# Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics

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

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 12 | 5 | 10 | 27 |
| 2 | Sweden | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | France | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 5 | Hungary | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Australia | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Italy | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | Finland | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Jamaica | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Argentina | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Austria | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Belgium | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Great Britain | 0 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| 15 | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Ceylon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Norway | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Yugoslavia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Panama | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Denmark | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (22 entries) | Totals (22 entries) | 33 | 33 | 33 | 99 |

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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 (OR) | 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 | Willem Slijkhuis Netherlands | 3:50.4 |
| 5000 metres details | Gaston Reiff Belgium | 14:17.6 (OR) | Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia | 14:17.8 | Willem Slijkhuis Netherlands | 14:26.8 |
| 10,000 metres details | Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia | 29:59.6 (OR) | Alain Mimoun France | 30:47.4 | Bertil Albertsson Sweden | 30:53.6 |
| 110 metres hurdles details | William Porter United States | 13.9 (OR) | Clyde Scott United States | 14.1 | Craig Dixon United States | 14.1 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Roy Cochran United States | 51.1 (OR) | 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 Jack 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'Hôtel 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 | Étienne Gailly Belgium | 2:35:33.6 |
| 10 kilometres walk details | John Mikaelsson Sweden | 45:13.2 (OR) | 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 | Bob Richards United States | 4.20 m |
| Long jump details | Willie Steele United States | 7.825 m | Bill Bruce Australia | 7.55 m | Herb Douglas United States | 7.54 m |
| Triple jump details | Arne Åhman Sweden | 15.40 m | George Avery Australia | 15.36 m | Ruhi Sarıalp Turkey | 15.02 m |
| Shot put details | Wilbur Thompson United States | 17.12 m (OR) | Jim Delaney United States | 16.68 m | Jim Fuchs United States | 16.42 m |
| Discus throw details | Adolfo Consolini Italy | 52.78 m (OR) | 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 | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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 (OR) | Audrey Williamson Great Britain | 25.1 | Audrey Patterson United States | 25.2 |
| 80 metres hurdles details | Fanny Blankers-Koen Netherlands | 11.2 (OR) | 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 (OR) | Dorothy Tyler Great Britain | 1.68 m (OR) | Micheline Ostermeyer France | 1.61 m |
| Long jump details | Olga Gyarmati Hungary | 5.695 m (OR) | Noemí Simonetto Argentina | 5.60 m | Ann-Britt Leyman Sweden | 5.575 m |
| Shot put details | Micheline Ostermeyer France | 13.75 m (OR) | 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 Mazéas France | 40.47 m |
| Javelin throw details | Herma Bauma Austria | 45.57 m (OR) | Kaisa Parviainen Finland | 43.79 m | Lily Carlstedt Denmark | 42.08 m |

## Participating Nations

* Argentina (24)
* Australia (20)
* Austria (16)
* Belgium (18)
* Bermuda (6)
* Brazil (12)
* Burma (1)
* Canada (28)
* Ceylon (3)
* Chile (15)
* Republic of China (3)
* Colombia (2)
* Cuba (3)
* Czechoslovakia (11)
* Denmark (16)
* Egypt (2)
* Finland (36)
* France (67)
* Great Britain (80)
* Greece (16)
* Guyana (1)
* Hungary (13)
* Iceland (12)
* India (8)
* Iraq (2)
* Ireland (13)
* Italy (25)
* Jamaica (10)
* South Korea (9)
* Liechtenstein (2)
* Luxembourg (7)
* Malta (1)
* Mexico (5)
* Netherlands (23)
* New Zealand (4)
* Norway (20)
* Pakistan (5)
* Panama (1)
* Peru (9)
* Philippines (1)
* Poland (8)
* Portugal (6)
* Puerto Rico (4)
* Singapore (1)
* South Africa (6)
* Spain (12)
* Sweden (49)
* Switzerland (23)
* Trinidad and Tobago (3)
* Turkey (13)
* United States (81)
* Uruguay (5)
* Yugoslavia (15)

## 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 |