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