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.[1] Thirty-two athletes from 20 nations competed.[2] 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.

Men's discus throw
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
VenueHelsinki Olympic Stadium
Date22 July (qualifying and final)
Competitors32 from 20 nations
Winning distance55.03 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sim Iness
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Adolfo Consolini
 Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) James Dillion
 United States
← 1948
1956 →

Background edit

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.[2]

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 edit

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.[2][3]

Records edit

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 edit

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 22 July 1952 10:00
16:00
Qualifying
Final

Results edit

Qualifying round edit

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
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
A Cummin Clancy   Ireland DNS
B Mihai Raica   Romania DNS
B Georgios Roubanis   Greece DNS
B José Luis Torres   Spain DNS
B Hermann Tunner   Austria DNS

Final edit

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 50.06
8 Giuseppe Tosi   Italy 45.85 49.03 48.97 Did not advance 49.03
9 Nikolaos Syllas   Greece 48.99 48.36 47.17 Did not advance 48.99
10 Boris Matveyev   Soviet Union 47.27 44.47 48.70 Did not advance 48.70
11 Boris Butenko   Soviet Union X 43.66 48.15 Did not advance 48.15
12 Veikko Nyqvist   Finland 47.72 45.99 46.63 Did not advance 47.72
13 Jørgen Munk Plum   Denmark 38.73 45.20 47.26 Did not advance 47.26
14 Roy Pella   Canada X 46.63 45.47 Did not advance 46.63
15 Konstantinos Giataganas   Greece 42.40 46.23 X Did not advance 46.23
16 Per Stavem   Norway 39.78 X 46.00 Did not advance 46.00
17 Jean Maissant   France 43.40 42.11 35.82 Did not advance 43.40

References edit

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's Discus Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 318.

External links edit