1948 Summer Olympics - Definition and Overview

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.

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:

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

• International Olympic Committee
• WikiProject Sports Olympics
• IOC country codes

External links

• IOC Site on 1948 Summer Olympics (http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1948)