New Zealand at the 1952 Summer Olympics

New Zealand at the 1952 Summer Olympics was represented by a team of 14 competitors (and one travelling reserve) and three officials. Selection of the team for the Games in Helsinki, Finland, was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic and British Empire Games Association. New Zealand's flagbearer at the opening ceremony was Harold Cleghorn. The New Zealand team finished equal 24th on the medal table, winning a total of three medals, one of which was gold.

New Zealand at the 1952 Summer Olympics
IOC code	NZL
NOC	New Zealand Olympic and British Empire Games Association
Website	www.olympic.org.nz
in Helsinki
Competitors	14 in 5 sports
Flag bearer	Harold Cleghorn
Officials	3
Medals Ranked 24th	Gold 1 Silver 0 Bronze 2 Total 3
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Australasia (1908–1912)

Medal tables

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Yvette Williams	Athletics	Women's long jump	23 July
Bronze	John Holland	Athletics	Men's 400 m hurdles	21 July
Bronze	Jean Stewart	Swimming	Women's 100 m backstroke	31 July

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Athletics	1	0	1	2
Swimming	0	0	1	1
Total	1	0	2	3

Medals by gender
Gender				Total
Male	0	0	1	1
Female	1	0	1	2
Total	1	0	2	3

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Track

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank[i]	Result	Rank[ii]	Result	Rank[iii]	Result	Rank
John Holland	Men's 400 m hurdles	53.3	1 Q	52.2	1 Q	52.0	2 Q	52.0
George Hoskins	Men's 1500 m	3:56.2	1 Q	—		3:53.0	12	did not advance
	Men's 5000 m	DNF		—				did not advance
Maurice Marshall	Men's 800 m	1:56.2	4	—		did not advance
	Men's 1500 m	4:01.0	7	—		did not advance

1. Ranks given are within the heat
2. Ranks given are within the quarterfinal
3. Ranks given are within the semifinal

Field

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Yvette Williams	Women's discus throw	41.32	4 Q	40.48	10
	Women's long jump	6.16 OR	1 Q	6.24 OR
	Women's shot put	12.64	10 Q	13.35	6

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Track

Men's 1000 m time trial

Athlete	Time	Rank
Malcolm Simpson	1:15.1	11

Men's sprint

Athlete	Round 1	Round 1 repechage	Quarterfinals	Quarterfinals repechage	Semifinals	Semifinals repechage	Final
	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Colin Dickinson	Szekeres (HUN)  Millman (CAN)  Siegenthaler (SUI) 4 R	Robinson (SAF)  Masanés (CHI)  Farnum (JAM)  Ioniță (ROU) 3	did not advance

Men's tandem

Athlete	Round 1	Round 1 repechage	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Rank
	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Colin Dickinson Malcolm Simpson	Switzerland W 11.3	—	France L	did not advance		=5

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

In 1952, seven rowing competitions were held, and New Zealand entered a single boat: a coxed four.^[1] The competition was for men only; women would first row at the 1976 Summer Olympics.^[2] Hector McLeod travelled to the Summer Olympics as a reserve but did not compete.^{[citation needed]}

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semi-finals		Semi-finals repechage		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Ted Johnson John O'Brien Kerry Ashby Bill Tinnock Colin Johnstone	Coxed four	7:25.2	4 R	7:07.3	2	Did not advance

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Lincoln Hurring	Men's 100 m backstroke	1:09.6	13 Q	1:10.2	14	did not advance
Jean Stewart	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:16.0	4 Q	—		1:15.8

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Press		Snatch		Clean & Jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Harold Cleghorn	Men's heavyweight	130	=6	117.5	=6	152.5	=7	400.0	7

Officials

Chef de mission – Jack Squire^[3]