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Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw

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Men's hammer throw
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Silver medalist Ivan Gubijan
VenueWembley Stadium
DatesJuly 31 (qualifying and final)
Competitors24 from 17 nations
Winning distance56.07
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Imre Németh
 Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ivan Gubijan
 Yugoslavia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Robert Bennett
 United States
← 1936
1952 →
Video on YouTube Official Video
@ 22:55

The men's hammer throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 31. There were 24 competitors from 17 nations.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Imre Németh of Hungary.[2] It was the nation's first medal in the men's hammer throw. Ivan Gubijan of Yugoslavia took silver; that nation also earned its first medal in the event. Robert Bennett of the United States received the bronze medal, returning the American team to the podium after a one-Games absence.

Background

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This was the 10th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. One of the 17 finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned: ninth-place finisher Henry Dreyer of the United States. The favorite was Imre Németh of Hungary, who had broken the world record two weeks before the Games. His strongest competition consisted of German throwers, who could not compete because Germany was not invited to the Games as a result of World War II. Bo Ericson of Sweden was expected to be the biggest contender to Németh.[1]

India and South Korea each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 10th time, the only nation to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point.

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 49.00 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.[1][3]

Records

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

World record  Imre Németh (HUN) 59.02 Tata, Hungary 14 July 1948
Olympic record  Karl Hein (GER) 56.49 Berlin, Germany 3 August 1936

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 31 July 1948 10:00
15:30
Qualifying
Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Qual. rule: qualification standard 49.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Imre Németh  Hungary 54.02 54.02 Q
2 Einar Söderqvist  Sweden 52.39 52.39 Q
3 Bo Ericson  Sweden 52.28 52.28 Q
4 Svend Aage Frederiksen  Denmark 47.72 51.35 51.35 Q
5 Robert Bennett  United States 51.13 51.13 Q
6 Teseo Taddia  Italy 51.06 51.06 Q
7 Hans Houtzager  Netherlands 50.91 50.91 Q
8 Ivan Gubijan  Yugoslavia 50.44 50.44 Q
9 Henry Dreyer  United States X 50.37 50.37 Q
10 Lauri Tamminen  Finland 49.82 49.82 Q
11 Duncan Clark  Great Britain 49.76 49.76 Q
12 Gin Gang-hwan  South Korea 39.03 49.49 49.49 Q
13 Samuel Felton  United States 49.20 49.20 Q
14 Reino Kuivamäki  Finland 47.84 X 48.99 48.99
15 Poul Cederquist  Denmark 48.16 X X 48.16
16 Ewan Douglas  Great Britain 45.91 47.77 X 47.77
17 Norman Drake  Great Britain 47.60 47.36 47.75 47.75
18 Pierre Legrain  France 44.03 45.70 47.60 47.60
19 Dan Coyle  Ireland 47.11 X X 47.11
20 Juan Fusé  Argentina 45.77 46.31 46.95 46.95
21 Edmundo Zúñiga  Chile 44.03 43.93 42.22 44.03
22 Jaroslav Knotek  Czechoslovakia 40.97 42.46 X 42.46
23 Nat Singh Somnath  India X 41.36 X 41.36
24 Francisco González  Mexico 36.67 39.20 39.50 39.50

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance
1st place, gold medalist(s) Imre Németh  Hungary 53.59 55.44 54.94 50.05 X 56.07 56.07
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ivan Gubijan  Yugoslavia X X 54.27 51.76 54.22 X 54.27
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Robert Bennett  United States 52.53 51.11 52.08 53.73 51.21 49.81 53.73
4 Samuel Felton  United States Unknown 53.66
5 Lauri Tamminen  Finland Unknown 53.08
6 Bo Ericson  Sweden Unknown 52.98
7 Teseo Taddia  Italy Unknown Did not advance 51.74
8 Einar Söderqvist  Sweden Unknown Did not advance 51.48
9 Henry Dreyer  United States Unknown Did not advance 51.37
10 Svend Aage Frederiksen  Denmark Unknown Did not advance 50.07
11 Duncan Clark  Great Britain Unknown Did not advance 48.35
12 Hans Houtzager  Netherlands Unknown Did not advance 45.69
13 Gin Gang-hwan  South Korea Unknown Did not advance 43.93

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Hammer Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Hammer Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 273.
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