Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon

The Men's decathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place on 25 and 26 July, at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Now 21-year-old Bob Mathias from the United States repeated his performances from the previous games by winning the gold medal and setting new world and Olympic records. It was the second time the United States Olympic team earned all three medals in the event, the first one being in the 1936 Olympic Games.

Mathias ranked first in all three throwing events -- discus, shot put and javelin. He won all of these by over a metre.

Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

At the end of the competition the following world and Olympic records were set:

Results
Note: All scores are based on the tables used in 1952.

100m
Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

Heat 9

400m
Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

110m Hurdles
Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

1500m
Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Final standings
{{legend|#F2F5A9|The highest mark recorded in each event is highlighted in yellow. These marks were split between six competitors with the gold medallist claiming four of them.|border=solid 1px #AAAAAA}}