As the London 2012 Olympics approaches, one former Carshalton resident recalls attending the last Games in the capital – in 1948. ANTHONY PHILLIPS remembers...

With the London 2012 Olympic Games not far away, I am minded of the day some 62 years ago when I saw this with my own eyes: an Olympic final event.

It was 1948 and I was just 16 years old living in Carshalton.

When I keep hearing how austere those days were (largely from people who weren’t actually there) I shudder a little. Most people worked, and there was a floating pool of labour of about 1m.

There were jobs galore. When I left school, I was offered three different jobs to choose from.

The construction industry was booming. In London there were fenced-off bomb sites everywhere soon to be replaced with new buildings.

1948 was an Olympic year and London won the summer Olympic Games with the main events to be held at Wembley Stadium with its twin towers.

I’d been interested in track and field athletics for some time and even ran a bit myself, gaining a fourth place in a half-mile in the All Surrey Schoolboys meeting. I went to White City a few times and was privileged to witness an attempt on the four-minute mile.

Our own Sydney Woodersen, a bespectacled bank clerk, took on the Swedish giants Arne Anderson and Gundar Haag.

The Swedes won and the mile record was reduced to four minutes, 1.6 seconds. This was to remain until Roger Bannister went through the four-minute barrier in 1954.

1948 was to be an eventful year for me. I graduated in my building and history course at Wimbledon Technical College with a first-class diploma.

My father was very pleased with me and said he would reward me by getting me some tickets for the Olympic Games, which he duly did.

And so, on July 31, 1948, my school friend David Martin and myself made our way along the long approach road to Wembley Stadium.

This road was to be later renamed Olympic Way. Ahead stood the famous twin towers, part of the stadium built in 1922.

The stadium was full: 100,000 spectators mostly standing and smoking. The majority of adults smoked in 1948. A great haze of tobacco smoke swirled around the stands and terraces. A hot day too, just right for the world’s finest sprinters.

We were to see the heats for the 400 metres and the semi-final and final for the 100 metres. A popular figure in the 400 metres was Arthur Wint, a long-term resident in this country but who elected to represent his native West Indies.

The final for the 100 metres came in mid-afternoon. This race was popular, strange when you consider it was all over in a little over 10 seconds.

But we were witnessing the six fastest men on Earth, travelling at more than 22 miles an hour. The six finalists comprised of three Americans, a Panamanian and, rather surprisingly, two Britons.

On form, either of the two Americans should have won. Barney Ewell was favourite but Harrison Dillard was an unknown – in fact, a converted hurdler.

I have yet to experience an atmosphere as electric as when they came to the starting blocks.

The crowd hushed and then a loud crack from the starting pistol sounded. Harrison Dillard, the hurdler, pipped Barney Ewell to the post in 10.3 seconds, an Olympic record. Lloyd La Beach (from Panama) came third, thus receiving a bronze medal. Alistair McCorquordale (Great Britain), Mel Patton (USA) and McDonald Bailey (GB) came fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Sadly, of the spectators in the stadium that day, not many are now around to tell the tale.