MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES - 1952 Helsinki Olympiad
 
                       

The Games of the XV Olympiad held in Helsinki were opened by president Juho Paasikivi. The Finnish, lovers of the athleticism, organized very successful competitions and, for the first time, The Soviet Union took part, although their athletes were housed in a separate Olympic village. The hero of the Games was the long-distance runner Emil Zatopek, from Czechoslovakia. He became the unique person in Olympic history to win the 5,000, 10,000 and Marathon at the same Olympics. On the day he won his third gold medal, his wife, Diana, cam first in the women's javelin. The Soviet women gymnasts earned the team competition and Lars Hall, a carpenter

from Sweden, became the first nonmilitary winner of the modern pentathlon. Lis Hartel, from Denmark, was the first women allowed to compete against men in the equestrian dressage and won a silver medal, despite being paralyzed below the knees.

.

 
 
 
     

Opening date:
19th July 1952

Closing date:
3rd August 1952

Nations: 69
Sports: 17
Events: 149
Athletes: 4 955
Men: 4 436
Women:
519
Candidate cities: Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia