Australia at the 1952 Summer Olympics
# Australia at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Australia competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 81 competitors, 71 men and 10 women, took part in 67 events in 12 sports. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. As the country hosted the next Olympics in Melbourne, an Australian segment was performed at the closing ceremony.

## Medalists

### Gold

* Marjorie Jackson-Nelson — Athletics, Women's 100 metres
* Marjorie Jackson-Nelson — Athletics, Women's 200 metres
* Shirley Strickland — Athletics, Women's 80m Hurdles
* Russell Mockridge — Cycling, Men's 1000m Time Trial
* Lionel Cox and Russell Mockridge — Cycling, Men's 2000m Tandem
* John Davies — Swimming, Men's 200m Breaststroke

### Silver

* Lionel Cox — Cycling, Men's 1000m Sprint (Scratch)
* Mervyn Wood — Rowing, Men's Single Sculls

### Bronze

* Shirley Strickland — Athletics, Women's 100 metres
* David Anderson, Phil Cayzer, Ernest Chapman, Tom Chessel, Mervyn Finlay, Nimrod Greenwood, Edward Pain, Bob Tinning, and Geoff Willamson — Rowing, Men's Eights
* Vern Barberis — Weightlifting, Men's Lightweight

## Athletics

### Key

* Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
* Q = Qualified for the next round
* q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
* NR = National record
* N/A = Round not applicable for the event
* Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

### Track & road events

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| John Treloar | 100 m | 10.92 | 1 Q | 10.84 | 2 Q | 10.76 | 3 Q | 10.91 | 6 |
| Edwin Carr | 200 m | 22.19 | 1 Q | 21.98 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Treloar | 200 m | 21.75 | 1 Q | 21.86 | 1 Q | DNF | DNF | did not advance | did not advance |
| Edwin Carr | 400 m | 48.23 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Morris Curotta | 400 m | 48.87 | 2 Q | 48.86 | 4 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Don MacMillan | 800 m | 1:55.0 | 3 Q | — | — | 1:58.4 | 8 | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Landy | 1500 m | 3:57.0 | 5 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Don MacMillan | 1500 m | 3:52.0 | 4 Q | — | — | 3:50.8 | 3 Q | 3:49.6 | 9 |
| John Landy | 5000 m | 14:56.4 | 10 | — | — | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Les Perry | 5000 m | 14:27.0 | 4 Q | — | — | — | — | 14:23.6 | 6 |
| Les Perry | 10,000 m | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF |
| Ken Doubleday | 110 m hurdles | 14.5 | 1 Q | — | — | 14.5 | 3 Q | 14.82 | 5 |
| Ray Weinberg | 110 m hurdles | 14.4 | 1 Q | — | — | 14.5 | 3 Q | 15.15 | 6 |
| Ken Doubleday | 400 m hurdles | 55.4 | 3 Q | 1:00.2 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Edwin Carr Morris Curotta Ken Doubleday Ray Weinberg | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.3 | 5 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Edwin Carr Morris Curotta Ken Doubleday Ray Weinberg | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:16.00 | 5 | — | — | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| Robert Prentice | Marathon | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2:43:13.4 | 37 |
| Claude Smeal | Marathon | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2:52:23.0 | 45 |
| Don Keane | 10 km walk | 46:55.2 | 5 Q | — | — | — | — | 47:37.0 | 10 |

### Field events

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Distance | Position | Distance | Position |
| Pat Leane | Long jump | 6.40 | 24 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Pat Leane | High jump | 1.87 | 25 Q | 1.80 | 24 |
| Ian Reed | Discus throw | 45.00 | 21 | did not advance | did not advance |

### Combined events – Decathlon

| Athlete | Event | 100 m | LJ | SP | HJ | 400 m | 110H | DT | PV | JT | 1500 m | Final | Rank |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pat Leane | Result | 11.82 | 5.22 | DNS | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF |
| Pat Leane | Points | 623 | 341 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF |

### Track & road events

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Winsome Cripps | 100 m | 12.0 | 1 Q | 12.1 | 3 Q | 12.0 | 2 Q | 11.9 | 4 |
| Marjorie Jackson | 100 m | 11.6 | 1 Q | 11.6 | 1 Q | 11.5 | 1 Q | 11.5 | |
| Shirley Strickland de la Hunty | 100 m | 12.0 | 1 Q | 12.0 | 3 Q | 11.9 | 2 Q | 11.9 | |
| Winsome Cripps | 200 m | 24.4 | 2 Q | — | — | 24.3 | 2 Q | 24.2 | 4 |
| Marjorie Jackson | 200 m | 23.6 | 1 Q | — | — | 23.4 | 1 Q | 23.7 | |
| Shirley Strickland de la Hunty | 80 m hurdles | 11.0 | 1 Q | — | — | 10.8 | 1 Q | 10.9 | |
| Winsome Cripps Marjorie Jackson Verna Johnston Shirley Strickland de la Hunty | 4 × 100 m relay | 46.1 | 1 Q | — | — | — | — | 46.6 | 5 |

### Field events

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Distance | Position | Distance | Position |
| Verna Johnston | Long jump | 5.58 | 10 Q | 5.74 | 8 |

## Boxing

| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Ronald Gower | Bantamweight | Niedźwiedzki (POL) L TKO | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Donald McDonnell | Featherweight | Roth (GER) L PTS | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Norman Jones | Light welterweight | Mednov (URS) L TKO | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Tony Madigan | Middleweight | Bye | Silchev (URS) W PTS | Sjölin (SWE) L PTS | did not advance | did not advance | 5 |
| Carl Fitzgerald | Heavyweight | Bye | Netuka (TCH) L PTS | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

## Cycling

### Road races

Individual times added to together for team race, 3 times needed for team event.

| Cyclist | Event | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - |
| Cyclist | Event | Result | Rank |
| Peter Pryor | Individual road race | 5:22:33.5 | 34 |
| Jim Nevin | Individual road race | 5:22:33.6 | 35 |
| Ken Caves | Individual road race | did not finish | did not finish |
| Peter Nelson | Individual road race | did not finish | did not finish |
| Peter Pryor Jim Nevin Ken Caves Peter Nelson | Team road race | did not finish | did not finish |

### Track

Ranks given are within the heat.

| Cyclist | Event | First round | First round | First repechage | First repechage | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Second repechage | Second repechage | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cyclist | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Lionel Cox | Sprint | 11.9 | 1 Q | Directly advanced | Directly advanced | 12.5 | 1 Q | Directly advanced | Directly advanced | 11.6 | 1 Q | | |
| Russell Mockridge | Time trial | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1:11.1 | |
| Lionel Cox Russell Mockridge | Tandem | 11.4 | 1 Q | Directly advanced | Directly advanced | 11.1 | 1 Q | Directly advanced | Directly advanced | 11.0 | 1 Q | 11.0 | |
| Jim Nevin Ken Caves Peter Nelson Peter Pryor | Team pursuit | 5:11.1 | 17 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

## Diving

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Preliminaries | Preliminaries | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Ronald Faulds | 3 m springboard | 59.90 | 24 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Francis Murphy | 3 m springboard | 48.82 | 34 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Francis Murphy | 10 m platform | 64.10 | 21 | did not advance | did not advance |

## Fencing

Six fencers, four men and two women, represented Australia in 1952.

### Men

| Fencer | Event | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fencer | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| John Fethers | Foil | 5–2 | 1T Q | 2–3 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Ivan Lund | Foil | 3–3 | 5 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Jock Gibson | Foil | 1–4 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Fethers | Épée | 3–4 | 4 Q | 4–4 | 5 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Ivan Lund | Épée | 5–2 | 1 Q | 1–6 | 8 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Charles Stanmore | Épée | 1–6 | 8 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Fethers | Sabre | 2–6 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Jock Gibson | Sabre | 2–5 | 7 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Ivan Lund | Sabre | 4–4 | 8 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Charles Stanmore Jock Gibson John Fethers Ivan Lund | Team sabre | 0–2 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Jock Gibson Charles Stanmore John Fethers Ivan Lund | Team épée | 0–2 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Charles Stanmore John Fethers Jock Gibson Ivan Lund | Team foil | 0–2 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

### Women

| Fencer | Event | First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fencer | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Catherine Pym | Foil | 1–4 | 5 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Patricia Norford | Foil | 0–5 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |

## Modern pentathlon

One male pentathlete represented Australia in 1952.

| Athlete | Event | Riding (cross-country steeplechase) | Riding (cross-country steeplechase) | Fencing (épée) | Fencing (épée) | Shooting (Rapid fire pistol) | Shooting (Rapid fire pistol) | Swimming (300 m freestyle) | Swimming (300 m freestyle) | Running (4000 m cross-country) | Running (4000 m cross-country) | Total points | Final rank |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Wins | Rank | Points | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Total points | Final rank |
| Forbes Carlile | Individual | 10:14.2 | 13 | 16 | 45 | 180 | 21 | 4:31.0 | 10 | 16:35.2 | 34 | 123 | 25 |

## Rowing

### Men

| Athlete | Event | First round | First round | First repechage | First repechage | Semifinals | Semifinals | Second repechage | Second repechage | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Mervyn Wood | Single sculls | 7:44.1 | 1 Q | Bye | Bye | 8:02.5 | 2 R | 7:45.5 | 1 Q | 8:14.5 | |
| John Rogers Murray Riley | Double sculls | 7:16.7 | 3 R | 7:03.0 | 1 Q | Bye | Bye | 7:13.1 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Don Palmer Vic Middleton | Coxless pair | 8:06.4 | 1 Q | Bye | Bye | 7:46.8 | 2 R | 7:50.5 | 3 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Bob Tinning Ernest Chapman Nimrod Greenwood David Anderson Geoff Williamson Mervyn Finlay Edward Pain Phil Cayzer Tom Chessell | Eights | 6:07.2 | 2 Q | Bye | Bye | 6:44.5 | 3 R | 6:09.6 | 1 Q | 6:33.1 | |

## Sailing

| Athlete | Event | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Race | Net points | Final rank |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | Net points | Final rank |
| Peter Attrill | Finn | 507 | 293 | 0 | 548 | 293 | 0 | 372 | 2013 | 22 |
| Barton Harvey Kevin Wilson | Star | 277 | 122 | 520 | 168 | 144 | 344 | 122 | 1697 | 18 |
| Jock Sturrock Bevan Worcester Douglas Buxton | Dragon | 331 | 185 | 632 | 331 | 252 | 185 | 185 | 2101 | 12 |

## Swimming

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Rex Aubrey | 100 m freestyle | 58.2 | =6 Q | 57.8 | =3 Q | 58.7 | 6 |
| Frank O'Neill | 100 m freestyle | 1:00.6 | 29 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Garrick Agnew | 400 m freestyle | 4:55.5 | 24 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Marshall | 400 m freestyle | 4:46.8 | 11 Q | 4:50.3 | 15 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Garrick Agnew | 1500 m freestyle | 20:03.8 | 24 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Marshall | 1500 m freestyle | 19:09.2 | 6 Q | — | — | 19:53.4 | 8 |
| Frank O'Neill | 100 m backstroke | 1:10.5 | =21 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| John Davies | 200 m breaststroke | 2:39.7 | 7 Q | 2:36.8 | 1 Q | 2:34.4 | |
| David Hawkins | 200 m breaststroke | 2:41.2 | 11 Q | 2:39.8 | 10 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Garrick Agnew Rex Aubrey John Marshall Frank O'Neill | 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | 9:01.4 | 9 | — | — | did not advance | did not advance |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Denise Norton | 100 m freestyle | 1:11.8 | 28 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Marjorie McQuade | 100 m freestyle | 1:07.9 | 11 Q | 1:08.2 | =12 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Judy Davies | 400 m freestyle | 5:21.2 | 6 Q | 5:25.6 | 10 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Denise Norton | 400 m freestyle | 5:28.5 | 14 Q | 5:30.9 | 14 | did not advance | did not advance |
| Nancy Lyons | 200 m breaststroke | 3:04.4 | 13 Q | 3:05.6 | 15 | did not advance | did not advance |

## Water polo

Australia failed to advance to the pool stage after losing both qualifiers.

### Roster

| Doug Laing Raymond Smee Jake Foster Peter Bennett | Frank Jordan Malcolm Hastie William Orchard |
| - | - |

### Qualifying

| July 25, 1952 | Australia | 2–10 | Yugoslavia |
| - | - | - | - |
| July 26, 1952 | Australia | 0–6 | Austria |

## Weightlifting

| Lifter | Event | Press | Press | Snatch | Snatch | Jerk | Jerk | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lifter | Event | Kg | Rank | Kg | Rank | Kg | Rank | Kg | Rank |
| Vern Barberis | Lightweight | 105.0 | 1T | 105.0 | 6T | 140.0 | 2T | 350.0 | |
| Fred Giffin | Middleweight | 107.5 | 7T | 100.0 | 15T | 127.5 | 16T | 335.0 | 15 |
| Ken MacDonald | Middle–heavyweight | 107.5 | 11T | 125.0 | 2T | 152.5 | 5 | 385.0 | 6 |

## Wrestling

Key:

* VT – Victory by Fall.
* VB – Victory by injury.
* PP – Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
* PO – Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.
* ST – Technical superiority – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.

### Men's freestyle

| Athlete | Event | Round one | Round two | Round three | Round four | Round five | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Richard Elliott | Featherweight | Mammana (ARG) L 1–3 $^{PP}$ | Henson (USA) L 0–3 $^{VT}$ | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Dick Garrard | Lightweight | Vard (IRL) W 3–1 $^{PP}$ | Blasi (ARG) W 3–1 $^{PP}$ | Shimotori (JPN) L 1–3 $^{PP}$ | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Bev Scott | Welterweight | Don Irvine (GBR) W 3–1 $^{PP}$ | Leclerc (FRA) W 3–1 $^{PP}$ | Mojtabavi (IRN) L 1–3 $^{PP}$ | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
| Kevin Coote | Light-heavyweight | Palm (SWE) L 1–3 $^{PP}$ | Zandi (IRN) L 1–3 $^{PP}$ | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance |
