South Africa at the 1952 Summer Olympics

The Union of South Africa competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 64 competitors, 60 men and 4 women, took part in 59 events in 13 sports.

Medalists

Gold

• Esther Brand — Athletics, Women's High Jump
• Joan Harrison — Swimming, Women's 100m Backstroke

Silver

• Daphne Hasenjager — Athletics, Women's 100 metres
• Theunis van Schalkwyk — Boxing, Men's Light Middleweight
• George Estman, Robert Fowler, Thomas Shardelow, and Alfred Swift — Cycling, Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit
• Raymond Robinson and Thomas Shardelow — Cycling, Men's 2.000m Tandem

Bronze

• Willie Toweel — Boxing, Men's Flyweight
• Leonard Leisching — Boxing, Men's Featherweight
• Andries Nieman — Boxing, Men's Heavyweight
• Raymond Robinson — Cycling, Men's 1.000m Time Trial

Athletics

South Africa was represented in athletics by 10 men and 4 women.

Men:

• 100 metres - Neville Price (did not compete)
• 200 metres - Schalk Booysen (4th place in Heat 3); Neville Price (did not compete)
• 400 metres - Louis van Biljon (4th place in Quarterfinal 3); Schalk Booysen (4th place in Heat 12); John Anderton (5th place in Heat 2)
• 1500 metres - Athol Jennings (6th place in Heat 3)
• 10,000 metres - Bill Keith (28th place); Syd Luyt (did not compete)
• Marathon - Wally Hayward (10th place); Syd Luyt (11th place); Bill Keith (19th place)
• 400 metres hurdles - Ron Wilke (5th place in Quarterfinal 3)
• 4 × 400 metres relay - 4th place in Heat 3
• : Louis van Biljon, Ron Wilke, John Anderton, Bill Chivell; Schalk Booysen (DNS)
• Long jump - Neville Price (11th place)
• Triple jump - Neville Price (did not compete)

Women:

• 100 metres - Daphne Hasenjäger (2nd place) Silver Medal
• : Edna Maskell (5th place in Quarterfinal 4)
• 200 metres - Daphne Hasenjäger (6th place)
• 80 metres hurdles - Edna Maskell (5th place in Semifinal 1)
• High jump - Esther Brand (1st place) Gold Medal
• Shot put - Esther Brand (did not compete)
• Discus throw - Esther Brand (20th place in qualifying round)

Boxing

South Africa was represented in boxing by 8 men.

• Flyweight - Willie Toweel (=3rd place) Bronze Medal
• Bantamweight - Lennie von Graevenitz (=5th place)
• Featherweight - Len Leisching (=3rd place) Bronze Medal
• Lightweight - Johnny van Rensburg (=17th place)
• Light welterweight - Grant Webster (=5th place)
• Welterweight - Hendrik van der Linde (=9th place)
• Light middleweight - Theunis van Schalkwyk (2nd place) Silver Medal
• Heavyweight - Dries Niemann (=3rd place) Bronze Medal

Cycling

South Africa was represented in cycling by 5 men.

Road Competition

Men's Individual Road Race (190.4 km)

• George Estman — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Alfred Swift — did not finish (→ no ranking)
• Robert Fowler — did not finish (→ no ranking)

Track Competition

Men's 1.000m Time Trial

• Raymond Robinson

* Final — 1:13.0 (→ Bronze Medal)

Men's 1.000m Sprint Scratch Race

• Raymond Robinson — 5th place

Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit

• Alfred Swift, George Estman, Robert Fowler, and Thomas Shardelow

* Final — Lost to Italy (→ Silver Medal)

Diving

One male diver represented South Africa in 1952.

Men

Gymnastics

South Africa was represented in gymnastics by three men in 7 out of 8 events, not having enough competitors to take part in the team all-around.

• Individual all-around - Ronnie Lombard (139th place); Jack Wells (169th place); Rolf Yelseth (171st place)
• Floor exercise - Ronnie Lombard (=164th place); Jack Wells (=166th place); Rolf Yelseth (177th place)
• Horizontal bar - Ronnie Lombard (=98th place); Rolf Yelseth (141st place); Jack Wells (166th place)
• Parallel bars - Rolf Yelseth (161st place); Ronnie Lombard (163rd place); Jack Wells (=173rd place)
• Pommel horse - Ronnie Lombard (=129th place); Rolf Yelseth (=162nd place)
• Rings - Rolf Yelseth (=127th place); Jack Wells (147th place); Ronnie Lombard (=163rd place)
• Vault - Jack Wells (=79th place); Ronnie Lombard (=98th place); Rolf Yelseth (174th place)

Modern pentathlon

One male pentathlete represented South Africa in 1952.

• Harry Schmidt

Rowing

South Africa had five male rowers participating in two out of seven rowing events in 1952.

Men's single sculls

• Ian Stephen

Men's coxless four

• Don Dyke-Wells
• Damian Nichol
• John Webb
• Christopher Veitch

Sailing

South Africa entered two of the five sailing classes with four men.

• One Person Dinghy - Hellmut Stauch (16th place)
• 5.5 metres (Shoveller) (7th place)

Eric Beningfield, Joe Ellis-Brown, Noel Horsfield

Shooting

One male shooter represented South Africa in 1952.

50 m rifle, prone

• William Murless

Swimming

South Africa was represented in 8 of the 11 swimming events by five men and one woman.

Men

<small>Ranks given are within the heat.</small>

Women

<small>Ranks given are within the heat.</small>

Water polo

The South African men's water polo team finished in 9th place.

• William Aucamp, Ron Meredith, Gerald Goddard, Douglas Melville, Johnnie van Gent, Des Cohen, Solly Yach, Dennis Pappas; Frank Butler, Luis González (did not compete)

Weightlifting

South Africa was represented in weightlifting by four men.

• Featherweight - James van Rensburg (18th place)
• Lightweight - Barrie Engelbrecht (13th place)
• Light-heavyweight - Issy Bloomberg (6th place)
• Middle-heavyweight - Theunis Jonck (8th place)

Wrestling

South Africa was represented by 5 male wrestlers.

Men's freestyle

• Flyweight - Louis Baise (6th place)
• Lightweight - Blondie Pienaar (place not known)
• Welterweight - Cyril Martin (place not known)
• Middleweight - Calie Reitz (=6th place)
• Light-Heavyweight - Jan Theron (6th place)

References

External links

• Official Olympic Reports
• International Olympic Committee results database