Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

The men's high jump at the 1952 Olympic Games took place on 20 July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Thirty-six athletes from 24 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. American athlete Walt Davis won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record.[2] It was the Americans' 10th victory in the men's high jump. José da Conceição won Brazil's first medal in the men's high jump, with bronze.

Men's high jump
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Wiesner (left) and Davis
VenueHelsinki Olympic Stadium
DateJuly 20
Competitors36 from 24 nations
Winning height2.04 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Walt Davis  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ken Wiesner  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) José da Conceição  Brazil
← 1948
1956 →

Background

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This was the 12th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1948 Games were fifth-place finisher Georges Damitio of France, seventh-place finishers Alan Paterson of Great Britain and Hans Wahli of Switzerland, thirteenth-place finisher Birger Leirud of Norway, fourteenth-place finisher Hércules Azcune of Uruguay, and nineteenth-place finisher Bjørn Gundersen of Norway. The "heavy favorite" in 1952 was Walt Davis.[1]

Ceylon, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, the Soviet Union, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 12th time, having competed at each edition of the Olympic men's high jump to that point.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. The qualifying round had the bar set at 1.70 metres, 1.80 metres, 1.84 metres, and 1.87 metres; some jumpers apparently took jumps at lower heights as well. All jumpers clearing 1.87 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. The final had jumps at 1.70 metres (which most finalists skipped), 1.80 metres, 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, 1.98 metres, 2.01 metres, 2.04 metres, and 2.07 metres. Each athlete had three attempts at each height.[1][3]

Records

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Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Lester Steers (USA) 2.11 Los Angeles, United States 17 June 1941
Olympic record   Cornelius Johnson (USA) 2.03 Berlin, Germany 2 August 1936

Walt Davis cleared 2.04 metres to break the Olympic record. His attempts at 2.07 metres were unsuccessful.

Schedule

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

Date Time Round
Sunday, 20 July 1952 10:00
15:00
Qualifying
Final

Results

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Key

  • o = Height cleared
  • x = Height failed
  • = Height passed
  • r  = Retired
  • SB = Season's best
  • PB = Personal best
  • NR = National record
  • AR = Area record
  • OR = Olympic record
  • WR = World record
  • WL = World lead
  • NM = No mark
  • DNS = Did not start
  • DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying round

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Qualification Criteria: Qualifying Performance 1.87 advance to the Final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1.70 1.80 1.84 1.87 Height Notes
1 A Arnold Betton   United States o 1.87 Q
A Walt Davis   United States o 1.87 Q
B Gösta Svensson   Sweden o 1.87 Q
4 A Bjørn Gundersen   Norway o o 1.87 Q
B Josia Majekodummi   Nigeria o o 1.87 Q
B Nafiu Osagie   Nigeria o o 1.87 Q
B James Owoo   Ghana o o 1.87 Q
B Ken Wiesner   United States o o 1.87 Q
9 A Boniface Guobadia   Nigeria o o o 1.87 Q
10 A Claude Bénard   France o o o o 1.87 Q
A Jacques Delelienne   Belgium o o o o 1.87 Q
A Mihajlo Dimitrijević   Yugoslavia o o o o 1.87 Q
A Pekka Halme   Finland o o o o 1.87 Q
A Albert Koskinen   Finland o o o o 1.87 Q
B Alan Paterson   Great Britain o o o o 1.87 Q
B Ron Pavitt   Great Britain o o o o 1.87 Q
B José da Conceição   Brazil o o o o 1.87 Q
B Hans Wahli   Switzerland o o o o 1.87 Q
B Peter Wells   Great Britain o o o o 1.87 Q
20 A Georges Damitio   France ? ? ? o 1.87 Q, one miss before 1.87
21 B Birger Leirud   Norway ? ? o 1.87 Q, two misses before 1.87
22 B Arne Ljungqvist   Sweden xo 1.87 Q
B Ioan Soter   Romania xo 1.87 Q
24 A Yury Ilyasov   Soviet Union ? ? xo 1.87 Q, two misses before 1.87
25 A Pat Leane   Australia ? ? ? xo 1.87 Q, two misses before 1.87
26 B Maram Sudarmodjo   Indonesia o o xxo 1.87 Q
27 A Teófilo Davis   Venezuela o o o xxo 1.87 Q
28 B Yevhen Vansovych   Soviet Union ? ? xxo 1.87 Q, two misses before 1.87
29 A Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam   Ceylon ? ? o xxx 1.84 Two misses before 1.84, started under 1.70 metres
30 A Walter Herssens   Belgium o o xxo xxx 1.84 Started under 1.70 metres
31 A Andres Franco   Philippines ? ? xxo xxx 1.84 One miss before 1.84, started under 1.70 metres
32 A Hércules Azcune   Uruguay o o xxx 1.80
A Ernesto Lagos   Chile o o xxx 1.80
34 B Mehnga Singh   India o xxx 1.70
35 A Arieh Batun-Kleinstub   Israel o xxx 1.70 Started under 1.70 metres
36 B Emad El-Din Shafei   Egypt xo xxx 1.70

Final

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The final was held on July 20.

Rank Athlete Nation 1.70 1.80 1.90 1.95 1.98 2.01 2.04 2.07 Height Notes
  Walt Davis   United States o o o o o o xxx 2.04 OR
  Ken Wiesner   United States o o o o o xxx 2.01
  José da Conceição   Brazil o o o o xxx 1.98
4 Gösta Svensson   Sweden o xxo xxx 1.98
5 Ron Pavitt   Great Britain o o o o xxx 1.95
6 Ioan Soter   Romania o xo xxx 1.95
7 Arnold Betton   United States o o xo xxx 1.95
8 Bjørn Gundersen   Norway o xxx 1.90
9 Jacques Delelienne   Belgium o o xxx 1.90
Josiah Majekodunmi   Nigeria o o xxx 1.90
11 Pekka Halme   Finland o o o xxx 1.90
Peter Wells   Great Britain o o o xxx 1.90
13 Georges Damitio   France xo o xxx 1.90
Yury Ilyasov   Soviet Union xo o xxx 1.90
15 Arne Ljungqvist   Sweden xxo xxx 1.90
16 Hans Wahli   Switzerland o xo xxx 1.90
17 Birger Leirud   Norway xxo xxx 1.90
18 Claude Bénard   France o xxo xxx 1.90
Nafiu Osagie   Nigeria o xxo xxx 1.90
20 Mihajlo Dimitrijević   Yugoslavia o xxx 1.80
Boniface Guobadia   Nigeria o xxx 1.80
James Owoo   Ghana o xxx 1.80
Maram Sudarmodjo   Indonesia o xxx 1.80
24 Téofilo Davis   Venezuela o o xxx 1.80
Albert Koskinen   Finland o o xxx 1.80
Pat Leane   Australia o o xxx 1.80
Alan Paterson   Great Britain o o xxx 1.80
28 Yevhen Vansovych   Soviet Union xo xxx 1.80

References

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  1. ^ a b c "High Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's High Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 308.
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