1948 - 1952
The Olympics were cancelled in 1940 and 1944 due to World War II.
The 1948 Olympics were held in London. The poster above shows the classic nude discobolus (discus thrower) statue.
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This 1948 Art Deco style painting shows nude Olympic athletes. The artist is unknown; the signature is illegible.
This is a wrestler weighing in at the 1948 Olympics.
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U.S. weightlifter Joe DePietro got a gold medal in the bantamweight class. He was only 4 feet 7 inches tall.
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Here's a photo of Joe DePietro by physique photographer Douglas of Detroit. He weighed 123 pounds, but it was all muscle.
U.S. weightlifter John Davis, above, won the gold medal in the heavyweight class.
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Here's a photo of John Davis by Al Urban. From 1938 to 1953, Davis was never defeated in a weightlifting competition. He was the first weightlifter to clean and jerk over 400 lbs.
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U.S. weightlifter Stan Stanczyk (center, above) took the gold medal in the light heavyweight class. At left, U.S. weightlifter Harold Sakata took the silver medal. Sakata is famous not for weightlifting, but for playing the villain Oddjob in the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger.
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Here's a gorgeous photo of Stan Stanczyk by physique photographer Douglas of Detroit.
The 1952 Olympics were held in Helsinki, Finland. The Olympic poster above features the statue of Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, winner of 9 Olympic gold medals, whom we saw earlier in this series.
Here's the statue outside the Olympic stadium in Helsinki.
Another view of the statue of Paavo Nurmi. By 1952, his Olympic career was long over.
Brazilian football player Zózimo played in the 1952 Olympics. He's the one at right, above, along with fellow Brazilian football players Didi and Amarildo, seen here preparing for the 1962 World Cup.
South African boxer Willie Toweel weighs in at the 1952 Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the flyweight class. No modesty towels for these weigh-ins!
U.S. weightlifter Norbert Schemansky (above) won a gold medal in the middle heavyweight class.
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Schemansky weighing in at the Olympics.
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And here's a physique photo of Schemansky by Douglas of Detroit.
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We end with weightlifter John Davis. We saw him earlier in the 1948 games. He won another gold medal in 1952 in the heavyweight class. Here he is in another physique photo.
Next time: Olympic Games 1956 to 1960.
9 comments:
Big Dude. No modesty because towels because A) men were unashamed among men and B) women were not allowed into men's locker rooms in those days.
Excellent images and very informative!
The 1940 Olympics were awarded to Tokyo and then due to the war, Helsinki.
The 1944 Olympics were awarded to London and cancelled due to the continuation of Ww2. In the end London hosted the games in 1948 and Helsinki in 1952. In 1952 Helsinki hosted the Olympics on a shoestring budget and made use of facilities the city already had. Compare that to today when the greedy IOC demands cities hosting the games to commit billions in facilities and infrastructure. Soon no city will be able to afford hosting the games, and there is talk of cities co-hosting to alleviate costs. :/
Lots of nice derrieres.
That is not a picture of Willie Toweel Nude. If you Google that name you'll see it is the shirtless guy looking on at the weigh in. Does anyone know the real name of the guy being weighed?
Awesome photo of U.S. weightlifter Norbert Schemansky. Every inch of him on display. Public nude weigh-ins of olymppic athletes should be mandatory!
I don't understand the comment (above) concerning South African boxer Willie Toweel, that the photo is not actually of him but the shirtless guy to the right. Who is the shirtless guy?
Désmorais, Paris accueillera les jeux olympiques de 2024 au monde.:)
Touché !
@Anon - The comment about Willie Toweel is saying that if you look at other photos of Willie Toweel, the shirtless guy looks like Willie Toweel. All I can say is, when I found the photo it was labeled Willie Toweel weighing in.
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