The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, competing as Great Britain, was the host nation for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. It was the second time that the United Kingdom had hosted the Summer Olympic Games, equalling the record of France and the United States to that point. British athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 404 competitors, 335 men and 68 women, took part in 139 events in 21 sports.
Dickie Burnell and Bert Bushnell — Rowing, Men's Double Sculls
Ran Laurie and Jack Wilson — Rowing, Men's Coxless Pairs
David Bond and Stewart Morris — Sailing, Men's Swallow Class
Tom Richards — Athletics, Men's Marathon
Alastair McCorquodale, Jack Archer, John Gregory, and Ken Jones — Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Dorothy Manley — Athletics, Women's 100 metres
Audrey Williamson — Athletics, Women's 200 metres
Maureen Gardner — Athletics, Women's 80m Hurdles
Dorothy Tyler-Odam — Athletics, Women's High Jump
John Wright — Boxing, Men's Middleweight
Don Scott — Boxing, Men's Light Heavyweight
Reg Harris — Cycling, Men's 1.000m Sprint (Scratch)
Robert John Maitland, Ian Scott, Gordon Thomas, and Ernie Clements — Cycling, Men's Team Road Race
Alan Bannister and Reg Harris — Cycling, Men's 2.000m Tandem
George Sime, Michael Walford, William White, William Lindsay, John Peake, Frank Reynolds, Ronald Davies, William Griffiths, Robin Lindsay, Robert Adlard, Norman Borrett, and David Brodie — Field Hockey, Men's Team Competition
Guy Richardson, Paul Massey, Alfred Mellows, John Meyrick, Jack Dearlove, Michael Lapage, Brian Lloyd, Christopher Barton, and Paul Bircher — Rowing, Men's Eights
Julian Creus — Weightlifting, Men's Bantamweight
Tebbs Lloyd Johnson — Athletics, Men's 50 km Walk
Thomas Godwin — Cycling, Men's 1.000m Time Trial
David Ricketts, Wilfred Waters, Robert Geldard, and Thomas Godwin — Cycling, Men's 4.000m Team Pursuit
Arthur Carr, Harry Llewellyn, and Henry Nicoll — Equestrian, Jumping Team
Catherine Gibson — Swimming, Women's 400m Freestyle
James Halliday — Weightlifting, Men's Lightweight
Men's Hammer Throw
Duncan Clark
Qualifying Round — 49.76m
Final Round — 48.35m (→ 11th place)
Women's Discus Throw
Margaret Birtwistle
Preliminary Round (Group A)
Lost to Uruguay (17-69)
Lost to Canada (24-44)
Lost to Brazil (11-67)
Lost to Italy (28-49)
Lost to Hungary (23-60)
Classification Matches
17th/23rd place: Defeated Ireland (46-21)
17th/20th place: Lost to China (25-54)
19th/20th place: Lost to Egypt (18-50) → 20th place
Team Roster
Ten cyclists, all men, represented Great Britain in 1948.
Individual road race
Bob Maitland
Gordon Thomas
Ian Scott
Ernie Clements
Team road race
Bob Maitland
Gordon Thomas
Ian Scott
Ernie Clements
Sprint
Reg Harris
Time trial
Tommy Godwin
Tandem
Reg Harris
Alan Bannister
Team pursuit
Alan Geldard
Tommy Godwin
David Ricketts
Wilf Waters
19 fencers, 16 men and 3 women, represented Great Britain in 1948.
Men's foil
Emrys Lloyd
René Paul
Arthur Smith
Men's team foil
René Paul, Arthur Smith, Harold Cooke, Emrys Lloyd, Pierre Turquet, Luke Wendon
Men's épée
Ronald Parfitt
Charles de Beaumont
Bert Pelling
Men's team épée
Charles de Beaumont, Terry Beddard, Ronald Parfitt, Archibald Craig, Michael McCready, Bert Pelling
Men's sabre
Roger Tredgold
Robin Brook
Arthur Pilbrow
Men's team sabre
Arthur Pilbrow, George Moore, Emrys Lloyd, Roger Tredgold, Robin Brook
Women's foil
Mary Glen-Haig
Gytte Minton
Betty Arbuthnott
The British Gymnastics team competed in nine events and was made up of 16 gymnasts, (8 men and 8 women), including Frank Turner and George Weedon.
Three male pentathletes represented Great Britain in 1948.
Andy Martin
Michael Lumsden
Geoffrey Brooke
Single scull - Antony Rowe - Unplaced
Double scull - Dickie Burnell, Bert Bushnell - Gold
Coxless pair - Ran Laurie, Jack Wilson - Gold
Coxed pair - M B Scott, H B James, DS Walker - Unplaced
Coxless four - H W Rushmere, PC Kirkpatrick Tom Christie, Tony Butcher - unplaced
Coxed four - R M Collins, W W Woodward, W J H Leckie, A J R Purssell, J A D Healey - unplaced
Eight - Guy Richardson, Paul Massey, Alfred Mellows, John Meyrick, Jack Dearlove, Michael Lapage, Brian Lloyd, Christopher Barton, Paul Bircher - Silver
Twelve shooters represented Great Britain in 1948.
25 metre pistol
Charles Willott
Henry Steele
Henry Swire
50 metre pistol
Guy Granet
John Gallie
Peter Marchant
300 metre rifle
Bob Maslen-Jones
John Knott
Jocelyn Barlow
50 metre rifle
John Chandler
George Jones
Victor Gilbert
85 art competitors, 65 men and 20 women, represented Great Britain in 1948.
Mixed Architecture, Architectural Designs
Patrick Horsbrugh
