The capital of Finland already received the right to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this was prevented by the Second World War that began in 1939. Nevertheless, 12 years later, the Olympic flame still arrived in Helsinki.
The competition was attended by 4925 athletes from 65 countries. For the first time, athletes from the Soviet Union came to the Olympic Games, which was a very big event for the national sport. The opportunity to meet athletes from countries with different political systems on sports grounds has become an important stage in establishing their peaceful coexistence. The Olympic Committee believed that sport was above any political division. But in practice, sports have become another way for capitalist and socialist countries to prove the advantages of their development path.
At the fifteenth Olympiad, 17 sports were represented in 149 disciplines. Due to the rivalry between Soviet and American athletes, the Helsinki Olympics were marked by 66 Olympic records, 18 of which were world records. In the overall medal standings, the first place was taken by athletes from the United States, who won 40 gold, 19 silver and 17 bronze awards. The second place of the Soviet Union, which participated in the Olympic Games for the first time, was a great success, Soviet athletes received 22 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze medals. The third place went to the Hungarian team with 16 gold, 10 silver and 16 bronze medals.
The games in Helsinki went down in history and set records. So, for the first time, the hammer throwers crossed the 60-meter mark, which had not been submitted to anyone before. The record was set by the representative of Hungary Jozsef Cermak. The high jumpers took the previously unattainable landmark and the high jumpers - American Olympian Walter Aevis was able to jump the cherished 2 meters.
For the Soviet Union, the first gold Olympic medal was won by the discus thrower Nina Romashkova (Ponomareva), which forever inscribed her name in the history of Russian sports. Soviet gymnasts performed very well: Maria Gorokhovskaya won two gold and five silver medals, Viktor Chukarin won four gold and two silver medals, becoming the absolute Olympic champion. For the first time, the anthem of the Soviet Union sounded over and over again under the arches of the Olympic hall.
The football match between the teams of Yugoslavia and the USSR developed very dramatically. After the first half, the Yugoslavs won 4-0, the defeat of the USSR team seemed inevitable. But in the second half, the incredible happened, the Soviet athletes managed to score five goals, conceding one. The main time ended in a draw, half an extra hour also did not reveal the winner. A replay was appointed, in which the Soviet athletes nevertheless lost to the Yugoslavs with a score of 3: 1. This had sad consequences - the players were punished, and the CDSA team, which was the backbone of the Olympic team, was disbanded.
The second place of the Soviet basketball team, which played at the Olympics for the first time, became an undoubted success. The first place was won by athletes from the USA, the third - by the Olympians from Uruguay.
In diving, athletes from the United States performed superbly, having won all four gold medals. But in weightlifting, Soviet athletes were able to adequately resist the Americans. As a result, the Americans won 4 gold, the athletes from the USSR - three.
One of the curiosities of the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki was that they were not officially closed - at the closing ceremony, IOC President Siegfried Edstrom made a big speech, but forgot to say the main words - "I declare the Games of the XV Olympiad closed." Therefore, the games in Helsinki are still officially considered open.
