Home > 1948 Summer Olympics

1 Highlights

• With World War II in recent memory, Germany and Japan were not invited for the Games, although Italy was.
• Fanny Blankers-Koenhurdles event at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Left of her is silver medallist Maureen Gardner, while 3rd place finisher Shirley Strickland is depicted on the far left. Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen ( April 26, 1918 January 25, 2004) was a Dutch athlet was the star of the Games, winning four gold medals on the track.
• Ilona ElekIlona Elek-Schacherer ( May 17, 1907 July 24, 1988) was a Hungarian Olympic fencer. Elek won the foil event in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. She was already 29 and had never competed in the Olympics before. When the Games resumed after Worl ( HungaryThe Republic of Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. It is known locally as the Country of the Magyars or Magyarorszag''. Magyar Koztarsasag ( In Detail) ( Full s) and Jan BrzakJan Brzak was a Czechoslovak canoeist who won the gold medal in canoeing at 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics. ( CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia ( Czech: Ceskoslovensko Slovak: Cesko-Slovensko before 1990 Ceskoslovensko ) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1992 (except for the World War II period). On January 1, 1993, it peacefully split into the Czech Repu) successfully defended their Olympic titles they won 12 years prior.
• In field hockeyField hockey is a popular sport for men and women in many countries around the world. It is simply known as hockey in most countries, especially those in which ice hockey is not very prominent. Field hockey has several regular, prestigious international t, IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. 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.