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

The men's triple jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on 3 August 1948. Twenty-eight 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 Arne Åhman of Sweden.^[2] It was Sweden's first victory in the event since 1912, and first medal since 1932. Australia reached the podium for the second Games in a row (albeit twelve years apart) with Gordon George Avery's silver. Turkey received a medal in its first appearance in the triple jump with Ruhi Sarialp's bronze; it was the only track and field athletics medal won by Turkey in the 1900s.^[1]

Men's triple jump at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Arne Åhman
Venue	Wembley Stadium
Dates	3 August (qualifying and final)
Competitors	28 from 17 nations
Winning distance	15.400
Medalists
Arne Åhman  Sweden Gordon George Avery  Australia Ruhi Sarialp  Turkey
← 1936 1952 →

Video on YouTube Official Video
@ 35:55

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. There were no returning jumpers from the pre-war 1936 Games. Japan had been dominant in the event before World War II, but was no longer. Valle Rautio of Finland was closest to being a favorite, having won the 1946 European championships.^[1]

Brazil, Ceylon, South Korea, Peru, Portugal, and Turkey each made their first appearance in the event. The United States competed for the 11th time, having competed at each of the Games so far.

Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936. In the qualifying round, each jumper received three attempts to reach the qualifying distance of 14.50 metres. Those who did advanced to the final round.^[1][3]

Records

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

World record	Naoto Tajima (JPN)	16.00	Berlin, Germany	6 August 1936
Olympic record	Naoto Tajima (JPN)	16.00	Berlin, Germany	6 August 1936

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

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date	Time	Round
Tuesday, 3 August 1948	11:00 15:30	Qualifying Final

Results

Qualifying

Qual. rule: qualification standard 14.50 m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Distance	Notes
1	George Avery	Australia	15.335	Q
2	Valle Rautio	Finland	14.860	Q
3	Åke Hallgren	Sweden	14.770	Q
4	Adhemar da Silva	Brazil	14.690	Q
5	Henry Rebello	India	14.650	Q
6	Hélio da Silva	Brazil	14.640	Q
7	Arne Åhman	Sweden	14.600	Q
7	Kim Won-kwon	South Korea	14.600	Q
9	Geraldo de Oliveira	Brazil	14.590	Q
10	Lennart Moberg	Sweden	14.570	Q
11	Les McKeand	Australia	14.550	Q
12	Bill Albans	United States	14.550	Q
13	Ruhi Sarıalp	Turkey	14.530	Q
14	Preben Larsen	Denmark	14.520	Q
15	Máximo Reyes	Peru	14.380
16	Erkki Koutonen	United States	14.370
17	João Vieira	Portugal	14.280
18	Robert Bobin	France	14.130
19	Bob Beckus	United States	14.030
20	Charles Épalle	France	14.020
21	Felix Würth	Austria	13.920
22	Luís García	Portugal	13.920
23	Carlos Vera	Chile	13.850
24	Allan Lindsay	Great Britain	13.700
25	Sidney Cross	Great Britain	13.455
26–27	Robert Hawkey	Great Britain	Unknown
	Jorge Aguirre	Mexico	Unknown
—	G. D. Peiris	Ceylon	No mark
—	Stefán Sörensson	Iceland	DNS
	Charles Thompson	Guyana	DNS

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	1	2	3	4	5	6	Distance
	Arne Åhman	Sweden	15.400	14.680	14.890	14.580	X	X	15.400
	George Avery	Australia	15.365	X	14.670	14.320	14.780	—	15.365
	Ruhi Sarıalp	Turkey	14.230	15.020	14.910	15.025	X	—	15.025
4	Preben Larsen	Denmark	Unknown						14.830
5	Geraldo de Oliveira	Brazil	Unknown						14.825
6	Valle Rautio	Finland	Unknown						14.700
7	Les McKeand	Australia	Unknown						14.530
8	Adhemar da Silva	Brazil	Unknown						14.490
9	Åke Hallgren	Sweden	Unknown						14.485
10	Bill Albans	United States	Unknown						14.330
11	Hélio da Silva	Brazil	Unknown						14.310
12	Kim Won-Gwon	South Korea	Unknown						14.250
13	Lennart Moberg	Sweden	Unknown						14.215
—	Henry Rebello	India	X	X	X	X	X	X	No mark

References

1. "Triple Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
2. "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Triple Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
3. Official Report, p. 269.

Sources

• 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.