Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump

The men's long jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 31, 1948. Twenty-one athletes from 17 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 27cm by American Willie Steele.[2] It was the United States' fifth consecutive and tenth overall gold medal in the men's long jump. Theo Bruce won Australia's first long jump medal with his silver.

Men's long jump
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Olympic Stadium (during opening ceremony)
VenueWembley Stadium
DateJuly 31 (qualifying and final)
Competitors21 from 17 nations
Winning distance7.825
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Willie Steele
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Theo Bruce
 Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Herb Douglas
 United States
← 1936
1952 →
Video on YouTube Official Video
@ 19:25

Background

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This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the jumpers from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. Willie Steele was the favorite; he had won the 1946 and 1947 AAU championships as well as the 1948 U.S. Olympic trials (nearly breaking Jesse Owens's world record, fouling on his would-be record jump). However, Steele came into London with an injured ankle.[1]

Ceylon, Guyana, Iceland, South Korea, and Portugal each made their first appearance in the event. The United States appeared for the 11th time, the only nation to have long jumpers at each of the Games thus far.

Competition format

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The 1948 competition used a two-round format that took aspects from both the pre-1936 formats and the unusual three-round 1936 tournament. The qualifying round gave each competitor three jumps to achieve a distance of 7.20 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance. The final provided each jumper with six jumps, with the best to count (qualifying round jumps were not considered for the final).[1][3]

Records

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

World record   Jesse Owens (USA) 8.13 Ann Arbor, United States 25 May 1935
Olympic record   Jesse Owens (USA) 8.06 Berlin, Germany 4 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
Friday, 31 July 1948 11:00
16:45
Qualifying
Finals

Results

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Qualifying

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Qual. rule: qualification standard 7.20m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 B Willie Steele   United States 7.780 7.780 Q
2 B Lorenzo Wright   United States 7.530 7.530 Q
3 A Herb Douglas   United States 7.240 7.240 Q
4 A Theo Bruce   Australia 7.200 7.200 Q
5 A Enrique Kistenmacher   Argentina 7.180 X 7.100 7.180 q
6 A Harry Askew   Great Britain 7.140 6.810 7.070 7.140 q
7 A Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin   Great Britain 7.130 7.030 6.960 7.130 q
8 B Felix Würth   Austria 7.080 6.980 6.950 7.080 q
9 A Edward Adamczyk   Poland 5.070 7.030 7.030 7.030 q
10 B Harry Whittle   Great Britain 6.560 7.030 6.930 7.030 q
11 B Baldev Singh   India X 7.000 6.780 7.000 q
12 A Georges Damitio   France 6.980 6.770 6.610 6.980 q
13 B Jean Studer   Switzerland 6.820 6.880 6.940 6.940
14 B Finnbjörn Þorvaldsson   Iceland X X 6.860 6.860
15 A Jaroslav Fikejz   Czechoslovakia 6.560 6.860 6.790 6.860
16 B Álvaro Dias   Portugal 6.460 6.780 6.860 6.860
17 A Kyros Marinis   Greece X X 6.750 6.750
18 A Kim Won-kwon   South Korea 6.710 X X 6.710
19 B Charles Thompson   Guyana 6.580 6.580
20 A Jorge Aguirre   Mexico 5.910 X X 5.910
21 B Gallage Peiris   Ceylon X X X No mark
Gordon George Avery   Australia DNS
Lionel Fournier   Canada DNS
Peter Mullins   Australia DNS
Geraldo de Oliveira   Brazil DNS
Jack Parry   Canada DNS
René Valmy   France DNS

Final

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Results of individual jumps are not known other than for Steele. Steele's first jump was 7.825 metres and his second 7.680 metres; he did not take any further jumps. Steele's result was the best non-wind-assisted jump in Olympic history.

Rank Athlete Nation Distance
  Willie Steele   United States 7.825
  Theo Bruce   Australia 7.555
  Herb Douglas   United States 7.545
4 Lorenzo Wright   United States 7.450
5 Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin   Great Britain 7.270
6 Georges Damitio   France 7.070
7 Harry Whittle   Great Britain 7.030
8 Felix Würth   Austria 7.000
9 Harry Askew   Great Britain 6.935
10 Enrique Kistenmacher   Argentina 6.800
11 Edward Adamczyk   Poland 6.735
Baldev Singh   India DNS

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Long Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Long Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 267.