Outstanding pair of silver winner’s medals issued for the Helsinki 1952 Summer Olympics, both of which were won by South African cyclist Thomas Shardelow, who placed second in the 4,000-meter team pursuit and the 2,000-meter tandem events. Designed by Giuseppe Cassioli, both silver medals measure 51 mm and weigh 68 gm, with the fronts, inscribed, "XV Olympia, Helsinki, 1952," featuring a 'Seated Victory' with the Coliseum in the background, and the reverse portraying a winner carried by jubilant athletes. Unique to both medals are the engravings on their edges; one reads “Tommy Shardelow, 4000 Metre Pursuit Team,” and the other reads “Tommy Shardelow, 2000 Metre Tandem.” Both edges also bear the factory marks "916H" and "Y6," which designate the silver content and mint. These silver medals—two of the 320 second-place medals awarded at the Helsinki games—are accompanied by their original winner’s diplomas from the XV Olympiad, both measuring 13 x 19 and affixed to their original slightly larger cardstock mounts. The medals bear a few slight areas of discoloration.
Also included is Shardelow’s bronze participation medal from the Helsinki 1952 Summer Olympics, engraved on the edge, "Tommy Shardelow, South Africa," and his bronze winner’s medal issued for the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the front engraved: “Cycling, 1000 M. Scratch Sprint.”
Purely a track sprinter, cyclist Thomas Shardelow (1931-2019) was a five-time South African sprint champion, who twice competed in the Summer Olympics: 1952 in Helsinki (where he won the two offered silver medals) and 1956 in Melbourne. Between 1949 and 1956, Shardelow won an astounding 12 South African titles and 13 Southern Transvaal titles and, in 1954, won a bronze medal at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Shardelow retired in 1973 after winning the match sprint at the South African Multi-National Games.
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