1932 Summer Olympics
Encyclopedia
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles
, California
, United States
. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression
, many nations and athletes were unable to pay for the trip to Los Angeles. Fewer than half the participants of the 1928 Summer Olympics
in Amsterdam returned to compete in 1932. US President Herbert Hoover
did not attend the Games, becoming the first sitting head of government not to appear at an Olympics hosted in that country.
The organizing committee put no record of the finances of the Games in their report, though contemporary newspapers reported that the Games had made a profit
of US$1,000,000.
for details of the art competitions held at the games, in which medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes.
A total of 37 nations were represented at the 1932 Games. Colombia and the Republic of China (with a single athlete) made their first appearance at the Olympic Games.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, many nations and athletes were unable to pay for the trip to Los Angeles. Fewer than half the participants of the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
in Amsterdam returned to compete in 1932. US President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
did not attend the Games, becoming the first sitting head of government not to appear at an Olympics hosted in that country.
The organizing committee put no record of the finances of the Games in their report, though contemporary newspapers reported that the Games had made a profit
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
of US$1,000,000.
Highlights
- An Olympic VillageOlympic VillageAn Olympic Village is an accommodation centre built for an Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials, athletic trainers, and other staff. Since the Munich Massacre at the 1972...
was built for the first time, in Baldwin Hills, occupied by the male athletes. Female athletes were housed at the Chapman Park Hotel on Wilshire BoulevardWilshire BoulevardWilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
. - The first use of a victory podium.
- The Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumThe Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
was known in 1932 as Olympic Stadium. - Tenth Street, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, was renamed Olympic Boulevard in honor of the Games of the Tenth Olympiad.
- Babe Didrikson won two gold medals in the javelinJavelin throwThe javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...
and the hurdles event, and competed in a jump-off for a silver in the high jump. Her technique in the jump-off was ruled illegal, leaving Didrikson with second place. - In field hockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, only three nations took part. The host nation lost both matches, 1-24 to India and 2-9 to Japan, but still won a bronze medal. - Poland's Stanisława Walasiewicz won the gold medal in the women's 100 meters; she would also win the silver medal in the event four years later. After her death in 1980, it was discovered that she was intersexIntersexIntersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
and would have been ineligible to participate. - Finnish star Paavo NurmiPaavo NurmiPaavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish runner. Born in Turku, he was known as one of the "Flying Finns," a term given to him, Hannes Kolehmainen, Ville Ritola, and others for their distinction in running...
was barred from competing in the Olympics for being a professional. - Eddie TolanEddie TolanThomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan , nicknamed the "Midnight Express", was an American track and field athlete who compete in the Sprints. He set world records in the 100 yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100 meters and 200 meters events...
won both the 100 m and 200 m sprint events. - Helene MadisonHelene MadisonHelene Madison was an American swimmer. She won three gold medals in freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympic Games, becoming, along with Romeo Neri of Italy, the most successful athlete there. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin.In sixteen months in 1930 and 1931, she broke sixteen world records in...
won three gold medals in swimming, while the Japanese upset the men's events and took all but one title. - Takeichi NishiTakeichi NishiColonel/Baron was a Japanese Imperial Army officer, equestrian show jumper, and Olympic Gold Medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He was a tank unit commander at the Battle of Iwo Jima and was killed in action during the defense of the island....
(Baron Nishi) was the gold medalist with his horse Uranus in the equestrian show jumping individual eventEquestrian at the 1932 Summer OlympicsThe Equestrian Events at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games included Dressage , Eventing , and Show Jumping . The competitions were held from August 10, 1932 to August 14, 1932....
. Nishi's gold medal is Japan's only gold medal in the equestrian event to this day. Nishi would later die in 1945 as an officer stationed in the defense of the island of Iwo JimaBattle of Iwo JimaThe Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
, and as such is a main character in Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's film, Letters from Iwo JimaLetters from Iwo Jimais a 2006 war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, and starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the...
.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
|
Modern pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics The modern pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics-Individual competition:... Rowing at the 1932 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1932 Summer Olympics featured 7 events, for men only. The competitions were held from August 9, 1932 to August 13, 1932 at the Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California.-Medal summary:-Participating nations:... Sailing at the 1932 Summer Olympics Sailing/Yachting is a Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad . With the exception of 1904 and possible 1916 sailing was always a part of the Olympic program.... Shooting at the 1932 Summer Olympics When shooting was reintroduced at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the extent of the competitions was far from those in the previous Games: it consisted of only two events, one rifle event and one pistol event, and no team events at all . The competitions were held on August 12, 1932 and... Swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The competitions were held from Saturday August 6, 1932 to Saturday August 13, 1932. There was a total of 128 participants from 20 countries competing.-Medal table:-Men's... Water polo at the 1932 Summer Olympics -Medal summary:-Round-Robin:All of the five teams played each team once.Germany vs. Brazil4 August 1932USA vs. Brazil6 August 1932Hungary vs. Germany6 August 1932USA vs. Japan7 August 1932Hungary vs. Japan... Weightlifting at the 1932 Summer Olympics The weightlifting events at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles consisted of five weight classes, all for men only. The competitions were held on Saturday, July 30, 1932 and on Sunday, July 31, 1932.-Medal summary:-Participating nations:... Wrestling at the 1932 Summer Olympics At the 1932 Summer Olympics, 14 wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were seven weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and seven classes in freestyle wrestling... |
Demonstration sports
- American footballAmerican football at the 1932 Summer OlympicsAmerican football was a demonstration sport at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. On the evening of August 8, 1932, seniors from three Western universities were matched against those from the East Coast's "Big Three" . In front of 60,000 spectators at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the...
- LacrosseLacrosse at the 1932 Summer OlympicsLacrosse was a demonstration sport at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Teams from Canada and the United States played three games, with the team from the United States winning the series 2 games to 1...
Art
See Art competitions at the 1932 Summer OlympicsArt competitions at the 1932 Summer Olympics
Art competitions were held as part of the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. Medals were awarded in five categories , for works inspired by sport-related themes....
for details of the art competitions held at the games, in which medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes.
Venues
The following venues hosted events at the 1932 games:- Exposition ParkExposition Park (Los Angeles)Exposition Park is located in University Park, Los Angeles, California, across the street from the University of Southern California. Exposition Park houses the following:* Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum* Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena...
(known as Olympic Park for the Games) - equestrian- Olympic StadiumLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumThe Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
- athletics, American football, lacrosse, equestrian (eventing, jumping) field hockey, gymnastics, opening and closing ceremonies (capacity: 105,000) - Swimming StadiumLA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim StadiumThe LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium, called originally the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium is an aquatics venue that was originally constructed for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California...
- diving, modern pentathlon (swimming), swimming, water polo (capacity: 10,000) - 160th Regiment State Armory160th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 160th Infantry Regiment is a light infantry regiment of the United States Army. The first Battalion, 160th Infantry, is a component of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team .-History:...
- fencing, modern pentathlon (fencing) (capacity: 1,800) - Museum of History, Science, and ArtNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyThe Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1913 as the Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building, with fitted marble walls and domed and...
- art events
- Olympic Stadium
- Olympic AuditoriumGrand Olympic AuditoriumThe Grand Olympic Auditorium is the former name of a sports venue in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located at 1801 S. Grand Avenue, the venue was built in 1924 specifically for the 1932 Summer Olympics, which saw the boxing, weightlifting, and wrestling events held there. At the time it...
- boxing, wrestling, weightlifting - Rose BowlRose Bowl (stadium)The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12...
in PasadenaPasadena, CaliforniaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
- cycling (track) - Riverside DriveRiverside Drive (Los Angeles, California)Riverside Drive is a northeast-southwest road connecting the San Fernando Valley and Downtown Los Angeles, California. It follows the course of the Los Angeles River.-Overview:...
, Griffith ParkGriffith ParkGriffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America...
- 50 km walk - Los Angeles HarborPort of Los AngelesThe Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately south of downtown...
- sailing - Long Beach Marine StadiumLong Beach Marine StadiumThe Long Beach Marine Stadium is a marine venue located in Long Beach, California. It hosted the rowing events for the 1932 Summer Olympics in neighboring Los Angeles...
- rowing (capacity: 17,000) - Los Angeles Police Pistol RangeElysian Park, Los Angeles, CaliforniaElysian Park is a park and adjacent neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California.Encompassing Chavez Ravine where Dodger Stadium is located, Elysian Park is mostly a hillside community that is also home to the Los Angeles Police Academy....
- shooting, modern pentathlon (shooting) - Sunset Fields Golf ClubBrentwood, Los Angeles, CaliforniaBrentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
- modern pentathlon (running) - Riviera Country ClubRiviera Country ClubThe Riviera Country Club is a country club with a championship golf course. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California, a community within the city limits of Los Angeles. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. The course has been the primary host...
- equestrian (dressage, eventing), modern pentathlon (riding) (capacity: 9,500) - Los Angeles AvenueCalifornia State Route 118State Route 118 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that begins running west to east through Ventura and Los Angeles counties in southern California. It travels from Saticoy in Ventura County east to Lake View Terrace in Los Angeles...
, Vineyard AvenueCalifornia State Route 232State Route 232 is a state highway in Ventura County, California. It serves as a connector between SR 1, US 101, and SR 118.-Route description:...
, and Pacific Coast HighwayCalifornia State Route 1State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...
- cycling (road) - WestchesterWestchester, Los Angeles, CaliforniaWestchester is a suburban neighborhood in western Los Angeles, California, United States. It is home to Los Angeles International Airport , Loyola Marymount University , and Otis College of Art and Design.-Geography:...
- equestrian (cross-country riding)
Participating nations
| China Republic of China at the 1932 Summer Olympics China, as the Republic of China, competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States.-Delegation:... |
Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games.| 1 | (host nation) | 41 | 32 | 30 | 103 |
| 2 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |
| 3 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 19 | |
| 4 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 23 | |
| 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 18 | |
| 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 15 | |
| 7 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 25 | |
| 8 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 16 | |
| 9 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 20 | |
| 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
See also
- Parley Parker Christensen, Los Angeles City Council member who blocked payment for sending 1932 Olympic flag to Berlin for the 1936 games.