100 metres Backstroke, Men

Earlier in 1952 the world record had been traded between the Frenchman Gilbert Bozon and the man who had won the title in London, America’s Allan Stack. By the time the Helsinki Games came around the man in the best form turned out to be another American, the Japanese-Hawaiian Yoshi Oyakawa. Oyakawa recorded the fastest times at all stages of the competition and broke the Olympic record, which had stood since 1936, in both semi-final and final. A minor piece of history occurred in heat 5 of the first round when the Soviet Union’s Leonid Sagayduk raced against the sole Chinese competitor in Helsinki, Wu Chuanyu. The rest of the Chinese team had been stranded in Leningrad due to a visa problem and were unable to reach Helsinki. It was not until thirty-six years later in Seoul that competitors from these two countries would meet again at a Summer Olympics.