Helsinki 1952

At the height of the Cold War, the Olympics marked the return of Soviet Union athletes into the Olympic arena. One of the world's most sporting nations wanted "their" Olympic Games, obtained alongside their freedom: there must have been a lot of tears in the eyes of those who looked at Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen lighting the Olympic flame. Even the results of the competitions glorified the great Finnish tradition of long-distance running: the true hero of the Games was in fact the Czech distance runner Emil Zatopek, who won the 5,000, and 10,000 and the marathon (while his wife Dana took home the javelin title). Regarding Italy, the most celebrated athlete was Edoardo Mangiarotti who won 4 medals, 2 gold and 2 silver.