Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw

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 →

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.

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. 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

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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

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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

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

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

Results

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Qualifying round

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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

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sim Iness  United States 53.47 OR 54.60 OR 55.03 OR 53.49 54.13 52.82 55.03 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Adolfo Consolini  Italy 51.69 53.78 53.45 50.63 50.08 51.20 53.78
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

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  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.
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