Helsinki 1952
Six gold medals
The 1952 Olympics were held in the city of Helsinki, the capital of Finland.
The Olympics were growing in size and importance with every games. Sixty-nine
nations sent teams to Helsinki, with a total of nearly 5000 competitors. With
a population of only 350 000 people at the time, Helsinki is the smallest
city to host a modern Olympic Games.
The Australian team
The 85 Australian competitors entered events in athletics, boxing, cycling,
diving, fencing, modern pentathlon, rowing, swimming, water polo, weight
lifting, wrestling and yachting. While the size of the Australian team was larger
than ever before, there were very few women selected. Only 10 women went to
Helsinki compared with 75 men, but the women won three of Australia’s six
gold medals.
The star for the Australians was athlete Marjorie Jackson, who won gold in
the 100 metres and 200 metres, and would probably have won another
gold in the relay but for a dropped baton.
Other gold medals went to Shirley Strickland (80 metres hurdles), John
Davies (200 metres breaststroke), cyclist Russell Mockridge (1000 metres
time trial) and the tandem cycling team (Russell Mockridge and Lionel Cox).
Two silver and three bronze completed the medal count for the most successful
Australian team (in terms of gold medals won) to that time.
Marjorie Jackson: The Lithgow Flash
The people of the industrial town of Lithgow rallied behind their champion
runner Marjorie Jackson. They built a special running track for her to train
on, and raised money to pay for her to compete overseas.
The sprints at Helsinki were expected to be a close contest between the great
Dutch runner, Fanny Blankers-Koen, and Marjorie Jackson. However Blankers-Koen
withdrew from the competition. Jackson’s form was so strong, though, that
it is unlikely that she would have been beaten. She equalled the world record
of 11.5 seconds in the semi-final of the 100 metres and then went
on to win gold with the same time in the final. Fellow Australian Shirley Strickland
came third.
A second gold
In the 200 metres Jackson put in another great performance. Her winning
time of 23.4 seconds in the semi-final was a world record, and she won
the final by five metres. Australian runner Winsome Cripps came fourth.
Relay disaster
The 4x100 metres relay appeared to be an event that Australia would win
easily. The team included three runners who had run in the 100 metres final.
They began well, and were well ahead at the end of the third leg. However, disaster
struck at the final baton change. As the third runner, Winsome Cripps, passed
the baton to Marjorie Jackson her knee hit Jackson’s hand, knocking the
baton to the ground. Jackson stopped and picked up the baton, and set off to
try to catch the other runners. The Australians came fifth, but would have won
easily if not for the dropped baton.
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