Decathlon 2000 › Championships › Olympic Games › Olympic Games Helsinki 1952
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Olympic Games Helsinki 1952 (2)

Oct 22, 2026
Robert “Bob” Mathias defended his Olympic decathlon title at Helsinki 1952 with a world record of 7887 points, becoming the first man to win the event at two Olympic Games. Milton Campbell took silver with 6975 points and Floyd Simmons earned bronze with 6788, completing an American medal sweep. Held at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 25–26 July, the competition ended with Mathias an extraordinary 912 points clear of his nearest rival.
P Athlete Nation Points Results By 1985
1 Robert Mathias USA 7887
WR
11,08 - 6.98 - 15.30 - 1.90 - 50,38
14,91 - 46.89 - 4.00 - 59.21 - 4.51,11
7592
2 Milton Campbell USA 6975 10,78 - 6.74 - 13.89 - 1.85 - 50,96
14,67 - 40.50 - 3.30 - 54.54 - 5.07,60
6995
3 Floyd Simmons USA 6788 11,52 - 7.06 - 13.18 - 1.92 - 51,22
15,26 - 37.77 - 3.60 - 54.69 - 4.53,70
6945
4 Vladimir Volkov URS 6674 11,49 - 7.09 - 12.62 - 1.75 - 51,28
16,11 - 38.04 - 3.80 - 56.68 - 4.33,25
6894
5 Josef Hipp FRG 6449 11,46 - 6.85 - 13.26 - 1.75 - 51,43
16,24 - 45.84 - 3.50 - 54.14 - 4.57,32
6754
6 Göran Widenfelt SWE 6388 11,53 - 6.76 - 11.61 - 1.94 - 51,55
16,32 - 39.53 - 3.50 - 49.36 - 4.38,84
6681
7 Kjell Tannander SWE 6308 11,59 - 6.90 - 12.97 - 1.85 - 52,71
16,03 - 39.30 - 3.50 - 52.79 - 4.57,64
6617
8 Friedel Schirmer FRG 6118 11,68 - 6.37 - 12.69 - 1.80 - 50,67
16,28 - 37.01 - 3.50 - 54.00 - 4.47,95
6509
9 Geoffrey Elliott GBR 6044 11,45 - 6.44 - 12.40 - 1.75 - 53,12
15,88 - 34.21 - 4.10 - 49.56 - 5.03,88
6398
10 Sergei Kuznetsov URS 5937 11,56 - 7.09 - 11.71 - 1.65 - 53,00
16,74 - 41.04 - 3.60 - 43.19 - 4.42,22
6352
11 Hugues Frayer FRA 5772 11,61 - 6.80 - 12.36 - 1.65 - 51,61
15,65 - 40.02 - 3.40 - 41.31 - 5.14,40
6207
12 Brigido Iriarte VEN 5770 11,66 - 7.06 - 11.66 - 1.60 - 53,27
16,6 - 38.23 - 3.40 - 55.55 - 4.49,98
6284
13 Olavi Reikko FIN 5725 11,43 - 6.66 - 11.85 - 1.70 - 50,33
19,19 - 30.72 - 3.50 - 51.41 - 4.28,01
6185
14 Eeles Landström FIN 5694 12,10 - 6.70 - 11.75 - 1.75 - 56,88
17,1 - 34.51 - 4.20 - 57.61 - 5.00,96
6147
15 Oto Rebula YUG 5648 11,72 - 6.64 - 12.90 - 1.65 - 54,46
16,40 - 38.55 - 3.40 - 51.39 - 5.01,93
6160
16 Fernando Fernandes POR 5604 11,54 - 6.52 - 11.20 - 1.70 - 51,23
16,08 - 34.27 - 3.00 - 43.55 - 4.37,32
6128
17 Hernan Figueroa CHI 5592 11,73 - 6.38 - 12.87 - 1.60 - 52,96
16,66 - 38.08 - 3.50 - 51.22 - 4.58,61
6124
18 Max Wehrli SUI 5561 11,93 - 6.48 - 12.73 - 1.60 - 54,92
16,74 - 36.81 - 3.80 - 51.08 - 4.58,10
6065
19 Robert Adams CAN 5530 11,95 - 6.22 - 12.01 - 1.75 - 55,43
16,81 - 42.45 - 3.70 - 44.83 - 4.57,25
6052
20 Hector Roman PUR 5264 11,70 - 6.47 - 11.56 - 1.65 - 52,78
16,66 - 32.98 - 3.40 - 49.80 - 5.14,58
5882
21 Reinaldo Oliver PUR 5228 11,89 - 6.15 - 10.22 - 1.70 - 53,62
16,7 - 29.95 - 3.50 - 56.68 - 4.52,20
5859

WR – world record under the scoring tables in force at the time
By 1985 – total recalculated using the 1985 scoring tables

Didn’t finish:
Erkki Hautamäki (FIN), Ignace Heinrich (FRA), Carlos Vera (CHI), Georges Breitman (FRA), Fotios Kosmas (GRE), Pyotr Kozhevnikov (URS), Patrick Leane (AUS)

Didn’t start:
Ray Weinberg (AUS), Edmond Ohaco (CHI), Georgios Roumpanis (GRE), Örn Clausen (ISL), Hércules Azcune (URU)

The Points column shows the official competition totals. Race times are shown to hundredths of a second where available, while the original scores were calculated from times recorded to tenths. The “By 1985” totals are unofficial statistical recalculations and do not alter the official finishing order.

Comments (2)

Phil Mennell wrote on Mar 09, 2008
Be nice to have full Olympic results, back to the first OG Decathlon. I am trying to find how Harry Hart of S.Africa did in 1928 - can you help?
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Janek wrote on Mar 09, 2008
Dear Phil, I will try to add the 1928 Olympics results soon!
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