.41 | Q |
| 16 | B | Boris Matveyev | Soviet Union | 42.18 | 46.31 | — | 46.31 | Q |
| 17 | B | Konstantinos Giataganas | Greece | 44.88 | 46.05 | — | 46.05 | Q |
| 18 | B | Olli Partanen | Finland | 45.71 | X | 45.33 | 45.71 | |
| 19 | B | Mark Pharaoh | Great Britain | 43.99 | 45.05 | 45.24 | 45.24 | |
| 20 | A | Stein Johnson | Norway | 40.36 | 45.11 | 45.19 | 45.19 | |
| 21 | B | Ian Reed | Australia | 41.51 | 45.12 | 44.24 | 45.12 | |
| 22 | A | Friðrik Guðmundsson | Iceland | 45.00 | X | 43.38 | 45.00 | |
| 23 | A | Oskar Häfliger | Switzerland | 38.90 | X | 44.73 | 44.73 | |
| 24 | B | Þorsteinn Löve | Iceland | 44.27 | X | 44.28 | 44.28 | |
| 25 | A | Lucien Guillier | France | 43.88 | X | X | 43.88 | |
| 26 | A | Kristian Johansen | Norway | 41.76 | 43.46 | X | 43.46 | |
| 27 | A | Josef Hipp | Germany | 39.62 | X | 43.38 | 43.38 | |
| 28 | A | Hernán Haddad | Chile | X | 42.89 | 41.47 | 42.89 | |
| 29 | A | Arvo Huutoniemi | Finland | 40.07 | 42.79 | 42.51 | 42.79 | |
| 30 | A | Raymond Kintziger | Belgium | 40.63 | 41.46 | 37.49 | 41.46 | |
| 31 | B | Nuri Turan | Turkey | 38.31 | 41.45 | 39.52 | 41.45 | |
| 32 | A | Uri Gallin | Israel | X | 40.76 | 40.36 | 40.76 | |
| — | A | Bob Adams | Canada | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | |
| — | A | Cummin Clancy | Ireland | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | |
| — | B | Mihai Raica | Romania | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | |
| — | B | Georgios Roubanis | Greece | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | |
| — | B | José Luis Torres | Spain | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | |
| — | B | Hermann Tunner | Austria | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance | Notes |
| | Sim Iness | United States | 53.47 OR | 54.60 OR | 55.03 OR | 53.49 | 54.13 | 52.82 | 55.03 | OR |
| | Adolfo Consolini | Italy | 51.69 | 53.78 | 53.45 | 50.63 | 50.08 | 51.20 | 53.78 | |
| | James Dillion | United States | 52.47 | 48.06 | 51.76 | 53.28 | X | 52.28 | 53.28 | |
| 4 | Fortune Gordien | United States | 52.52 | 52.66 | 51.71 | 51.48 | X | 49.93 | 52.66 | |
| 5 | Ferenc Klics | Hungary | 48.74 | 49.07 | 51.13 | X | 49.79 | X | 51.13 | |
| 6 | Oto Grigalka | Soviet Union | 50.71 | X | 47.84 | X | X | X | 50.71 | |
| 7 | Roland Nilsson | Sweden | X | 48.90 | 50.06 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 50.06 | |
| 8 | Giuseppe Tosi | Italy | 45.85 | 49.03 | 48.97 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 49.03 | |
| 9 | Nikolaos Syllas | Greece | 48.99 | 48.36 | 47.17 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 48.99 | |
| 10 | Boris Matveyev | Soviet Union | 47.27 | 44.47 | 48.70 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 48.70 | |
| 11 | Boris Butenko | Soviet Union | X | 43.66 | 48.15 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 48.15 | |
| 12 | Veikko Nyqvist | Finland | 47.72 | 45.99 | 46.63 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 47.72 | |
| 13 | Jørgen Munk Plum | Denmark | 38.73 | 45.20 | 47.26 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 47.26 | |
| 14 | Roy Pella | Canada | X | 46.63 | 45.47 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 46.63 | |
| 15 | Konstantinos Giataganas | Greece | 42.40 | 46.23 | X | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 46.23 | |
| 16 | Per Stavem | Norway | 39.78 | X | 46.00 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 46.00 | |
| 17 | Jean Maissant | France | 43.40 | 42.11 | 35.82 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 43.40 | |