| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Men

Date	4 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Participants	23 from 15 countries

Tapio Rautavaara won the gold medal to continue the Finnish tradition of great javelin throwing. He won with his first round throw. American Steve Seymour, the 1947-48 AAU Champion, placed second with his third round throw, needing a good throw at that point to move up from 10th and get three more throws.

Rautavaara was a very interesting character. He was bronze medalist at the 1946 European Championships, and was Finnish javelin champion in 1944-45 and 1947-49, in addition to his Olympic gold medal. He was also a top archer and competed on the Finnish team that won the World Team Championship in 1958, and he was Finnish champion in archery in 1955. But Rautavaara is best remembered in Finland for his singing and acting. He toured Finland, performing in the 50s and early 60s, and eventually recorded over 300 songs. He began acting in films and television after World War II, and appeared in over 20 movies.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	496	Tapio Rautavaara	FIN	64.68 (3)	69.77 (1)	Gold
2	514	Steve Seymour	USA	63.83 (5)	67.56 (2)	Silver
3	504	József Várszegi	HUN	61.63 (10)	67.03 (3)	Bronze
4	498	Pauli Vesterinen	FIN	61.67 (9)	65.89 (4)
5	506	Odd Mæhlum	NOR	63.00 (7)	65.32 (5)
6	512	Martin Biles	USA	67.68 (1)	65.17 (6)
7	516	Mirko Vujačić	YUG	62.53 (8)	64.89 (7)
8	513	Bob Likins	USA	61.00 (12)	64.51 (8)
9	509	Gunnar Petersson	SWE	64.04 (4)	62.80 (9)
10	510	Per-Arne Berglund	SWE	67.02 (2)	62.62 (10)
11	495	Lumír Kiesewetter	TCH	63.25 (6)	60.25 (11)
12	497	Soini Nikkinen	FIN	61.21 (11)	58.05 (12)
13 r1/2	492	Ricardo Héber	ARG	60.82 (13)	–
14 r1/2	500	Raymond Tissot	FRA	58.19 (14)	–
15 r1/2	515	Dušan Vujačić	YUG	57.62 (15)	–
16 r1/2	505	Jóel Sigurðsson	ISL	56.85 (16)	–
17 r1/2	503	Nico Lutkeveld	NED	56.25 (17)	–
18 r1/2	507	Pedro Apellániz	ESP	54.97 (18)	–
19 r1/2	502	Morville Chote	GBR	54.84 (19)	–
20 r1/2	494	Leo Roininen	CAN	53.92 (20)	–
21 r1/2	501	Malcolm Dalrymple	GBR	53.17 (21)	–
22 r1/2	511	Halil Zıraman	TUR	53.30 (22)	–
23 r1/2	499	Pierre Sprécher	FRA	52.30 (23)	–
DNS	508	Sven Daleflod	SWE	– (DNS)	–
DNS	491	Erwin Pektor	AUT	– (DNS)	–
DNS	588	Luis Ganoza	PER	– (DNS)	–
DNS	589	Jaime Piqueras	PER	– (DNS)	–

Qualifying Round

Date	4 August 1948 — 11:00
Format	Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 64.00 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Distance
1	512	Martin Biles	USA	67.68	Q
2	510	Per-Arne Berglund	SWE	67.02	Q
3	496	Tapio Rautavaara	FIN	64.68	Q
4	509	Gunnar Petersson	SWE	64.04	Q
5	514	Steve Seymour	USA	63.83	q
6	495	Lumír Kiesewetter	TCH	63.25	q
7	506	Odd Mæhlum	NOR	63.00	q
8	516	Mirko Vujačić	YUG	62.53	q
9	498	Pauli Vesterinen	FIN	61.67	q
10	504	József Várszegi	HUN	61.63	q
11	497	Soini Nikkinen	FIN	61.21	q
12	513	Bob Likins	USA	61.00	q
13	492	Ricardo Héber	ARG	60.82
14	500	Raymond Tissot	FRA	58.19
15	515	Dušan Vujačić	YUG	57.62
16	505	Jóel Sigurðsson	ISL	56.85
17	503	Nico Lutkeveld	NED	56.25
18	507	Pedro Apellániz	ESP	54.97
19	502	Morville Chote	GBR	54.84
20	494	Leo Roininen	CAN	53.92
21	501	Malcolm Dalrymple	GBR	53.17
22	511	Halil Zıraman	TUR	53.30
23	499	Pierre Sprécher	FRA	52.30
DNS	508	Sven Daleflod	SWE	–
DNS	491	Erwin Pektor	AUT	–
DNS	588	Luis Ganoza	PER	–
DNS	589	Jaime Piqueras	PER	–

Group A

Date	4 August 1948

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance
1	3	Martin Biles	USA	67.68	Q
2	2	Per-Arne Berglund	SWE	67.02	Q
3	9	Lumír Kiesewetter	TCH	63.25	q
4	12	Odd Mæhlum	NOR	63.00	q
5	13	Soini Nikkinen	FIN	61.21	q
6	10	Bob Likins	USA	61.00	q
7	8	Ricardo Héber	ARG	60.82
8	11	Nico Lutkeveld	NED	56.25
9	1	Pedro Apellániz	ESP	54.97
10	4	Morville Chote	GBR	54.84
11	6	Malcolm Dalrymple	GBR	53.17
DNS	5	Sven Daleflod	SWE	–
DNS	14	Erwin Pektor	AUT	–
DNS	7	Luis Ganoza	PER	–

Group B

Date	4 August 1948

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance
1	3	Tapio Rautavaara	FIN	64.68	Q
2	1	Gunnar Petersson	SWE	64.04	Q
3	5	Steve Seymour	USA	63.83	q
4	12	Mirko Vujačić	YUG	62.53	q
5	10	Pauli Vesterinen	FIN	61.67	q
6	9	József Várszegi	HUN	61.63	q
7	8	Raymond Tissot	FRA	58.19
8	11	Dušan Vujačić	YUG	57.62
9	6	Jóel Sigurðsson	ISL	56.85
10	4	Leo Roininen	CAN	53.92
11	13	Halil Zıraman	TUR	53.30
12	7	Pierre Sprécher	FRA	52.30
DNS	2	Jaime Piqueras	PER	–

Final Round

Date	4 August 1948 — 14:30

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	496	Tapio Rautavaara	FIN	69.77	69.77	x	57.59	59.43	61.86	58.95
2	514	Steve Seymour	USA	67.56	x	62.37	67.56	61.72	63.58	61.00
3	504	József Várszegi	HUN	67.03	67.03	58.14	60.29	57.53	59.71	58.35
4	498	Pauli Vesterinen	FIN	65.89	65.44	60.96	63.01	61.76	65.89	65.79
5	506	Odd Mæhlum	NOR	65.32	65.32	62.00	61.67	59.23	60.59	59.33
6	512	Martin Biles	USA	65.17	58.70	65.09	65.17	59.09	64.10	65.17
7	516	Mirko Vujačić	YUG	64.89	–	–	–	–	–	–
8	513	Bob Likins	USA	64.51	–	–	–	–	–	–
9	509	Gunnar Petersson	SWE	62.80	–	–	–	–	–	–
10	510	Per-Arne Berglund	SWE	62.62	–	–	–	–	–	–
11	495	Lumír Kiesewetter	TCH	60.25	–	–	–	–	–	–
12	497	Soini Nikkinen	FIN	58.05	–	–	–	–	–	–