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Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games:

Men's 50 kilometres Walk

Athletics at the 1948 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games

Events:
Phases:

Host City: London, Great Britain
Venue(s): Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Date Started: July 31, 1948
Date Finished: July 31, 1948

Gold: SWE John Ljunggren
Silver: SUI Gaston Godel
Bronze: GBR Lloyd Johnson

Summary

John Ljunggren, the 1946 European Champion, led from start to finish, having opened up 40 seconds after only five kilometers. He completely dominated the event winning by almost seven minutes. He was so far ahead that the second-place finisher, Gaston Godel of Switzerland, thought he had won when he finished the race, not realizing Ljunggren was up ahead. As he walked his last lap, he was waving his hands and clapping them together and was almost tearful at the though is his “gold” medal.

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal T
1 John Ljunggren 28 Sweden SWE Gold 4-41:52
2 Gaston Godel 33 Switzerland SUI Silver 4-48:17
3 Lloyd Johnson 48 Great Britain GBR Bronze 4-48:31
4 Edgar Bruun 42 Norway NOR 4-53:18
5 Bert Martineau 33 Great Britain GBR 4-53:58
6 Rune Bjurström 35 Sweden SWE 4-56:43
7 Pierre Mazille 26 France FRA 5-01:40
8 Claude Hubert 34 France FRA 5-03:12
9 Enrique Villaplana 34 Spain ESP 5-03:31
10 Tage Jönsson 28 Sweden SWE 5-05:08
11 Henri Caron 24 France FRA 5-08:15
12 Ernie Crosbie 38 United States USA 5-15:16
13 Sándor László 23 Hungary HUN 5-16:30
14 Salvatore Cascino 30 Italy ITA 5-20:03
15 John Deni 45 United States USA 5-28:33
16 Adolf Weinacker 19 United States USA 5-30:14
AC Francesco Pretti 44 Italy ITA DNF
AC Rex Whitlock 37 Great Britain GBR DNF
AC Gerhard Winther 35 Norway NOR DNF
AC Per Olav Baarnaas 28 Norway NOR DNF
AC Sadhu Singh India IND DNF
AC Sixto Ibáñez 39 Argentina ARG DNF
AC Valentino Bertolini 31 Italy ITA DNF