Decathlon, Men
| Date | 25 – 26 July 1952 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki | |
| Participants | 28 from 16 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by 1950 point tables. | |
Though Bob Mathias had been the upset winner in 1948, by 1952 he was dominant in the decathlon and a heavy favorite. He was now undefeated in nine career decathlons, and had set world records in 1950 and at the 1952 AAU/Olympic Trials. The US team also included the 1948 bronze medalist, Floyd “Chunk” Simmons, and an 18-year-old high schooler, Milt Campbell, who finished second at the Olympic Trials in his first career decathlon. The Americans swept the medals, with Campbell second and Simmons repeating his bronze medal effort. But the 1952 Olympic decathlon was simply a coronation for Mathias, who became the first man to defend the decathlon gold medal. In the process he broke his own world record, and defeated Campbell by over 900 points. He effectively retired after Helsinki, although he returned in 1956 to win a military decathlon, ending his career undefeated in 11 competitions. Mathias was also a star football player at Stanford, competing in the Rose Bowl. He later had a brief Hollywood career and then served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Points | Points (1962 Tables) | Points (1985 Hand Tables) | Points (1985 Auto Tables) | 100 metres | Long Jump | Shot Put | High Jump | 400 metres | 110 metres Hurdles | Discus Throw | Pole Vault | Javelin Throw | 1,500 metres | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1039 | Bob Mathias |  USA | 7887 | 7731 | 7580 | 7589 | 10.9 | 6.98 | 15.30 | 1.90 | 50.2 | 14.7 | 46.89 | 4.00 | 59.21 | 4:50.8 | Gold | ||
| 2 | 1040 | Milt Campbell | USA | 6975 | 7132 | 6948 | 6986 | 10.7 | 6.74 | 13.89 | 1.85 | 50.9 | 14.5 | 40.50 | 3.30 | 54.54 | 5:07.2 | Silver | ||
| 3 | 1041 | Floyd Simmons | USA | 6788 | 7069 | 6903 | 6948 | 11.5 | 7.06 | 13.18 | 1.92 | 51.1 | 15.0 | 37.77 | 3.60 | 54.69 | 4:53.4 | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 468 | Vladimir Volkov |  URS | 6674 | 7030 | 6868 | 6902 | 11.4 | 7.09 | 12.62 | 1.75 | 51.2 | 15.8 | 38.04 | 3.80 | 56.68 | 4:33.2 | |||
| 5 | 749 | Sepp Hipp |  GER | 6449 | 6882 | 6705 | 6743 | 11.4 | 6.85 | 13.26 | 1.75 | 51.3 | 16.1 | 45.84 | 3.50 | 54.14 | 4:57.2 | |||
| 6 | 708 | Göran Widenfelt |  SWE | 6388 | 6850 | 6661 | 6679 | 11.4 | 6.76 | 11.61 | 1.94 | 51.3 | 16.1 | 39.53 | 3.50 | 49.36 | 4:38.6 | |||
| 7 | 707 | Kjell Tånnander | SWE | 6308 | 6797 | 6607 | 6616 | 11.4 | 6.90 | 12.97 | 1.85 | 52.6 | 15.8 | 39.30 | 3.50 | 52.79 | 4:57.2 | |||
| 8 | 752 | Friedel Schirmer | GER | 6118 | 6647 | 6464 | 6513 | 11.7 | 6.37 | 12.69 | 1.80 | 50.5 | 16.0 | 37.01 | 3.50 | 54.00 | 4:47.6 | |||
| 9 | 206 | Geoff Elliott |  GBR | 6044 | 6542 | 6353 | 6392 | 11.4 | 6.44 | 12.40 | 1.75 | 53.0 | 15.7 | 34.21 | 4.10 | 49.56 | 5:03.6 | |||
| 10 | 467 | Sergey Kuznetsov | URS | 5937 | 6523 | 6349 | 6362 | 11.4 | 7.09 | 11.71 | 1.65 | 52.8 | 16.4 | 41.04 | 3.60 | 43.19 | 4:42.0 | |||
| 11 | 636 | Hugues Frayer |  FRA | 5772 | 6335 | 6168 | 6208 | 11.6 | 6.80 | 12.36 | 1.65 | 51.3 | 15.4 | 40.02 | 3.40 | 41.31 | 5:14.4 | |||
| 12 | 977 | Brígido Iriarte |  VEN | 5770 | 6400 | 6250 | 6284 | 11.6 | 7.06 | 11.66 | 1.60 | 53.1 | 16.6 | 38.23 | 3.40 | 55.55 | 4:49.8 | |||
| 13 | 824 | Olli Reikko |  FIN | 5725 | 6393 | 6170 | 6198 | 11.3 | 6.66 | 11.85 | 1.70 | 50.3 | 18.8 | 30.72 | 3.50 | 51.41 | 4:28.0 | |||
| 14 | 826 | Eeles Landström | FIN | 5694 | 6312 | 6123 | 6147 | 12.0 | 6.70 | 11.75 | 1.75 | 56.7 | 17.1 | 34.51 | 4.20 | 57.61 | 5:01.0 | |||
| 15 | 340 | Oto Rebula |  YUG | 5648 | 6312 | 6135 | 6178 | 11.7 | 6.64 | 12.90 | 1.65 | 54.3 | 16.0 | 38.55 | 3.40 | 51.39 | 5:01.8 | |||
| 16 | 558 | Fernando Fernandes |  POR | 5604 | 6241 | 6088 | 6132 | 11.5 | 6.52 | 11.20 | 1.70 | 51.2 | 15.8 | 34.27 | 3.00 | 43.55 | 4:37.0 | |||
| 17 | 85 | Hernán Figueroa |  CHI | 5592 | 6265 | 6087 | 6126 | 11.7 | 6.38 | 12.87 | 1.60 | 52.8 | 16.4 | 38.08 | 3.50 | 51.22 | 4:58.2 | |||
| 18 | 865 | Max Wehrli |  SUI | 5561 | 6236 | 6053 | 6075 | 11.8 | 6.48 | 12.73 | 1.60 | 54.7 | 16.4 | 36.81 | 3.80 | 51.08 | 4:58.6 | |||
| 19 | 359 | Bob Adams |  CAN | 5530 | 6246 | 6035 | 6049 | 11.8 | 6.22 | 12.01 | 1.75 | 55.2 | 16.6 | 42.45 | 3.70 | 44.83 | 4:57.0 | |||
| 20 | 548 | Héctor Román |  PUR | 5264 | 6011 | 5834 | 5884 | 11.7 | 6.47 | 11.56 | 1.65 | 52.7 | 16.4 | 32.98 | 3.40 | 49.80 | 5:14.4 | |||
| 21 | 550 | Reynaldo Oliver | PUR | 5228 | 5969 | 5817 | 5859 | 11.9 | 6.15 | 10.22 | 1.70 | 53.4 | 16.7 | 29.95 | 3.50 | 56.68 | 4:51.8 | |||
| 825 | Erkki Hautamäki | FIN | – | – | – | – | 12.1 | 6.37 | 12.19 | 1.70 | 53.9 | 16.3 | 37.20 | 3.40 | 53.57 | – | ||||
| 635 | Ignace Heinrich | FRA | – | – | – | – | 11.5 | 7.10 | 12.83 | 1.88 | 51.0 | 16.0 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 82 | Carlos Vera | CHI | – | – | – | – | 11.1 | 6.96 | 9.52 | 1.75 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 630 | Georges Breitman | FRA | – | – | – | – | 13.8 | 5.43 | 9.28 | 1.50 | 1:03.9 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 379 | Fotios Kosmas |  GRE | – | – | – | – | 11.5 | 6.20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 466 | Pyotr Kozhevnikov | URS | – | – | – | – | 11.4 | 5.80 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Pat Leane |  AUS | – | – | – | – | 11.9 | 5.22 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 19 | Ray Weinberg | AUS | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 78 | Edmundo Ohaco | CHI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 383 | Georgios Roumpanis | GRE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 164 | Örn Clausen |  ISL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 966 | Hércules Azcune |  URU | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |