1952 HELSINKI The Cold War games. The Soviet Union participated for the first time after a 40 year absence, in a country they had invaded twice during World War II, and Germany and Japan were allowed back. Nine of their 22 gold medals came in gymnastics. The Soviets and their eastern block allies stayed in a separate village. Emil Zatopek won three gold medals, the 5,000m, 10,000m (which he had won in London) and the marathon. He had never run the marathon before. His wife Dana also won the women's javelin. There was a revolution in equestrian sports when civilians and women were allowed to compete in dressage. Previously only officers had been allowed to take part. Lis Hartel of Denmark, struck down by polio eight years earlier when she was 24, won the silver medal. She forced herself to walk again although she remained paralysed below the knees and had to be helped on and off the horse. Two future professional world heavyweight champions took part in the boxing. Floyd Patterson of the United States won the middleweight gold medal while Sweden's Ingemar Johansson was disqualified in the heavyweight final for “not trying." Barbara Jones, a 15-year-old from Chicago, one of four black women in America's 4x100m relay team, became the youngest ever Olympic athletics champion – man or woman. Ferenc Puskas helped Hungary win the soccer gold medal. The Hungarians were third in the medals table. 1956 MELBOURNE The isolation of the first southern hemisphere Games kept entries down and the Games were hit by two boycotts. Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon withdrew to protest the Israeli-led take-over of the Suez Canal while Holland, Spain and Switzerland boycotted to protest the Soviet Union invasion of Hungary. The equestrian events were held in Stockholm because of Australia's quarantine laws. Soviet strongman Vladimir Kuts won the 5,000m and 10,000m and Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser won two gold medals and a silver. She went on to win a total of four gold medals and four silvers in three Games and was world record holder for the 100m for the next 15 years. Betty Cuthbert followed Marjorie Jackson's 1952 sprint double with one of her own for Australia while Murray Rose, a vegeterian, made a lot of Australians think twice about their diet with three gold swimming medals. Pat McCormick repeated her diving double gold medal performance of 1952. Her daughter Kelly won silver and bronze in 1984 and 1988. 1960 ROME In the resplendent setting of Rome, Cassius Clay won the light heavyweight boxing gold medal and, in both that name and as Muhammad Ali, became the world's most famous sportsman as professional heavyweight champion. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the marathon, running barefoot and won again four years later, in shoes. Wilma Rudolph, the 20th of a family of 22 children from Tennessee, won three gold medals. She had suffered from polio, double pneumonia and scarlet fever as a girl. Herb Eliott of Australia won the 1,500 in a world record – he was never beaten over the 1,500 or mile. For the first time since 1928, women's track events did not consist entirely of sprinting with the return of the 800m won by the Soviet Union's Lyudmila Shevtsova. India's run of 30 Olympic hockey wins without defeat was ended by Nasir Ahmad's 12th minute goal for Pakistan in the final. These were South Africa's last Games for 32 years because of its apartheid policies.To be continued
