Venezuela competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland. The Venezuelan Olympic Committee selected 38 competitors, 36 men and two women, to take part in 37 events across eight sports. This was a much greater turnout than 1948, Venezuela's only previous entry, which had only one athlete. For the first time, women represented Venezuela at the Summer Olympics. Women have been absent in the Venezuelan team on four occasions, including the next Summer Games held in Melbourne.
Venezuela won one medal at the Games, a bronze in triple jump; the medalist, Asnoldo Devonish, was almost not included in the team, and competed at the Games while injured.
Background Organization After their debut at the previous 1948 Summer Olympics, Venezuela began forming a national team for the 1952 Games. Venezuela was the 61st country to register with the International Olympic Committee for entry at the 1952 Olympic Games, and received one handbook for all events except Cycling and Arts, for which it received two. The main body of the Venezuelan delegation, which comprised a total of 61 men and four women (athletes and officials), arrived in Helsinki for the Games on 7 July; in Finland, Venezuela's Olympic attaché was Olavi Mattila. Additionally, five press passes were issued for the country.
Devonish's selection In 1951, Asnoldo Devonish won the gold medal in triple jump in the Bolivarian Games with a distance of 15 m, his best result in the event. Thanks to this win, he was entitled and encouraged to join the Olympic team, however, Venezuelan athletic organizations, including the Venezuelan Olympic Committee (VOC), were opposed to Devonish joining. At the time, he was injured and was a better long jumper than triple jumper. Prior to the Games, his coach, Ladislao Lazar, said that he would not allow any of his athletes to compete at Helsinki if Devonish was not on the team. Devonish competed at the Games while still injured.
Medalists
The 20-year-old Devonish was the 1952 Games' only medal winner for Venezuela, and the country's first Olympic medalist; he subsequently became the first person inducted into Venezuela's Sporting Hall of Fame. He recalled that he had made a bet for two dollars before the medal ceremony that he would not cry during the Venezuelan national anthem but that he lost, becoming emotional as Venezuelans watching sang along and the flag was raised.
Devonish remained the only Venezuelan Olympic medalist in track and field events until Yulimar Rojas in Rio 2016; Rojas won a silver medal, also in the triple jump. Medal Name Sport Event Date Athletics Men's Triple Jump 23 July
Opening ceremony Venezuela, per Finnish alphabetical order of countries, marched 65th in the Opening ceremony. There were 58 people representing Venezuela in the ceremony. The flag bearer for Venezuela at the 1952 Olympics was Asnoldo Devonish.
Competitors
In 1952, women were part of the Venezuelan Olympic delegation for the first time, with the country including two female athletes, both fencers: Gerda Muller and Ursula Selle. On only four occasions has the country not included female athletes, in 1948 and 1956 (the Games immediately before and after this instance), and later in 1968 and 1980. Until the 2000s, female participation was low.
Competing for Venezuela were 38 athletes in 37 events across eight sports. The male Venezuelan competitors were housed in building seven of the Käpylä Olympic Village, along with a few athletes from hosts Finland (most Finnish athletes were housed in an elite athletic facility on the island of Santahamina), and eight other countries' athletes, including those of Spain, Uruguay, and Mexico. Venezuela's female competitors, along with all female competitors from non-Communist countries, were housed in a local nursing college that had been transformed for the Olympics, called the Women's Village. During the Games, ten Venezuelan competitors were treated by the medical team. SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 7 0 7Boxing 5 0 5Cycling 4 0 4Fencing 8 2 10Diving 1 0 1Shooting 7 0 7Swimming 1 0 1Wrestling 3 0 3 Total 36 2 38
Aquatics Swimming
Swimming events took place between 25 July and 2 August at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium, with many of the athletes under the age of 20. Venezuela was represented by one athlete in one event.
Men's 100 m freestyle The 19-year-old Oscar Saiz competed in the men's 100 m freestyle on 26 July. He was in heat five of the qualifiers, placing sixth out of seven in his heat and not qualifying; he ranked 41st overall out of 61 competitors in the heats. 1952 was Saiz's only Olympic Games.
Saiz was a student in London and coached by the Australian Sep Prosser, by air mail. AthleteEventRound OneSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankOscar Saiz100 metres freestyle1:01.76did not advance
Diving
The diving events were held between 27 July and 2 August at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium; the pool was heated but the air was cold, with the official Olympic report suggesting divers would have "felt the wind and chill more than anyone else". One athlete represented Venezuela at one event. Athletes competing in diving events had a special registration form, where they filled out the dives they requested to perform. In diving, seven judges visually assess the performance and hold up score cards, with the highest and lowest scores awarded being discounted and the rest added together before being divided by five (the number of scores) to give the mean. The mean is then multiplied by the difficulty ranking of the dive for the complete score for that dive.
Men's 3 m springboard The 26-year-old Eduardo Fereda competed for Venezuela on the 3 m springboard on 28 July. In the qualifying rounds he completed six successful dives, with dive scores ranging from 4.80 to 9.20 (each placing him between 36th and 28th overall); his total score was 41.98, ultimately ranking him 36th out of 36 and so not qualifying for the final. Fereda would later compete in trampolining, but 1952 was his only Olympic Games. AthleteEventPreliminariesFinalPointsRankPointsRankEduardo Fereda3 m springboard41.9836did not advance
Athletics
Athletics events were held between 20 and 27 July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Seven athletes, all men, represented Venezuela in eleven events.
Track In sprint events (100, 200 and 400 metres), athletes were drawn in 12 heats. The best three of every heat qualified to the quarterfinals, with the best two of each of these advancing. In middle distance events (800 and 1500 metres), athletes were drawn in heats and the best three or four of every heat would qualify to the semifinals, where the best three or six of each then advanced. In the 110 metres hurdles, athletes were drawn in six heats: the best two qualified to the semifinals, and the best three of each semi then advanced to the final.
Juan Leiva, Guillermo Gutiérrez, Filemón Camacho, and Teófilo Davis all competed in two events (Davis with one each in track and field). Paulino Ferrer contested one event. This was the only Olympic appearance of all five athletes. AthleteEventHeat Quarterfinal SemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRankJuan Leiva100 metres11.315did not advancedid not advance200 metres22.383did not advancedid not advanceGuillermo Gutiérrez100 metres11.425did not advancedid not advance400 metres48.822 48.754did not advanceFilemón Camacho800 metres2:005did not advancedid not advance1500 metres4:187did not advancedid not advanceTeófilo Davis110 metres hurdles15.965did not advancedid not advancePaulino Ferrer400 metres hurdles1:025did not advancedid not advance
Men's 100 m sprint Two Venezuelans competed in the 100 m sprint event; 19-year-old Juan Leiva and 25-year-old Guillermo Gutiérrez. Leiva competed in heat 6, placing 5th with a time of 11.2 (also recorded as 11.31), not qualifying. Gutiérrez competed in heat 4, also placing 5th with a time of 11.2 (also recorded as 11.42), also not qualifying.
Men's 200 m sprint Juan Leiva was Venezuela's only competitor in the 200 m sprint. He placed 3rd in heat 5, with a time of 22.3 (also recorded as 22.38), not qualifying.
Men's 400 m sprint Guillermo Gutiérrez was Venezuela's only competitor in the 400 m sprint, where he was more successful. He placed 2nd in heat 6, qualifying with a time of 48.7 (also recorded as 48.82); in the quarterfinals he came 4th in the first group, with a time of 48.6 (also recorded as 48.75), not advancing.
Men's 800 m race The 25-year-old Filemón Camacho was the only Venezuelan runner in the 800 m race. He placed 5th in heat 7, with a time of 2:00.00, not qualifying.
Men's 1500 m race Camacho also contested the 1500 m race, again the only Venezuelan. He placed 7th in heat 1, with a time of 4:18.00, not qualifying.
Men's 110 m hurdles The 22-year-old Teófilo Davis was Venezuela's only athlete in the 110 m hurdles race. He placed 5th in heat 3 with a time of 15.7 (also recorded as 15.96), not qualifying.
Men's 400 m hurdles The 25-year-old Paulino Ferrer was Venezuela's only athlete in the 400 m hurdles race. He came 5th in heat 4 with a time of 62.1 (or 1:02.1), not qualifying. He was placed 36th out of 40 athletes in the event.
Field In jumping events (long, high and triple jump) athletes begin in a pooled qualifying round, where every athlete who achieved the qualifying criteria (7.20 m for long jump, 1.87 m for high jump and 14.55 m for triple jump), or the twelve best performances including ties in the long jump only, advance to the finals. In the final round, athletes have three attempts to clear several ascending mark barriers. In the javelin throw event athletes must achieve 64.00 m in order to qualify for the finals.
Three athletes represented Venezuela in field events; Brígido Iriarte competed in two field events, with Teófilo Davis and Asnoldo Devonish each competing in one. The 1952 Games is the only one these men competed at. AthleteEventQualifyingFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionBrígido IriarteLong jump6.8220Did not advanceJavelin throw52.1326Did not advanceTeófilo DavisHigh jump1.8727 1.8024Asnoldo DevonishTriple jump15.242 15.52
Men's Long jump The 31-year-old Brígido Iriarte was in Group A for the long jump qualifiers. He fouled his first two jumps and landed 6.82 m on his third, placing 9th in the group and 20th overall, not meeting the qualifying height of 7.20 m.
Men's Javelin In the javelin, Iriarte placed 13th out of 13 in Group A and 26th of all athletes in qualifying, with a throw of 52.13 m, which he achieved on his first attempt (his other two attempts were at shorter distances each time). He did not qualify.
Men's High jump Davis is listed in the high jump record as T. S. D. Bell. For the event, the qualifying height was 187 cm, with all athletes who successful jumped this advancing to the final. Davis cleared this on his last attempt, placing 13th in Group A and 27th in qualifying out of 28. In the final, he successfully jumped 170 cm and 180 cm on his first attempts, but then missed 190 cm all three times, placing joint-24th.
Men's Triple jump
The triple jump competition was held on 23 July 1952. In the qualifying rounds, Asnoldo Devonish was in Group A, achieving the second-longest jump of all competing athletes during this stage, comfortably qualifying for the final. His first jump in the qualifiers placed him 7th, his second jump took him to 2nd, and he passed the third. In the final, Devonish's second jump measured 15.52 m, his furthest. At this point, he was in second place, passing the third jump, but falling into third place. His other attempts were all fouls.
Devonish's coach, Ladislao Lazar, was celebrated in the Venezuelan press for insisting he compete while injured.
Combined Men's Decathlon Brígido Iriarte also contested the track and field decathlon. He placed 12th of the 21 athletes who completed the decathlon (out of 28 competing). AthleteEventTotalPointsPositionBrígido IriarteDecathlon5,77012