Australia at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Australia at the
1948 Summer Olympics
IOC codeAUS
NOCAustralian Olympic Committee
Websitewww.olympics.com.au
in London
Competitors75 (66 men, 9 women) in 11 sports
Flag bearerLes McKay (water polo)
Medals
Ranked 14th
Gold
2
Silver
6
Bronze
5
Total
13
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

––––

 Australasia (1908–1912)

Australia competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. 75 competitors, 66 men and 9 women, took part in 52 events in 11 sports.[1] Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games.

Medalists

Medal Name Sport Event Date
 Gold John Winter Athletics High Jump 30 July
 Gold Mervyn Wood Rowing Single sculls 9 August
 Silver Theo Bruce Athletics Long Jump 31 July
 Silver George Avery Athletics Triple Jump 3 August
 Silver Joyce King
June Maston
Betty McKinnon
Shirley Strickland		 Athletics 4 × 100 m relay 7 August
 Silver John Marshall Swimming 1500m freestyle 7 August
 Silver Beatrice Lyons Swimming 200m breaststroke 3 August
 Silver Dick Garrard Wrestling Welterweight 31 July
 Bronze Shirley Strickland Athletics 100m 2 August
 Bronze Shirley Strickland Athletics 80m hurdles 4 August
 Bronze John Marshall Swimming 400m freestyle 4 August
 Bronze Judy-Joy Davies Swimming 100m backstroke 5 August
 Bronze Jim Armstrong Wrestling Heavyweight 31 July

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics
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
  • NP = Not placed
Men
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
John Bartram 100 m 10.8 2 Q 10.6 3 Q 4 did not advance
John Treloar 10.5 1 Q 10.5 2 Q 4 did not advance
Morris Curotta 10.7 1 Q 10.8 3 Q 6 did not advance
John Treloar 200 m 21.7 1 Q 21.5 2 Q 6 did not advance
Morris Curotta 400 m 49.1 1 Q 48.4 2 Q 47.2 2 Q 47.9 5
John Bartram 50.8 2 Q 49.9 4 did not advance
Bill Ramsey 50.3 5 did not advance
800 m 1:55.0 3 Q — 1:54.9 5 did not advance
Peter Gardner 110 m hurdles 14.6 2 Q — 14.5 2 Q 14.7 5
Ray Weinberg 15.0 2 Q — 5 did not advance
Charles Green 15.4 5 — did not advance
George Knott 10 km walk 7 — did not advance
Theo Bruce
John Bartram
Morris Curotta
John Treloar 		4 × 100 m relay 41.5 3 — did not advance
Men
Field Events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Theo Bruce Long Jump 7.22 4 Q 7.55 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
John Winter High Jump 1.87 Q 1.98 1st place, gold medalist(s)
George Avery Triple Jump 15.33 1 Q 15.36 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Les McKeand 14.55 11 Q 14.53 7
Combined events – Decathlon
Athlete Event 100 m LJ SP HJ 400 m 110H DT PV JT 1500 m Final Rank
Peter Mullins Result 11.2 6.64 12.75 1.83 53.2 15.2 33.94 3.40 51.32 5:17.6 6739 6
Points 787 711 691 822 706 896 541 652 612 321
Women
Track & road events
Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Shirley Strickland 100 m 12.4 1 Q 12.4 2 Q 12.2 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Joyce King 13.1 4 did not advance
Betty McKinnon 12.7 3 did not advance
Shirley Strickland 200 m 25.8 2 Q 24.9 1 Q 25.3 4
Joyce King 25.9 1 Q 6 did not advance
Betty McKinnon 25.9 1 Q 7 did not advance
Shirley Strickland 80 m Hurdles 11.9 2 Q 11.7 1 Q 11.4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Shirley Strickland
June Maston
Betty McKinnon
Joyce King 		4 × 100 m relay 48.0 2 Q — 47.6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Women
Field events
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Distance Position Distance Position
Judy Canty long jump 5.29 11 Q 5.38 7
June Maston 5.06 22 did not advance

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Athlete Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Ronald Gower Flyweight  Bondi (HUN)
W PTS 		 Martinez (ESP)
L PTS 		did not advance
Jimmy Carruthers Bantamweight  Daigle (CAN)
W DQ2 		 Parés (ARG)
W PTS 		 Csik (HUN)
L W/O 		did not advance
Laurie Birks Featherweight  Tammelin (FIN)
W PTS 		 Seo B (KOR)
L KO2 		did not advance
Billy Barber Lightweight  Vissers (BEL)
L PTS 		did not advance
Billy Boyce Welterweight Bye  Roller (LUX)
W PTS 		 Du Preez (RSA)
L PTS 		did not advance
Graham Higham Middleweight  Garcia (ARG)
L PTS 		did not advance
Adrian Holmes Light heavyweight bye  El-Minabawi (EGY)
W KO2 		 O'Hagan (IRL)
W PTS 		 Scott (GBR)
L PTS 		3rd/4th place
 Cia (ARG)
L RSC-3 		4

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Six cyclists, all men, represented Australia in 1948.

Road races

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

Cyclist Event Final
Result Rank
Jack Hoobin Road race 5:18:18.2 7
Russell Mockridge Road race 5:39:54.6 26
Ken Caves Road race did not finish
Jim Nestor Road race did not finish
Jack Hoobin
Russell Mockridge
Ken Caves
Jim Nestor 		Team road race did not finish
Track

Ranks given are within the heat.

Cyclist Event First round First repechage Quarterfinals Second repechage Semifinals Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Charlie Bazzano Sprint 2 14.1 1 Q 14.3 1 Q Directly advanced 2 4
Sid Patterson Time trial n/a 1:15.7 6
Sid Patterson
Jim Nestor
Jack Hoobin
Russell Mockridge 		Team pursuit 5:06.5 2 q n/a 5:07.7 2 did not advance

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Diver Event Final
Result Rank
David Norris 3m springboard 109.67 16

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Australia had eight male rowers participate in three out of seven rowing events in 1948.[2]

Ranks given are within the heat.

Rower Event First round Repechage Semifinals Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Merv Wood Single sculls 7:25.9 1 Q n/a 8:08.5 1 Q 7:24.4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Spencer Grace
Ted Bromley 		Coxless pair 7:26.8 2 r 7:28.4 1 Q 7:54.5 2 did not advance
Wal Lambert
Hugh Lambie
Colin Douglas-Smith
Jack Webster
Tom Darcy 		Coxed four 7:04.3 2 r 7:07.1 2 did not advance

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Rank Helmsman Crew Class Race I Race II Race III Race IV Race V Race VI Race VII Total
Points
[3] 		Total
-1
[4]
Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points
18 Robert French Firefly 18 168 11 382 19 144 16 219 9 469 12 344 10 423 2149 2005
7 Jock Sturrock Leslie A. Fenton Star DNF [5] 0 4 729 15 155 6 553 10 331 4 729 1 1331 3828 3828

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Shooter Event Final
Score Rank
Reginald Parker 300 m rifle 3 positions 926 30
Mill Menghini 856 32
John Wise 852 33
Claude Platt 50 m rifle, prone 584 46
Neville Holt 584 47
Leo Dove 578 55

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Ranks given are within the heat.

Men
Swimmer Event Heats Semifinals Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Bruce Bourke 100 m freestyle 59.1 2 Q 1:00.0 5 did not advance
Warren Boyd 1:00.4 3 q 1:01.1 8 did not advance
Bruce Bourke 100 m backstroke 1:11.3 1 Q 1:11.4 8 did not advance
John Davies 200 m breaststroke 2:48.3 2 Q 2:44.8 4 Q 2:43.7 4
Kevin Hallett 3:02.0 7 did not advance
John Marshall 400 m freestyle 4:51.4 2 Q 4:50.0 2 Q 4:47.4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Garrick Agnew 5:06.1 4 did not advance
John Marshall 1500 m freestyle 20:01.1 1 Q 19:53.8 1 Q 19:31.3 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Garrick Agnew 21:40.1 6 did not advance
Women
Swimmer Event Heats Semifinals Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Marjorie McQuade 100 m freestyle 1:08.5 3 Q 1:09.6 6 did not advance
Denise Spencer 1:10.0 3 did not advance
Judy-Joy Davies 100 m backstroke 1:16.4 1 Q 1:17.8 2 Q 1:16.7 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Nancy Lyons 200 m breaststroke 3:02.9 1 Q 3:00.9 1 Q 2:57.7 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Denise Spencer 400 m freestyle 5:40.9 4 Q 5:35.6 6 did not advance

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 1948 Summer Olympics

This was the first time Australia had entered the water polo competition.

Men's Team Competition

Head coach:

No. Pos. Player DoB Age Caps Club Tournament
games 		Tournament
goals
Ben Dalley 15 March 1916 32 ? Australia Balmain Water Polo Club 2 ?
Jack King 23 August 1910 37 ? 1 ?
Eric Johnston 24 February 1914 34 ? Australia Balmain Water Polo Club 2 ?
Les McKay 27 May 1917 31 ? 1 ?
Leon Ferguson 19 June 1923 25 ? Australia Bondi ASC 1 ?
Arthur Burge 24 August 1917 31 ? Australia Drummoyne Water Polo Club 2 ?
Herman Doerner 1914 ? Australia Bondi ASC 2 ?
Colin French 20 November 1916 31 ? 1 ?
Roger Cornforth 19 January 1919 29 ? 1 ?
Jack Ferguson 12 April 1922 26 ? Australia Bondi ASC 1 ?

Group D

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts Italy Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Australia
1.  Italy (ITA) 2 1 1 0 13 4 3 X 4:4 9:0
2.  Yugoslavia (YUG) 2 1 1 0 16 7 3 4:4 X 12:3
3.  Australia (AUS) 2 0 0 2 3 21 0 0:9 3:12 X

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Lifter Event Final
Kg Rank
Keith Caple Bantamweight 272.5 9
Ray Magee Heavyweight 357.5 12

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Men's Freestyle
Athlete Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Final / BM
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Bert Harris Flyweight  Jhadav (IND)
L 0-3 		 Raisi (IRI)
L Fall 		did not advance 10
Dick Garrard Welterweight  Angst (SUI)
W 3-0 		 Sóvári (HUN)
W 2-1 		 Bhargava (IND)
W Fall 		 Leclerc (FRA)
W Fall 		 Merrill (USA)
L 1-2 		Bye  Doğu (TUR)
L Fall 		2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Bruce Arthur Middleweight  Candemir (TUR)
L Fall 		 Roy (IND)
W Fall 		 Brand (USA)
L Fall 		did not advance 9
Jim Armstrong Heavyweight  Oberlander (GBR)
W 3-0 		 Bóbis (HUN)
L Fall 		 Hutton (USA)
W Retired 		 Esen (TUR)
W Fall 		n/a  Antonsson (SWE)
L Fall 		3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

References

  1. ^ "Australia at the 1948 London Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australia Rowing at the 1948 London Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  3. ^ The 1948 Olympic scoring system was used.
  4. ^ Total after applying discard.
  5. ^ Mark hit.