| Date | 31 July 1948 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Empire Stadium, Wembley, London |
| Participants | 24 from 17 countries |
Two weeks before the Olympics, Hungary’s Imre Németh threw 59.02 (193-7¾) for a world record at a pre-Olympic meeting in Tata. With Germany not invited to compete in the 1948 Olympics, he was a heavy favorite, as only the Germans were close to him on recent performances. A challenge was expected from the 1946 European champion, Bo Ericsson, but that never materialized.
Németh had the three longest throws of the competition. He led from round one, secured the gold medal in round two, and had his best throw of 56.07 (183-11½) in the final round. In 1976, Németh’s son, Miklós Németh, emulated his father by winning gold in the javelin throw.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Qualifying | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 583 | Imre Németh |  HUN | 54.02 (1) | 56.07 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 596 | Ivan Gubijan |  YUG | 50.44 (8) | 54.27 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 593 | Bob Bennett |  USA | 51.13 (5) | 53.73 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 595 | Sam Felton | USA | 49.20 (13) | 53.66 (4) | |||
| 5 | 576 | Lauri Tamminen |  FIN | 49.82 (10) | 53.08 (5) | |||
| 6 | 590 | Bo Ericsson |  SWE | 52.28 (3) | 52.98 (6) | |||
| 7 | 586 | Teseo Taddia |  ITA | 51.06 (6) | 51.74 (7) | |||
| 8 | 591 | Einar Söderqvist | SWE | 52.39 (2) | 51.48 (8) | |||
| 9 | 594 | Henry Dreyer | USA | 50.37 (9) | 51.37 (9) | |||
| 10 | 574 | Svend Aage Frederiksen |  DEN | 51.35 (4) | 50.07 (10) | |||
| 11 | 579 | Duncan Clark |  GBR | 49.76 (11) | 48.35 (11) | |||
| 12 | 582 | Hans Houtzager |  NED | 50.91 (7) | 45.69 (12) | |||
| 13 | 536 | In Gang-Hwan |  KOR | 49.49 (12) | 43.93 (13) | |||
| 14 r1/2 | 577 | Reino Kuivamäki | FIN | 48.99 (14) | – | |||
| 15 r1/2 | 573 | Poul Cederquist | DEN | 48.16 (15) | – | |||
| 16 r1/2 | 580 | Ewan Douglas | GBR | 47.77 (16) | – | |||
| 17 r1/2 | 581 | Norman Drake | GBR | 47.75 (17) | – | |||
| 18 r1/2 | 578 | Pierre Legrain |  FRA | 47.60 (18) | – | |||
| 19 r1/2 | 575 | Dan Coyle |  IRL | 47.11 (19) | – | |||
| 20 r1/2 | 571 | Juan Fusé |  ARG | 46.95 (20) | – | |||
| 21 r1/2 | 572 | Edmundo Zúñiga |  CHI | 44.03 (21) | – | |||
| 22 r1/2 | – | Jaroslav Knotek |  TCH | 42.46 (22) | – | 1 | ||
| 23 r1/2 | 585 | Somnath |  IND | 41.36 (23) | – | |||
| 24 r1/2 | 587 | Francisco González |  MEX | 39.50 (24) | – | |||
| 530 | Aad de Bruyn | NED | – ( | – | ||||
| 584 | Lajos Petike | HUN | – ( | – | ||||
| 592 | Toma Balci |  TUR | – ( | – |
| Date | 31 July 1948 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 49.00 metres advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 583 | Imre Németh | HUN | 54.02 | ||
| 2 | 591 | Einar Söderqvist | SWE | 52.39 | ||
| 3 | 590 | Bo Ericsson | SWE | 52.28 | ||
| 4 | 574 | Svend Aage Frederiksen | DEN | 51.35 | ||
| 5 | 593 | Bob Bennett | USA | 51.13 | ||
| 6 | 586 | Teseo Taddia | ITA | 51.06 | ||
| 7 | 582 | Hans Houtzager | NED | 50.91 | ||
| 8 | 596 | Ivan Gubijan | YUG | 50.44 | ||
| 9 | 594 | Henry Dreyer | USA | 50.37 | ||
| 10 | 576 | Lauri Tamminen | FIN | 49.82 | ||
| 11 | 579 | Duncan Clark | GBR | 49.76 | ||
| 12 | 536 | In Gang-Hwan | KOR | 49.49 | ||
| 13 | 595 | Sam Felton | USA | 49.20 | ||
| 14 | 577 | Reino Kuivamäki | FIN | 48.99 | ||
| 15 | 573 | Poul Cederquist | DEN | 48.16 | ||
| 16 | 580 | Ewan Douglas | GBR | 47.77 | ||
| 17 | 581 | Norman Drake | GBR | 47.75 | ||
| 18 | 578 | Pierre Legrain | FRA | 47.60 | ||
| 19 | 575 | Dan Coyle | IRL | 47.11 | ||
| 20 | 571 | Juan Fusé | ARG | 46.95 | ||
| 21 | 572 | Edmundo Zúñiga | CHI | 44.03 | ||
| 22 | – | Jaroslav Knotek | TCH | 42.46 | 2 | |
| 23 | 585 | Somnath | IND | 41.36 | ||
| 24 | 587 | Francisco González | MEX | 39.50 | ||
| 530 | Aad de Bruyn | NED | – | |||
| 584 | Lajos Petike | HUN | – | |||
| 592 | Toma Balci | TUR | – |
| Date | 31 July 1948 — 10:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Bo Ericsson | SWE | 52.28 | ? | ? | ? | ||
| 2 | 11 | Svend Aage Frederiksen | DEN | 51.35 | 47.72 | 51.35 | ? | ||
| 3 | 1 | Bob Bennett | USA | 51.13 | 51.13 | - | - | ||
| 4 | 8 | Henry Dreyer | USA | 50.37 | x | 50.37 | - | ||
| 5 | 3 | Duncan Clark | GBR | 49.76 | ? | ? | ? | ||
| 6 | 10 | Sam Felton | USA | 49.20 | 49.20 | - | - | ||
| 7 | 2 | Poul Cederquist | DEN | 48.16 | 46.72 | ? | ? | ||
| 8 | 6 | Ewan Douglas | GBR | 47.77 | 45.91 | 47.77 | ? | ||
| 9 | 7 | Norman Drake | GBR | 47.75 | 47.60 | 47.36 | 47.75 | ||
| 10 | 5 | Dan Coyle | IRL | 47.11 | 47.11 | ? | ? | ||
| 11 | 12 | Juan Fusé | ARG | 46.95 | 45.77 | 46.31 | 46.95 | ||
| 12 | 13 | Edmundo Zúñiga | CHI | 44.03 | 44.03 | 43.93 | 42.22 | ||
| 4 | Aad de Bruyn | NED | – | – | – | – |
| Date | 31 July 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Imre Németh | HUN | 54.02 | 54.02 | - | - | ||
| 2 | 9 | Einar Söderqvist | SWE | 52.39 | 52.39 | - | - | ||
| 3 | 11 | Teseo Taddia | ITA | 51.06 | 51.06 | - | - | ||
| 4 | 3 | Hans Houtzager | NED | 50.91 | 50.91 | - | - | ||
| 5 | 2 | Ivan Gubijan | YUG | 50.44 | 50.44 | - | - | ||
| 6 | 12 | Lauri Tamminen | FIN | 49.82 | 49.82 | - | - | ||
| 7 | 4 | In Gang-Hwan | KOR | 49.49 | 39.03 | 49.49 | - | ||
| 8 | 5 | Reino Kuivamäki | FIN | 48.99 | 47.84 | x | 48.99 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Pierre Legrain | FRA | 47.60 | 44.03 | 45.70 | 47.60 | ||
| 10 | 14 | Jaroslav Knotek | TCH | 42.46 | 40.97 | 42.46 | - | 3 | |
| 11 | 10 | Somnath | IND | 41.36 | x | 41.36 | x | ||
| 12 | 1 | Francisco González | MEX | 39.50 | 36.67 | 39.20 | 39.50 | ||
| 8 | Lajos Petike | HUN | – | – | – | – | |||
| 13 | Toma Balci | TUR | – | – | – | – |
| Date | 31 July 1948 — 15:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Start Order | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | Round #4 Distance | Round #5 Distance | Round #6 Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Imre Németh | HUN | 56.07 | 53.59 | 55.44 | 54.94 | 50.05 | x | 56.07 | ||
| 2 | 8 | Ivan Gubijan | YUG | 54.27 | x | x | 54.27 | 51.76 | 54.22 | x | ||
| 3 | 1 | Bob Bennett | USA | 53.73 | 52.53 | 51.11 | 52.08 | 53.73 | 51.21 | 49.81 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Sam Felton | USA | 53.66 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 5 | 13 | Lauri Tamminen | FIN | 53.08 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 6 | 4 | Bo Ericsson | SWE | 52.98 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 7 | 12 | Teseo Taddia | ITA | 51.74 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 8 | 11 | Einar Söderqvist | SWE | 51.48 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 9 | 3 | Henry Dreyer | USA | 51.37 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 10 | 6 | Svend Aage Frederiksen | DEN | 50.07 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 11 | 2 | Duncan Clark | GBR | 48.35 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 12 | 9 | Hans Houtzager | NED | 45.69 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 13 | 7 | In Gang-Hwan | KOR | 43.93 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
