Olympic Games Helsinki 1952, Opening Ceremony

Over 70,000 people arrived in the Olympic Stadium in spite of dismal weather to witness the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XVth Olympiad. 4,925 athletes from 69 nations competed at the Helsinki Games.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• olympic
• games
• olympialaiset

[catwoman8874]

Well, I am sorry we couldn't fulfil your material expectations. You know we did have this little thing called World War II to fight and 300 million dollars of war reparations to pay in order to stay as an independent and democratic country after having been attacked by the Soviet Union. I am sure we could have done as well as you did hosting the Olympics if we hadn't had that small issue. Oh, I forgot, Portugal has never held the Olympic Games.

[catwoman8874]

By the way, the Helsinki Games are sometimes called "the last real Olympic Games", when the spirit of sportsmanship was considered more important than the material interests. If you will describe that as "poor" then it's your loss.

You did recognize the man who carried the Olympic torch and because of whom the athletes in the infield broke ranks? That was Paavo Nurmi, the legendary runner, 9-time Olympic gold medallist, one of the best athletes of all time. You might have heard of him.

[MrSuperiority]

Bet you would just love to go back to those days again.

i'd choose the 60's / early 70's myself ..arr yes if only.

[Sand10waterpolo]

so did Germany too

[DavidVolfan]

The Finns turned their backs on the entrance of the Soviet team.

[onsa0304]

Olympic torch is carried by Paavo Nurmi, winner of 9 olympic golds. One of Finlands national heroes!

[gailswim]

I was there! The woman in white was a protester and not on the program. She started running around the field and tried to make a speech. It was cold there, look at the people in raincoats. BRR,,,,,,,,

[cfoster81]

These Olympics in Helsinki were historic that the Soviet Union would make their Summer Olympic debut although they would make their Winter debut at Cortina in 1956. According to Wikipedia, other than the United States, in the all time total combined Winter/Summer Olympic Medal Count dating back to 1896, The Soviets won 1,204 medals in 18 Olympiads from 1952 through 1988, 473 were Gold and they were either 1st or 2nd in the medal count during those years.

[finlandlive]

You can have a really nice view over Helsinki from the Olympic Tower

[logisticpak]

my grand father was there with Pakistani hockey team

[cortstell]

I too would love to see Finland host a Winter Olympics. Even though I'm from the U.S., I like to see other countries get the oportunity to host the Olympics. For instance, Chicago is trying to get the 2016 Olympics, but I'm hoping that Rio De Janeiro gets them simply because the Olympics have never been held in South America.