Note: This does not include qualifying events for the Men’s Marathon, Decathlon, and Walkers or the Women’s events.
1952 Pre-Olympics
June 13-14 At the NCAA Men’s Track and Field Championship, University of California Berkeley, Thane Baker and others qualify for the Olympic Tryouts in the 100 and 200 meters. Thane and other members of the Kansas State Track and Field Team stayed at the Shattuck Hotel.
June 20-21 Thane Baker again becomes eligible for the Olympic Tryouts in the 100 and 200 meters at the United States Track and Field Championships in Long Beach, California.
June 27-28 During the Olympic Tryouts in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Thane Baker earns his place on the 1952 Olympic Team in the 200 meters. The Olympic team stays at the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles.
June 30 Fire interrupts the United States Track and Field team flight from Los Angeles to New York, where the male Olympians stay in the Paramount Hotel.
July 1 The team travels by train to Princeton University to practice their events.
July 3 The team returns to New York to sort out passport issues and attends a baseball game.
July 4 A magician presents a show for the Olympians in their hotel.
July 5 The track and field team processes their paperwork and picks up their uniforms. Dean Smith and Thane eat dinner at Leone’s.
July 6 Bob Richards hosts a prayer service in the Paramount Hotel. Triborough Stadium on Randall’s Island holds an Olympic Carnival where Thane wins the 150-yard dash.
July 7 All the United States Olympians and their coaches march in a ticker-tape parade in New York, listen to speeches at New York City’s City Hall, eat lunch at the Waldorf Astoria, and depart for the airport.
July 8 Early in the morning after airplane maintenance delays, the track and field team flies to Finland.
July 9 The team arrives in Helsinki, Finland, after stops in Newfoundland, Ireland, and England.
1952 Olympics
Note: All competitors listed below originate from the United States unless otherwise stated.
Saturday, July 19 The Opening Ceremony of the XV Olympiad proceeds despite the pouring rain.
Sunday, July 20 Thane Baker witnesses the events from the athletic section in the stands.
Men High jump Qualification and Final
Walter “Buddy” Davis wins the first American gold with an Olympic record, with Kenneth “Ken” Wiesner for silver.
Women Discus Qualification and Final
No participation
Men 100 m 1st and 2nd heats
Lindy Remigino, Arthur “Art” Bragg, and Dean Smith advance. American hopes rest with Bragg.
Men 400 m-hurdles 1st and 2nd heats
Charles “Charlie” Moore, Dewey “Lee” Yoder, and Roland Blackmon advance.
Men 800 m heats
Malvin “Mal” Whitfield, Reginald “Reggie” Pearman, and John Barnes survive for the next round.
Men 10,000 m final
Emil Zátopek, Czechoslovakia, gets gold while setting an Olympic and world record. Curtis Stone places twentieth with Fred Wilt at twenty-first.
Monday, July 21
Men Pole Vault Qualification
Robert “Bob” Richards, Donald “Don” Laz, and George Mattos stay in the competition.
Men Shot Qualification and Final
Americans sweep the shot with William “Parry” O’Brien gold, Clarence Darrow “Darrow” Hooper silver, and James “Jim” Fuchs bronze. Parry sets a new Olympic record while Jim Fuchs maintains his world record.
Men Long Jump Qualification and Final
Jerome Biffle merits gold, Meredith “Flash” Gourdine silver, and George Brown fourth place.
Men 50 km walk
Adolf Weinacker places twenty-second. Leo Sjogren did not finish due to injury. The judges disqualify John Deni.
Men 400-m Hurdles Semifinal and Final
Charlie Moore brings home gold and breaks his own Olympic record set during the quarter finals. Lee Yoder and Roland Blackmon do not qualify for the final.
Men 100 m Semifinal and Final
Because of an injury, Art Bragg finishes last in his semifinal race. Dean Smith helps him off the track. Lindy Remigino gains gold while Dean Smith places fourth with the same time as the winner.
Women 100 m 1st and 2nd Heats
Mae Faggs, Janet Moreau, and Catherine Hardy move out of the first round. Only Mae Faggs progresses to the semifinal.
Men 800 m semifinal
Mal Whitfield and Reggie Pearman advance. John Barnes places fourth in his heat.
Tuesday, July 22
Men Discus Qualification and Final
Simeon “Sim” Iness receives the gold medal and sets an Olympic record. James “Jim” Dillon grabs bronze. Fortune Gordien, the world record holder, places fourth.
Men 200 m 1st and 2nd Heats
Andrew “Andy” Stanfield, Walter “Thane” Baker, and James “Jim” Gathers advance.
Men Pole Vault Final
Bob Richards sets an Olympic record and collects gold. Don Laz takes the silver. George Mattos places ninth.
Women 100 m semifinal and final
Mae Faggs finishes sixth in the final.
Men 800 m Final
Mal Whitfield obtains the gold and ties his own Olympic record. Reggie Pearman places seventh.
Men 5,000 m Heats
Charles “Charlie” Capozzoli, David “Wes” Santee, and Curtis “Curt” Stone do not qualify for the finals.
Wednesday, July 23
Men Hop, Step, and Jump Qualification and Final
Walter “Walt” Ashbaugh places fourth. James “Jim” Gerhardt earns eleventh. George Shaw did not qualify for the finals.
Men Javelin Qualification and Final
Cyrus “Cy” Young prevails with gold and an Olympic record. William “Bill” Miller picks up a silver. Franklin “Bud” Held is in ninth place.
Men 110-m hurdles Qualification
Harrison Dillard, Jack Davis, and Arthur “Art” Barnard advance.
Men 200 m Semifinal and Final
Andy Stanfield ties Jesse Owens’s Olympic record with his gold medal. Thane Baker takes the silver, and Jim Gathers earns bronze for another American sweep.
Women 80-m hurdles Heats and Semifinal
Constance Darnowski places fifth in her heat and does not advance.
Men 3,000 m Steeplechase Heats
Horace Ashenfelter advances to the finals by winning his heat in Olympic record time. Browning Ross places twelfth in his heat. Bill Ashenfelter does not finish.
Women Long Jump Qualification and Final
Mabel Landry collects seventh place.
Thursday, July 24
Men Hammer Qualification and Final
Samuel “Sam” Felton places eleventh and Robert “Bob” Backus is thirteenth. Martin “Marty” Engel finishes behind in twenty-third place.
Men 10,000 m Walk
Judges disqualify Helmut “Henry” Laskau. S. Price King did not advance.
Women Javelin Qualification and Final
Dana Zatopekova, of Czechoslovakia and wife of Emil Zátopek, adds to the family total with a gold medal. Margaret Larney brings home thirteenth place.
Men 110-m hurdles Semifinal and Final
Harrison “Bones” Dillard triumphs with gold, and Jack Davis, silver. They share the Olympic record. Art Barnard completes the American trio with bronze.
Men 400 m 1st and 2nd Heats
Oliver “Ollie” Matson, Mal Whitfield, and Gene Cole advance.
Men 5,000 m Final
Emil Zátopek, Czechoslovakia, succeeds with gold with a new Olympic record.
Men 1,500 m Heats
Walt Druetzler and Robert “Bob” McMillen advance. Javier Montez places sixth in his heat.
Friday, July 25
Thane Baker watches from the stadium.
Men Decathlon, 100 m, Long Jump, Shot, High Jump, 400 m
Bob Mathias, Milt Campbell and Floyd “Chunk” Simmons compete.
Men 400 m Semifinal and Final
Mal Whitfield and Ollie Matson advance. Gene Cole places fourth in his heat.
Women 200 m Heats
Catherine. Hardy advances. Dolores Dwyer did not finish. Mae Faggs fails to advance.
Men 3,000 m Steeplechase Final
Horace Ashenfelter accomplishes the only United States gold ever and breaks his own Olympic record. Officials do not recognize world records for this event in 1952.
Men 1,500 m Semifinal
Walt Druetzler and Robert McMillen advance.
Saturday, July 26
Coaches tell J.W. Mashburn they removed him from the 4x400m relay and selected Charlie Moore to run in his place.
Men Decathlon, 110 m hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, 1,500 m
Bob Mathias comes in first with a world and Olympic record. He breaks his own previous world record. Milt Campbell earns silver; Chunk Simmons brings home the bronze for an American triad.
Women Shot Qualification and Final
Janet Dicks does not make the final cut.
Women 200 m Semifinal and Final
Catherine Hardy fails to make the final.
Men 4×100 meter relay Heats
All advance
Men 1,500 m Final
Josy Barthel of Luxembourg wins his country’s only Olympic gold medal in history but see the Barthel entry under 1952 Track & Field Men. Bob McMillen is close for silver, Josy Barthel and Bob McMillen share the Olympic record. Walt Druetzler places twelfth.
Men 4×400-m relay Heats
All advanced.
Sunday, July 27
Thane Baker and others depart for Turku
Women 4×100-m relay Heats
The women advance.
Women High Jump Final
None
Men Marathon
Emil Zátopek, Czechoslovakia, wins his first marathon with an Olympic record, his third gold medal and third record. Victor Drygall places thirteenth. Tom Jones is thirty-sixth, and Ted Corbitt is forty-fourth.
Men 10,000 m Walk Final
No participation.
Women 4×100-m relay Semifinal and Final
Mae Faggs, Catherine Hardy, Barbara Jones, and Janet Moreau set Olympic and world records with their victory, although they share the records with Germany who has the same time, but places second.
Men 4×100-m relay Semifinal and Final
Dean Smith, Harrison Dillard, Lindy Remigino, and Andy Stanfield win Olympic gold.
Men 4×400-m relay Semifinal and Final
Ollie Matson, Gene Cole, Charlie Moore, and Mal Whitfield earn silver. Jamaica sets a new Olympic and world record. Both the Americans and the Germans, the bronze medalists, break the prior world record.