The 1948 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus caused by the outbreak of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics held since the 1936 Games in Berlin. The 1940 Olympic Games had been scheduled for Tokyo and then for Helsinki, while the 1944 Olympic Games had been provisionally planned for London. This was the second time London hosted the Olympic Games, having previously hosted them in 1908, forty years earlier. The Olympics would return again to London 64 years later in 2012, making London the first city to host the games thrice, and the only such city until Paris and Los Angeles host their third games in 2024 and 2028, respectively. The 1948 Olympic Games were also the first of two summer Games held under the IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström.
Andrew William Stanfield was an American sprinter and Olympic gold and silver medallist.
Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, whilst a medical student at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, he won two gold and two silver medals, becoming the first Jamaican Olympic gold medalist.
Malvin Greston Whitfield was an American athlete, goodwill ambassador, and airman. Nicknamed "Marvelous Mal", he was the Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, and a member of the 1948 gold medal team in the 4 × 400 meters relay. Overall, Whitfield was a five-time Olympic medalist. After his competitive career, he worked for 47 years as a coach, goodwill ambassador, as well as an athletic mentor in Africa on behalf of the United States Information Service.
Asafa Powell, CD is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of 9.72 s ranking fourth on the all-time list of men's 100-metre athletes. As of 1 September 2016, Powell has broken the ten-second barrier more times than anyone else—97 times. He currently holds the world record for the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.09 s, set on 27 May 2010 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In 2016, he became Olympic champion in the 4 x 100 metres relay.
LeRoy Braxton Cochran was an American sprinter and hurdler, winner of two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Leslie Alphonso "Les" Laing was a Jamaican athlete and a winner of gold medal in 4 × 400 m relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
The Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley OM was a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals.
Sanjay Claude Ayre is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. Ayre won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Ayre is a 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championship Gold medalist and a three-time World Outdoor Championship medalist.
Jamaica competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
Jamaica sent a delegation to compete at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England from 29 July to 14 August 1948. This was the nation's first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games since they became a member of the International Olympic Committee back in 1936.
Olga Gyarmati was a Hungarian all-round track and field athlete who competed at three Olympic Games in four different events. Her greatest success was winning the inaugural Olympic Women's Long Jump competition in London in 1948. Additionally, she won two Universiade gold medals and a number of Hungarian Athletics Championships titles in sprint and jumping events.
John Macfarlane "Dutch" Holland was a New Zealand athlete who competed mainly in hurdles events. His greatest international success was in the 400 metre/440 yards hurdles.
Since the early 20th century, Jamaica has won 42 Commonwealth Golds, 14 World Championship Golds and 17 Olympic gold medals in athletics alone. Jamaica has a population of 2.85 million people, making it the 138th most populous country in the world.
The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. Fifty-three athletes from 28 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.2 seconds by Jamaican Arthur Wint coming from almost 10 meters back to catch teammate and world record holder Herb McKenley. This was Jamaica's first Olympic gold medal in any event, and broke a string of 3 straight American victories in the men's 400 metres.
The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between July 24 and July 25. Seventy-one athletes from 35 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.11 seconds by George Rhoden of Jamaica, the second consecutive title in the event by a Jamaican. Herb McKenley repeated his silver medal performance from 1948, becoming the second man to win two medals in the event.
The men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place on July 26 & July 27.
Richard Attlesey was an American sprinter who mostly competed in the 110-meter hurdles. He set world records for the event twice in 1950 with times of 13.6 and 13.5 seconds.
Jamaica competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. This marked its sixteenth Summer Olympic appearance as an independent nation, although it had previously competed in four other editions as a British colony, and as part of the West Indies Federation.
Seymour Newman is a Jamaican former athlete who competed in short and middle-distance running events
