1948 London Summer Games | U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum

Jack Kelly Jr.

Four-time Olympian Jack Kelly Jr. was selected president of the U.S. Olympic Committee in 1985, but died of a heart attack while jogging just three weeks later.

Mal Whitfield

Mal Whitfield won gold in the 800-meter run and the 4x-400-meter relay at the London 1948 Olympic Games, becoming the first American active-duty service member to win an Olympic gold medal.

Bob Richards

Bob Richards became the first man to win multiple Olympic gold medals in the pole vault. He was the first athlete pictured on the front of a Wheaties cereal box.

Bob Mathias

A superb athlete, Bob Mathias did not know what a decathlon was until his high school coach suggested trying it. A few months later, Mathias won the first of his two Olympic gold medals.

Harrison Dillard

Harrison "Bones" Dillard is the only man to win Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles. In between the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, he served in the U.S. Army.

John Davis

One of the most dominant athletes of his generation, John Davis compiled a 15-year winning streak that included gold medals at the London 1948 Olympic Games and the Helsinki 1952 Olympic Games.

Alice Coachman

Alice Coachman first won a national title in 1939; in 1940 and 1944 The Olympics were canceled because of World War II. Coachman finally won gold in the high jump at the London 1948 Olympic Games.

Joan Benoit had knee surgery 17 days before the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials, but finished first at the Trials and won gold in the first-ever Olympic women's marathon at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.

Bob Beamon

Bob Beamon broke the previous world record in the long jump by nearly two feet as he soared 29 feet 2 1/2 inches to win a gold medal at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games.

Sammy Lee

Diver Sammy Lee overcame racial prejudice while growing up to become the first Asian-American man to win an Olympic gold medal.

Olympiad: 1948 London Summer Games