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

The men's discus throw event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Twenty-eight athletes from 18 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The competition was held on August 2. The final was won by Adolfo Consolini of Italy. It was the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw; Italy had previously taken bronze in 1936. Giuseppe Tosi earned silver to put Italy in the top two places. Fortune Gordien of the United States won bronze, keeping the Americans on the podium in each appearance of the men's discus throw to date.

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1936 Games were bronze medalist Giorgio Oberweger of Italy and sixth-place finisher Nikolaos Syllas of Greece. Oberweger's teammates, Adolfo Consolini (who had held the world record until 1946, and would take it back later in 1948) and Giuseppe Tosi, were the favorites after finishing first and second in the European championships. The biggest challenger outside of Italy was American Fortune Gordien, the 1947 and 1948 AAU champion. World record holder and inventor of the Minnesota Whip technique Bob Fitch was unable to attend the Games.

South Korea, Pakistan, and Peru each made their debut in the men's discus throw. The United States made its 11th appearance, having competed in every edition of the Olympic men's discus throw to date.

Competition format

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.Official Report, p. 271.

Records

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

Adolfo Consolini and Giuseppe Tosi both beat the Olympic record in the qualifying round, with Consolini's throw going 51.08 metres. Tosi's first throw in the final bettered that, at 51.78 metres. Consolini responded with a 52.78 metres throw in the second set. The bronze medalist, Fortune Gordien, also exceeded the old record.

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round Monday, 2 August 1948 11:0015:30 QualifyingFinal

Results

Qualifying round

Qual. rule: qualification standard 46.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q). Individual throw results are not known, though Consolini and Tosi's qualifying throws were on the first attempt. Frank fouled on his first and third throws.

Rank Athlete Nation Distance Notes 1 Adolfo Consolini 51.08 , 2 Giuseppe Tosi 50.56 3 Fortune Gordien 48.40 4 Veikko Nyqvist 47.75 5 Ivar Ramstad 47.34 6 Nikolaos Syllas 47.03 7 Ferenc Klics 46.65 8 Stein Johnson 46.54 9 Uno Fransson 45.99 10 Hermann Tunner 45.92 11 Eduardo Julve 45.86 12 Arvo Huutoniemi 44.77 13 Bill Burton 43.78 14 Félix Erauzquin 43.66 15 Giorgio Oberweger 43.13 16 Danilo Žerjal 43.07 17 Manuel Consiglieri 43.01 18 Emilio Malchiodi 42.98 19 James Nesbitt 42.09 20 Vic Frank 42.00 21 Jack Brewer 41.95 22 Cummin Clancy 40.73 23 Eric Coy 39.53 24 Roger Verhaes 39.14 25 Laurence Reavell-Carter 38.04 26 Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik 36.23 Ahmed Zahur Khan 36.23 — An Yeong-han No mark — Aad de Bruyn José Carvahal Gin Gang-hwan Ignace Heinrich Raymond Kirstetter Mieczysław Łomowski José Luis Torres

Final

Rank Athlete Nation123456 Distance Notes Adolfo Consolini 49.67 52.78 47.94 X 50.51 50.43 52.78 Giuseppe Tosi 51.78 48.81 50.11 50.09 X 51.18 51.78 Fortune Gordien 47.95 49.20 50.77 X 48.74 X 50.77 4 Ivar Ramstad Unknown 49.21 5 Ferenc Klics Unknown 48.21 6 Veikko Nyqvist Unknown 47.33 7 Nikolaos Syllas Unknown Did not advance 47.25 8 Stein Johnson Unknown Did not advance 46.54 9 Arvo Huutoniemi Unknown Did not advance 45.28 10 Uno Fransson Unknown Did not advance 45.25 11 Hermann Tunner Unknown Did not advance 44.43 12 Eduardo Julve Unknown Did not advance 44.05

References

External links Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 5 September 2016.