Czechoslovakian long-distance runner Emil Zatopek became the only person in Olympic history to win the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon - the first time he had run the race - at the same Olympics.
The Soviet Union entered the Olympics for the first time, although their athletes were housed in a separate village because of fears over Cold War rivalries.
Soviet women gymnasts won the team competition easily, beginning a run which would continue for 40 years until the country broke up into separate republics.
Denmark's Lis Hartel, one of the first women allowed to compete against men in the equestrian dressage, won a silver medal in spite of being paralysed below the knees after an attack of polio.
Frank Havens, whose father Bill had chosen to stay at home with his pregnant wife in 1924 when selected for the USA rowing team, won gold in the Canadian singles 10,000m canoeing event.
British gold medals: 7
