Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
1948 Summer Olympics
The Games of the XIV Olympiad were held in 1948 in London, United Kingdom. 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.
| Games of the XIV Olympiad | |
| Nations participating | 59 |
| Athletes participating | 4,099 (3,714 men, 385 women) |
| Events | 136 in 17 sports |
| Opening ceremonies | July 29, 1948 |
| Closing ceremonies | August 14, 1948 |
| Officially opened by | HM King George VI |
| Athlete's Oath | Don Finlay |
| Judge's Oath: | - |
| Olympic Torch | John Mark |
| Contents |
Highlights
- With World War II in recent memory, Germany and Japan were not invited for the Games, although Italy was.
- Fanny Blankers-Koen was the star of the Games, winning four gold medals on the track.
- Ilona Elek (Hungary) and Jan Brzak (Czechoslovakia) successfully defended their Olympic titles they won 12 years prior.
- 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 6th 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.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
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Medal count
Top medal-collecting nations:
(for the full table, see 1948 Summer Olympics medal count)
| 1948 Summer Olympics medal count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Country | 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 |
See also
External links
12-19-2008 14:25:18
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details