Olympic Wednesday heads to Helsinki for the 1952 Summer Olympics today, and we don’t often think of Finland as a place to hold such an olympiad. But over 4,900 athletes from 69 countries participated in 149 events across 23 disciplines. The biggest news was that the Soviet Union decided to participate for the first time ever. This was the first “Cold War” Olympics, therefore, even though it was summertime. Ironic, eh?

The United States out-medaled the USSR, 76-71, while Hungary, of all nations, took third place with 52 medals. The host nation won only 22 medals, finishing fifth on the medal table. Politics were front and center, with 2 Chinese, 2 German, and 2 Korean nations to consider. The innocence, in many ways, for the Olympics had been lost after 2 world wars. Nothing would ever be the same again, obviously. Go figure.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Viktor Chukarin, USSR

In winning 4 gold medals and 6 medals overall, Soviet gymnast Viktor Chukarin is our pick for this award. He won the individual all around, the horse vault, the pommel horse, and the team all around, while picking up silver medals in the parallel bars and the rings. He was 30 years old during these Games, and he would return 4 years later to win more hardware (5 medals in 1956, including 3 more golds). He was stellar.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Mariya Gorokhovskaya, USSR

The only competitor to win 7 medals in Helsinki, Soviet gymnast Mariya Gorokhovskaya walks away with this trophy, easily. She won the gold in the individual all around, while taking silver in 4 other individual events: floor exercise, horse vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. That’s a pretty crazy achievement, in addition to the 2 team golds she helped secure: team all around and team portable apparatus. Impressive!

Most Outstanding Male Team: American Track & Field

Of the 24 events in the discipline of track and field, the United States men won 14 golds, 10 silvers, and 6 bronze medals. There were 7 events that the Americans did not medal: 5,000m; 10,000m; marathon; 10km race walk; 50km race walk; triple jump; and the hammer. In 4 events, the Americans swept the medals: 200m, 110m hurdles, shot put, and the decathlon. Clearly, the US men were almost everywhere here!

Most Outstanding Female Team: Hungarian Swimming

There were 5 swimming events for women in Helsinki, and athletes from Hungary won 4 of them: only in the 100m backstroke did the Hungarians come away without a medal. In the 4 events in which Hungary emerged victorious, the women earned 7 medals overall (4G, 2S, 1B). Katalin Szőke won the 100m freestyle; Valéria Gyenge won the 400m freestyle; and Éva Székely won the 200m breaststroke.