Sport: Olympic Shoplifter

For five days, the visiting Russian athletes had a high old time. Every morning they trained for the pre-Olympic track meet at London's White City Stadium. There was steak for breakfast, baskets of fruit, great bowls of yoghurt. There was also time for sightseeing, movies (Cinerama Holiday, Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush) and, best of all, shopping.

Shopping meant bargain hunting, for the visitors had only £5 (about $14) pocket money apiece. Discus Thrower Nina Ponomaryeva, 27, a Russian gold-medal winner at the 1952 Olympics, cased the shop windows along Oxford Street with...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!