[Previous edition: London 1948] [Following edition: Melbourne 1956]

They had to wait 12 years, but in the end Helsinki inhabitants managed to attend the Olympic events in their homeplace. Initially planned for 1940, and cancelled because of World War II, the Helsinki Games took place from 19 July to 3 August 1952. It was a long wait, however the patience of Finnish sports fan was definitely awarded one of the greatest editions of the Summer Olympic Games. It was in Helsinki that a huge number of records was broken – the highest in the Games’ history, until Beijing 2008.

The Helsingin uimastadion (“Helsinki Swimming Stadium”), located in the Eläintarha area to the northeast of the Olympic Stadium, was conceived for the 1940 Games. Yet, the construction was completed only in 1947, because of the war. Meanwhile, the pools were used to store herring and vegetables.

The 1952 water polo tournament was unique for several reasons. For the first time, the hosting country – in this case Finland – was not represented by its national team. Moreover, the Helsinki edition was that with a record number of 21 participating nations and the first to feature the Soviet Union.

Staged from 25 July to 2 August, the competition opened with a preliminary round, then continued with the group stage and ended in the semi-finals and final round with groups made of four teams. The Soviets made their Olympic debut, together with Mexico, Portugal, South Africa – they managed to progress to the group stage – and Romania. At the same time, Germany were allowed to participate again after the ban at London 1948. The national team was meant to field players from both East and West Germany, but poloists from the DDR eventually refused to take part.

Photo www.waterpololegends.com

In the preliminary round 10 matches were played, with Argentina directly qualified for the group stage due to the lack of an opponent. Hungary and Italy respectively hammered Mexico and India, and also Egypt and Yugoslavia easily overcame Portugal and Australia. The toughest encounter was the one between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union, won 3-2 by the Dutch (picture left). However, the Soviets trounced India in the last-chance bracket and sealed their place in the group stage.

As everybody was expecting, Hungary, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands and Belgium shone in this phase of the tournament. Once again, the North European water polo school and the Eastern one were the protagonist of the tournament, with Italy and the emerging United States as outsiders. The Americans provided one of the most competitive squads, who had won the bronze medal at the Pan American Games one year before and would get the silver in 1955. A controversial incident occurred in Group C, in the match between the Netherlands and Yugoslavia. The former won 3-2, but the latter eventually appealed as they complained about the refereeing. The appeal was uphold and the Yugoslavs were given the replay of the match, won 2-1 by them. In both cases, all their goals were scored by Croat Ivo Kurtini. On the other hand, the replay was the only one encounter in the tournament, alongside the clash with the Soviet Union in the preliminary round, in which Ruud van Feggelen did not net.

In the semi-finals, Italy easily topped Group A as they beat both Spain and Belgium and herited a 5-2 victory against the United States, who also qualified for the final round, in the group stage. In the other one, Hungary prevailed over the Yugoslavs, the Dutch and the Soviets in what was a terrific challenge among the most prominent countries from Eastern Europe.

Photo www.waterpololegends.com

The final round coincided with the “Warsaw Pact triumph”, as Hungary won the gold medal – the same result was achieved in football by the legendary Aranycsapat – and Yugoslavia the silver to the detriment of Italy, the reigning champions, and the United States, whose fourth place was the best result since 1904. Notable players in the Magyar side, who was back to a gold medal 20 years after the first triumph, were goalkeeper László Jeney, Kálmán Markovits, Károly Szittya and István Szivós senior. Jeney was born in Cluj-Napoca, in the then Kingdom of Romania, and played for all major Hungarian clubs – Ferencváros, Honvéd, MAC and Vasas. Once he retired from professional sport, he ran a bar in Budapest which was attended by many athletes.

The Helsinki Games were the last ones Erik Holm participated in. The Sweden national team did not go far in the tournament, however it was remarkable that Holm played at the age of 40. Egypt goalkeeper Ahmed Fouad Nessim took part in the Olympics for the last time, too, although for different reasons. He died in an air crash over the Mediterranean Sea in 1956, just before the Melbourne Games. It has been reported that Mossad Agents were behind the accident, although it was a mistake as they meant to target an airplane carrying a senior Egyptian Field Marshall. The event was also related to the fact that Ahmed’s brother Muhammad was a famous intelligence. Basketball star Youssef Abbas died in the crash, too.

Australia listed John Foster, future father of Peter and Margot. Differently from him, they won an Olympic medal, as Peter finished 3rd in the kayak double 1000 metres in Seoul in 1988 and Margot emulated him four years earlier in Los Angeles in the coxed fours. Indeed, three brothers played in the same team – Mexican Gustavo, José and Otilio Olguín.

Photo www.waterpololegends.com

The Brazil national team who entered the competition was one of the best in national history, as they were back from a silver medal at the Pan American Games in 1951. Claudino Castro, Márvio dos Santos, Edson Peri, Leo Rossi and Samuel Scheimberg were the most gifted players. Yet, it was one of their team-mates to become famous, although not in water polo – Jean-Marie Faustin Goedefroid “João” de Havelange (pictured left). Born in Rio de Janeiro of Belgian ancestors, he competed as a swimmer in Berlin and was a member of the team who finished second at the Pan American Games. Just six years after the Helsinki edition he started to serve as the president of the Confederação Brasileira de Desportos (“Brazilian Sports Federation”) and was in charge until 1973. Meanwhile, he became a member of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and, afterwards, the chairman of FIFA, the world governing body of football. For the first time, the presidency was given to a non-European member.

It was under his guidance that Adidas and Coca-Cola became main sponsors of FIFA tournaments, new competitions – the Under 23 and Under 17 World Cups, the Confederations Cup and the women’s World Cup – were launched and the number of participating national teams in the World Cup markedly increased. Furthermore, he succeeded in making the selling of television rights a very profitable aspect of the World Cup. He is renowned also for his ostracism towards Pelé, who was in bad relationship with Brazilian Football Federation chairman, and Havelange’s son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira. He was later involved in the scandal of International Sports and Leisure, a Swiss sports marketing company closely associated with FIFA which collapsed in 2001. ISL paid 185 million Swiss francs (CHF) in “personal commissions” to sports officials and Havelange was accused to have received a bribe of $1 million. Furthermore, British investigative reporter Andrew Jennings claimed that Havelange had secretly repaid the commissions received and may have collected $50 million in bribes through a front company called Sicuretta.

Fixtures

Qualifying round

25 July

Hungary 13-4 Mexico – Lehményi 5, Hasznos 4, Martin 3, Gyarmati; ?

Belgium 6-5 South Africa – ?

Egypt 10-0 Portugal – ?

Brazil 2-3 Spain – ?

Australia 2-10 Yugoslavia – ?

Austria 3-4 Great Britain – ?

India 1-16 Italy – ?

Netherlands 3-2 Soviet Union – Smol, Braasem, Bijlsma; Prokopov, Mshvenieradze

United States 1-5 Sweden – Dornblaser; Spångberg 3, Å. Julin, Hellbrand,

West Germany 8-4 Romania – ?; Şimon 2, Hospodar, Kelemen

Argentina bye

26 July

Mexico 0-4 South Africa – ?

Brazil 6-2 Portugal – ?

Australia 0-6 Austria – ?

India 0-12 Soviet Union – ?

United States 6-3 Romania – Kooistra 3, Spargo 3; Törok 3

Preliminary round

Group A – 26 July

Italy 4-3 Great Britain – ?

27 July

Italy 8-1 Austria – ?

United States 8-3 Great Britain – Kooistra 4, Hughes 3, Spargo; Miller 3

28 July

Austria 3-3 Great Britain – ?

Italy 5-4 United States – ?

29 July

United States 4-1 Austria - ?

Group B – 26 July

Hungary 9-0 Egypt – Szivós 5, Gyarmati 2, Markovits, Kárpáti

27 July

West Germany 2-5 Egypt – ?

Hungary 5-3 Soviet Union – Szivós 3, Gyarmati, Kárpáti

28 July

Soviet Union 3-2 Egypt – ?

Hungary 9-1 West Germany – Szittya 3, Hasznos 3, Martin 2, Gyarmati

29 July

Soviet Union 3-2 West Germany - ?

Group C – 26 July

Netherlands 9-3 Argentina – van Feggelen 4, Braasem 2, Korevaar, Smol, ?; Sebastián 3

27 July

Argentina 1-9 Yugoslavia – ?

Netherlands 7-1 Sweden – van Feggelen 2, Smol, Braasem, Bijlsma, ?; Larsson

28 July

Sweden 7-2 Argentina – ?

Yugoslavia 2-3 Netherlands -  Kurtini 2; van Feggelen 2, Cabout (*)

29 July

Yugoslavia 9-1 Sweden - ?

(*) the match was re-played and Yugoslavia won 2-1 – Kurtini 2; Smol

Group D – 26 July

Belgium 6-1 Spain – ?

27 July

Spain 4-1 South Africa – ?

Belgium 3-1 Brasil – ?

28 July

Spain 6-4 Brazil – ?

South Africa 0-4 Belgium – ?

29 July

South Africa 9-2 Brasil – ?

Semi-finals

Group E

30 July

Italy 2-1 Spain – ?

United States 4-2 Belgium – Hughes 3, Burns; ?

31 July

Italy 5-1 Belgium – ?

United States 6-4 Spain – ?

Group F

30 July

Netherlands 4-4 Hungary – van Feggelen 3, Korevaar; Szivós 2, Markovits, Kárpáti

Soviet Union 3-3 Yugoslavia – ?

31 July

Yugoslavia 2-2 Hungary – Kárpáti, Bolvári

Netherlands 4-2 Soviet Union – van Feggelen, Smol, Braasem, ?;

5th-8th place group

1 August

Netherlands 5-3 Belgium - van Feggelen 3, Smol 2; Van den Steen, Heyninck, ?

Soviet Union 4-3 Spain – ?

2 August

Soviet Union 3-3 Belgium - ?

Netherlands 7-1 Spain – van Feggelen 3, Smol, Korevaar, Bijlsma, ?; Mestres

Gold medal group

1 August

Hungary 7-2 Italy – Szivós 3, Szittya 2, Markovits, Gyarmati; ?

Yugoslavia 4-2 United States – ?

2 August

Yugoslavia 3-1 Italy - ?

Hungary 4-0 United States – Szivós 3, Gyarmati

Squads

Hungary: László Jeney, György Vizvári, Dezső Lemhényi, István Hasznos, György Kárpáti, Róbert Antal, Dezső Fábián, Kálmán Markovits, Károly Szittya, Dezső Gyarmati, Miklós Martin, Antal Bolvári, István Szivós.

Yugoslavia: Zdravko-Ćiro Kovačić, Veljko Bakašun, Ivo Štakula, Zdravko Ježić, Ivo Kurtini, Boško Vuksanović, Lovro Radonjić, Vladimir Ivković, Marko Brainović.

Italy: Raffaello Gambino, Enzo Polito, Cesare Rubini, Carlo Peretti, Ermenegildo Arena, Maurizio Mannelli, Renato De Sanzuane, Renato Traiola, Geminio Ognio, Salvatore Gionta, Lucio Ceccarini. Coach: Mario Majoni.

United States: Harry Bisbey, James Norris, Edward Jaworski, Norman Lake, William Kooistra, Pete Stange, Norman Dornblaser, John Spargo, Robert Hughes, Marvin Burns.

Netherlands: Max van Gelder, Gerrit Bijlsma, Nijs Korevaar, Cor Braasem, Frits Smol, Ruud van Feggelen, Joop Cabout.

Belgium: Théo-Léo De Smet, Alphonse Martin, Jozef Smits, André Laurent, Marcel Heyninck, Roland Sierens, Johan Van Den Steen, François Maesschalck, Georges Leenheere, Joseph Reynders.

Soviet Union: Boris Gojchman, Evgenij Semënov, Jurij Teplov, Lev Kokorin, Valentin Prokopov, Aleksandr Liferenko, P’et’re Mshvenieradze, Jurij Šljapin, Vitalij Ušakov, Anatolij Egorov.

Spain: Leandro Ribeira Abad, Ricardo Conde, Josep Bazán, Roberto Queralt, Antonio Subirana, Agustín Mestres, Juan Abellán, Francisco Castillo.

Great Britain: Ian Johnston, Charles Brand, Jack Jones, Gerry Worsell, Ron Turner, Terry Miller, Jack Fergusson, David Murray, Stan Hawkins.

Egypt: Ahmed Fouad Nessim, Jack Hakim, Samir Ahmed Gharbo, Taha Youssef El-Gamal, Omar Sabry Abbas, Mohamed Abdel Aziz Khalifa, Abdel Aziz El-Shafei, Dorri El-Said, Galal El-Din Abdel Mequid Abou El-Kheir, Salah El-Din El-Sahrawi.

Sweden: Rune Källqvist, Erik Holm, Roland Spångberg, Stig Johansson, Arne Jutner, Hans Hellbrand, Åke Julin, Bo Larsson.

South Africa: William Aucamp, Ron Meredith, Gerald Goddard, Douglas Melville, Johnnie van Gent, Des Cohen, Solly Yach, Dennis Pappas.

Austria: Johann Reichel, Julius Depaoli, Johann Liebenberger, Erich Bohuslav, Rudolf Stiskalik, Franz Zigon, Heinrich Krumpfholz, Ernst Endl, Anton Kunz, Hellmut Theimer.

West Germany: Günter Heine, Paul Uellendahl, Erich Sauermann, Wilfried Bode, Willi Sturm, Heinz Zander, Ferdinand Panke, Emil Bildstein, Philipp Dotzer.

Argentina: Luis Díez, Ladislao Szabo, Luis Normandín, Mario Sebastián, Osvaldo Codaro, Carlos Visentín, Marcelo Visentín.

Brazil: Claudino Castro, Márvio dos Santos, Lucio Figueirêdo, João Havelange, Douglas Lima, Henrique Melmann, Edson Peri, Sérgio Rodrígues, Leo Rossi, Samuel Scheimberg, Daniel Sili.

Australia: Douglas Laing, Raymond Smee, John Foster, Peter Bennett, Frank Jordan, Malcolm Hastie, Bill Orchard.

India: Birendra Basak, David Sopher, Kedar Shah, Isaac Monsoor, Sambhu Saha, Saching Nag, Khamlillal Shah, Bijoy Barman, Jehangir Naegamwalla, Ran Chandnani.

Mexico: Gustavo Olguín, Juan Trejo, Arturo Coste, Manuel Castro, José Olguín, Otilio Olguín, Modesto Martínez.

Portugal: Máximo Couto, Armando Moutinho, Francisco Alves, João Franco do Vale, Rodrigo Basto Junior, Fernando Madeira, Eduardo Barbeiro, Óscar Cabral, José Manuel Correia.

Romania: Zoltan Norman, Atila Kelemen, Adalbert Iordache, Gavrila Törok, Zoltan Hospodar, Octavian Iosim, Francisc Şimon, Arcadie Sarcadi.

Sources

Sports Reference

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