List of 1948 Winter Olympics medal winners

The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known by the International Olympic Committee as the V Olympic Winter Games, were a multi-sport event held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, from January 30 through February 8, 1948. A total of 669 athletes representing 28 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated at the Games in twenty two events across eight disciplines.[1]

Barbara-Ann Scott of Canada and Hans Gerschwiler of Switzerland practice pairs figure skating before competition.

The Olympic programme was adjusted from that of the 1936 Winter Olympics[2] with the addition of skeleton for men. The sport had first appeared at the 1928 Winter Olympics, which had also taken place in St. Moritz, but would not make another appearance until 2002 in Salt Lake City.[3] Two demonstration sports were held in St. Moritz, winter pentathlon and military patrol. This was the fourth time military patrol had been held as a demonstration event, the closely related sport of biathlon was added to the programme beginning with the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.[4][5] Both men and women competed in the 1948 Games, with women taking part in alpine skiing and figure skating.

A total of 123 athletes won medals at the 1948 Games.[6] Norway, Sweden and Switzerland tied for the most number of medals, with ten each. The United States placed fourth in the medal count, with nine, and Austria placed fifth, with eight. Of the 28 competing NOCs, 13 won at least one medal, with 10 of these winning at least one gold. Notable absences from these Games were defeated Axis Powers members Germany and Japan, who were not invited to St. Moritz or the London Summer Olympics later in the year in light of the recently concluded World War II.[6][7] The Soviet Union, who did not form an NOC until 1951,[8] declined to take part.[6][9]

Sweden repeated its success in cross-country skiing, winning all three medals in the Men's 18 km event and all three gold medals available in the sport.[10] Canadian teenager Barbara-Ann Scott became the first from her nation to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, and Dick Button from the United States did the same.[9] Alpine skier Henri Oreiller from France won the most medals with a total of three, with two gold medals from the downhill and combined events, and a bronze in the slalom event.[6][11]

Alpine skiing

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's downhill[12]
details
Henri Oreiller
 France
Franz Gabl
 Austria
Rolf Olinger
 Switzerland
Karl Molitor
 Switzerland
Women's downhill[13]
details
Hedy Schlunegger
 Switzerland
Trude Beiser
 Austria
Resi Hammerer
 Austria
Men's slalom[14]
details
Edy Reinalter
 Switzerland
James Couttet
 France
Henri Oreiller
 France
Women's slalom[15]
details
Gretchen Fraser
 United States
Antoinette Meyer
 Switzerland
Erika Mahringer
 Austria
Men's combined[16]
details
Henri Oreiller
 France
Karl Molitor
 Switzerland
James Couttet
 France
Women's combined[17]
details
Trude Beiser
 Austria
Gretchen Fraser
 United States
Erika Mahringer
 Austria

Bobsleigh

EventGoldSilverBronze
Two-man
details
 Switzerland (SUI)[18]
Switzerland II
Felix Endrich
Friedrich Waller
 Switzerland (SUI)[18]
Switzerland I
Fritz Feierabend
Paul Eberhard
 United States (USA)[19]
USA II
Frederick Fortune
Schuyler Carron
Four-man
details
 United States (USA)[19]
USA II
Francis Tyler
Patrick Martin
Edward Rimkus
William D'Amico
 Belgium (BEL)[20]
Belgium I
Max Houben
Freddy Mansveld
Louis-Georges Niels
Jacques Mouvet
 United States (USA)[19]
USA I
James Bickford
Thomas Hicks
Donald Dupree
William Dupree

Cross-country skiing

Swedish cross-country skier Martin Lundström during the Men's 18 km event. Lundström went on to win the gold medal in this event.
EventGoldSilverBronze
18 km[21]
details
Martin Lundström
 Sweden
Nils Östensson
 Sweden
Gunnar Eriksson
 Sweden
50 km[22]
details
Nils Karlsson
 Sweden
Harald Eriksson
 Sweden
Benjamin Vanninen
 Finland
4×10 km
details
 Sweden (SWE)[23]
Gunnar Eriksson
Martin Lundström
Nils Östensson
Nils Täpp
 Finland (FIN)[24]
August Kiuru
Teuvo Laukkanen
Sauli Rytky
Lauri Silvennoinen
 Norway (NOR)[25]
Erling Evensen
Olav Hagen
Reidar Nyborg
Olav Økern

Figure skating

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's singles[26]
details
Dick Button
 United States
Hans Gerschwiler
 Switzerland
Edi Rada
 Austria
Ladies' singles[27]
details
Barbara-Ann Scott
 Canada
Eva Pawlik
 Austria
Jeannette Altwegg
 Great Britain
Pairs
details
 Belgium (BEL)[28]
Pierre Baugniet
Micheline Lannoy
 Hungary (HUN)[29]
Andrea Kékesy
Ede Király
 Canada (CAN)[30]
Wallace Diestelmeyer
Suzanne Morrow

Ice hockey

The gold-medal winning men's ice hockey team, the Ottawa RCAF Flyers.
EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's team
details
 Canada (CAN)[31]
Andy Gilpin
Albert Renaud
Bernard Dunster
George Mara
Hubert Brooks
Henri-André Laperrière
Irving Taylor
Pete Leichnitz
Jean Gravelle
Louis Lecompte
Murray Dowey
Patrick Guzzo
Roy A. Forbes
Reginald Schroeter
Ross King
Thomas Hibberd
Walter Halder
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)[32]
Bohumil Modrý
Gustav Bubník
Jaroslav Drobný
Josef Trousílek
Karel Stibor
Ladislav Troják
Miloslav Pokorný
Miroslav Sláma
Oldřich Zábrodský
Přemysl Hajný
Stanislav Konopásek
Václav Roziňák
Vilibald Šťovík
Vladimír Bouzek
Vladimír Kobranov
Vladimír Zábrodský
Zdeněk Jarkovský
 Switzerland (SUI)[33]
Alfred Bieler
Beat Rüedi
Emil Handschin
Ferdinand Cattini
Gebhard Poltera
Hans Bänninger
Hans Cattini
Hans Dürst
Hans Trepp
Heini Lohrer
Heinrich Boller
Otto Schubiger
Reto Perl
Bibi Torriani
Ulrich Poltera
Walter Dürst
Werner Lohrer

Nordic combined

Nordic combined gold medal winner Heikki Hasu, pictured in 1952
EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's individual[34]
details
Heikki Hasu
 Finland
Martti Huhtala
 Finland
Sven Israelsson
 Sweden

Skeleton

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's individual[35]
details
Nino Bibbia
 Italy
John Heaton
 United States
John Crammond
 Great Britain

Ski jumping

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men's individual[36]
details
Petter Hugsted
 Norway
Birger Ruud
 Norway
Thorleif Schjelderup
 Norway

Speed skating

EventGoldSilverBronze
500 metres[37]
details
Finn Helgesen
 Norway
Ken Bartholomew
 United States
none awarded
Thomas Byberg
 Norway
Robert Fitzgerald
 United States
1500 metres[38]
details
Sverre Farstad
 Norway
Åke Seyffarth
 Sweden
Odd Lundberg
 Norway
5000 metres[39]
details
Reidar Liaklev
 Norway
Odd Lundberg
 Norway
Göthe Hedlund
 Sweden
10000 metres[40]
details
Åke Seyffarth
 Sweden
Lassi Parkkinen
 Finland
Pentti Lammio
 Finland

Multiple medallists

Athletes who won more than one medal are listed below.[6]

AthleteNationSportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Henri Oreiller  France (FRA)Alpine skiing2013
Martin Lundström  Sweden (SWE)Cross-country skiing2002
Gretchen Fraser  United States (USA)Alpine skiing1102
Trude Jochum-Beiser  Austria (AUT)Alpine skiing1102
Nils Östensson  Sweden (SWE)Cross-country skiing1102
Åke Seyffarth  Sweden (SWE)Speed skating1102
Gunnar Eriksson  Sweden (SWE)Cross-country skiing1012
James Couttet  France (FRA)Alpine skiing0112
Odd Lundberg  Norway (NOR)Speed skating0112
Karl Molitor  Switzerland (SUI)Alpine Skiing0112
Erika Mahringer  Austria (AUT)Alpine skiing0022

See also

References

External links