| Date | 3 August 1948 | 
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | 
| Location | Empire Stadium, Wembley, London | 
| Participants | 24 from 15 countries | 
The best putter early in the year had been Charles Fonville who broke the world record in April with 17.68 (58-0¼), but he finished only fourth at the US Trials and did not make the team. The next strongest seemed to be Jim Delaney who was 1947-48 AAU Champion and had won the Olympic Trials. But the Trials runner-up, Wilbur Thompson, was the strongest in London. He threw 17.12 (56-2) in round two which would win, but he also had two other throws good enough to win over Delaney. Jim Fuchs completed the American sweep.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 570 | Wilbur Thompson |  USA | 15.090 (1 h2) | 17.120 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 568 | Jim Delaney |  USA | 14.970 (2 h1) | 16.680 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 569 | Jim Fuchs |  USA | 15.870 (1 h1) | 16.420 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 543 | Mieczysław Łomowski |  POL | 14.700 (=6 h1) | 15.430 (4) | |||
| 5 | 565 | Gösta Arvidsson |  SWE | 14.700 (=6 h1) | 15.370 (5) | |||
| 6 | 555 | Yrjö Lehtilä |  FIN | 14.850 (3 h1) | 15.050 (6) | |||
| 7 | 554 | Jaakko Jouppila |  FIN | 14.720 (5 h1) | 14.590 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Čestmír Kalina |  TCH | 14.540 (3 h2) | 14.550 (8) | 1 | ||
| 9 | 560 | Konstantinos Giataganas |  GRE | 14.630 (2 h2) | 14.540 (9) | |||
| 10 | 564 | Witold Gerutto |  POL | 14.450 (8 h1) | 14.370 (10) | |||
| 11 | 557 | John Giles |  GBR | 14.795 (4 h1) | 13.730 (11) | |||
| 12 | 561 | Sigfús Sigurðsson |  ISL | 14.480 (4 h2) | 13.660 (12) | |||
| 13 | 567 | Willy Senn |  SUI | 14.450 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 14 | 566 | Roland Nilsson |  SWE | 14.360 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | 520 | Eric Coy |  CAN | 14.150 (9 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | 553 | David Guiney |  IRL | 14.010 (10 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | 562 | Vilhjálmur Vilmundarson |  ISL | 13.990 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 18 | 519 | Roger Verhaes |  BEL | 13.540 (9 h2) | – | |||
| 19 | 558 | Harold Moody |  GBR | 13.400est (8 h2) | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 517 | Emilio Malchiodi |  ARG | – (AC h2) | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 552 | Juan Kahnert |  ARG | – (AC h1) | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 563 | Lionelo Patiño |  PER | – (AC h2) | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 540 | Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik |  PAK | – (AC h2) | – | |||
| AC r1/2 | 539 | Ahmed Zahur Khan |  PAK | – (AC h1) | – | |||
| 530 | Aad de Bruyn |  NED | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 556 | François Lapicque |  FRA | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 559 | K. Meraklis |  GRE | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 544 | José Luis Torres |  ESP | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 494 | Leo Roininen |  CAN | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 541 | Eduardo Julve |  PER | – (DNS h1) | – | 
Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 14.60 metres advanced to the final.
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Fuchs |  USA | 15.870 | |||
| 2 | Wilbur Thompson |  USA | 15.090 | |||
| 3 | Jim Delaney |  USA | 14.970 | |||
| 4 | Yrjö Lehtilä |  FIN | 14.850 | |||
| 5 | John Giles |  GBR | 14.795 | |||
| 6 | Jaakko Jouppila |  FIN | 14.720 | |||
| =7 | Mieczysław Łomowski |  POL | 14.700 | |||
| =7 | Gösta Arvidsson |  SWE | 14.700 | |||
| 9 | Konstantinos Giataganas |  GRE | 14.630 | |||
| 10 | Čestmír Kalina |  TCH | 14.540 | 2 | ||
| 11 | Sigfús Sigurðsson |  ISL | 14.480 | |||
| 12 | Witold Gerutto |  POL | 14.450 | |||
| 13 | Willy Senn |  SUI | 14.450 | |||
| 14 | Roland Nilsson |  SWE | 14.360 | |||
| 15 | Eric Coy |  CAN | 14.150 | |||
| 16 | David Guiney |  IRL | 14.010 | |||
| 17 | Vilhjálmur Vilmundarson |  ISL | 13.990 | |||
| 18 | Roger Verhaes |  BEL | 13.540 | |||
| 19 | Harold Moody |  GBR | 13.400est | |||
| Emilio Malchiodi |  ARG | – | ||||
| Juan Kahnert |  ARG | – | ||||
| Lionelo Patiño |  PER | – | ||||
| Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik |  PAK | – | ||||
| Ahmed Zahur Khan |  PAK | – | ||||
| Aad de Bruyn |  NED | – | ||||
| François Lapicque |  FRA | – | ||||
| K. Meraklis |  GRE | – | ||||
| José Luis Torres |  ESP | – | ||||
| Leo Roininen |  CAN | – | ||||
| Eduardo Julve |  PER | – | 
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Fuchs |  USA | 15.870 | |||
| 2 | Jim Delaney |  USA | 14.970 | |||
| 3 | Yrjö Lehtilä |  FIN | 14.850 | |||
| 4 | John Giles |  GBR | 14.795 | |||
| 5 | Jaakko Jouppila |  FIN | 14.720 | |||
| =6 | Mieczysław Łomowski |  POL | 14.700 | |||
| =6 | Gösta Arvidsson |  SWE | 14.700 | |||
| 8 | Witold Gerutto |  POL | 14.450 | |||
| 9 | Eric Coy |  CAN | 14.150 | |||
| 10 | David Guiney |  IRL | 14.010 | |||
| Juan Kahnert |  ARG | – | ||||
| Ahmed Zahur Khan |  PAK | – | ||||
| Aad de Bruyn |  NED | – | ||||
| François Lapicque |  FRA | – | ||||
| Eduardo Julve |  PER | – | 
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilbur Thompson |  USA | 15.090 | |||
| 2 | Konstantinos Giataganas |  GRE | 14.630 | |||
| 3 | Čestmír Kalina |  TCH | 14.540 | |||
| 4 | Sigfús Sigurðsson |  ISL | 14.480 | |||
| 5 | Willy Senn |  SUI | 14.450 | |||
| 6 | Roland Nilsson |  SWE | 14.360 | |||
| 7 | Vilhjálmur Vilmundarson |  ISL | 13.990 | |||
| 8 | Harold Moody |  GBR | 13.400est | |||
| 9 | Roger Verhaes |  BEL | 13.540 | |||
| Emilio Malchiodi |  ARG | – | ||||
| Lionelo Patiño |  PER | – | ||||
| Nazar Muhammad Khan Malik |  PAK | – | ||||
| K. Meraklis |  GRE | – | ||||
| José Luis Torres |  ESP | – | ||||
| Leo Roininen |  CAN | – | 
| Pos | Ord | Athlete | NOC | Distance | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Wilbur Thompson |  USA | 17.120 | 16.470 | 17.120 | 16.970 | 16.670 | 16.800 | × | |||
| 2 | 2 | Jim Delaney |  USA | 16.680 | 16.140 | 16.680 | 15.880 | 16.030 | 16.030 | 16.280 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Jim Fuchs |  USA | 16.420 | 16.320 | 16.420 | 15.600 | 15.560 | 14.820 | 16.280 | |||
| 4 | 10 | Mieczysław Łomowski |  POL | 15.430 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 5 | 1 | Gösta Arvidsson |  SWE | 15.370 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 6 | 9 | Yrjö Lehtilä |  FIN | 15.050 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 7 | 7 | Jaakko Jouppila |  FIN | 14.590 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 8 | 8 | Čestmír Kalina |  TCH | 14.550 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Konstantinos Giataganas |  GRE | 14.540 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 10 | 4 | Witold Gerutto |  POL | 14.370 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 11 | 6 | John Giles |  GBR | 13.730 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 12 | 11 | Sigfús Sigurðsson |  ISL | 13.660 | – | – | – | – | – | – |