Record crowd of 70,000 people saw an exciting day of competitions in the Olympic Stadium. The highlights of the day were the hammer throw final, featuring the 20-year-old József Csermák of Hungary who had broken the Olympic record in qualification, and the 5,000 metres with Emil Zátopek and many other great names.

József Csermák was true to all his promise: he became the first man to break the 60-metre barrier in hammer throw. His third attempt in the final measured a new world record of 60.34 metres.

Herbert Schade of Germany led the 5,000-metre final most of the way. Four men were left in the leading group one lap before the end: Schade, Zátopek, Alain Mimoun of France and Chris Chataway of Britain. Halfway through the final bend Zátopek moved to the lead and held on to win gold once again. Chataway tripped, and Mimoun and Schade were left to fight for other medals. The Frenchman was stronger in the end.

Emil's wife Dana Zátopková made it a perfect day for the family by winning gold in women's javelin throw.

Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands was one of the unluckiest women of the Helsinki Games. The three-time gold medallist of the London Games of 1948 had fallen ill but still entered the 80-metre hurdles. In the final she stumbled at the second hurdle and stopped running. The winner, Shirley Strickland de la Hunty of Australia, made a new world record: 10.9 seconds.

The final of the Olympic field hockey tournament was played on the grass field in the Velodrome. India was the overwhelming favourite and duly defeated the Netherlands in convincing fashion, 6-1.