1932 - Los Angeles

The 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States July 30 - August 14, 1932 Mascot - none 37 countries, 1408 athletes (127 women) 14 sports (shooting added, football dropped), 116 events Opening - Vice-president Charles Curtis (USA) Torch lit by - none Candidates: none Los Angeles and the Coliseum witnessed renewed Olympic fervor, and the introduction of photo-finishes, podiums and electronic timing. The Olympic village was set in exquisite surroundings near Hollywood, and the Games were attended by many of the era's big movie stars. Los Angeles - the American way The financial crisis which prompted the stock exchange crash of 1929 did not truly affect the success of the 1932 Games, held in Los Angeles between July 30 and August 14. This 10th Olympiad was held a couple of paces from Hollywood, with Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, and Douglas Fairbanks taking their seats among the spectators. In "their" 105,000-seater Coliseum stadium the American athletes, including Mildred "Babe" Didriksen, winner of the 80m hurdles, javelin and runner-up in the high jump, had plenty to cheer about. But in swimming it was the Japanese who dominated, winning five out of six titles. In total the United States annexed 103 medals, with 41 golds, ahead of Italy (36, 12 gold), France (19, 10 gold) and Sweden (23, 9 gold). The Olympic village only welcomed 1,300 competitors (women were put up in a hotel) from 37 countries, including newcomers China. The number of sports was reduced to 14 and participation was restricted to three athletes per country in each discipline. These Games witnessed the introduction of electronic timing and photo-finishes, as well as the appearance of the first three athletes on a podium with the playing of the winner's national anthem. Held in the middle of the prohibition era, an exception was made for the French and Italians who argued that wine formed an integral part of their training diet. Two athletic greats - France's Jules Ladoumeque and Finland's Paavo Nurmi - were accused of professionalism and were banned from staying in California. LOS ANGELES 1932 GOLD MEDAL WINNERS 94 Men, 14 Women, 8 Open Events 11 new events; New sport - Shooting 4 events removed (1 Athletics, 1 Equestrian, 1 Football, 1 Gymnastics); Removed sport - Football ATHLETICS, Men 100m: Eddie Tolan, USA 200m: Eddie Tolan, USA 400m: Bill Carr, USA 800m: Tom Hampson, Great Britain 1500m: Luigi Beccali, Italy 5000m: Lauri Lehtinen, Finland 10000m: Janusz Kusoczinski, Poland 4x100m: United States 4x400m: Untied States 110m Hurdles: George Saling, USA 400m Hurdles: Bob Tisdall, Ireland 50km Walk: Tommy Green, Great Britain 3000m Steeplechase: Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finland Marathon: Juan Carlos Zabala, Argentina Discus Throw: John Anderson, USA Hammer Throw: Pat O'Callaghan, Ireland High Jump: Duncan McNaughton, Canada Javelin Throw: Matti Jarvinen, Finland Long Jump: Ed Gordon, USA Pole Vault: Bill Miller, USA Shot Put: Leo Sexton, USA Triple Jump: Chuhei Nambu, Japan Decathlon: Jim Bausch, USA ATHLETICS, Women 100m: Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Poland 4x100m: United States 80m Hurdles: Mildred Didrikson, USA Discus Throw: Lillian Copeland, USA High Jump: Jean Shiley, USA Javelin Throw: Mildred Didrikson, USA BOXING 50.8kg: Istvan Enekes, Hungary 53.5kg: Horace Gwynne, Canada 57.2kg: Carmelo Robledo, Argentina 61.2kg: Lawrence Stevens, South Africa 66.7kg: Edward Flynn, USA 72.6kg: Carmen Barth, USA 79.4kg: David Carstens, South Africa 79.4+kg: Santiago Lovell, Argentina CYCLING, Men Road Race: Attilio Pavesi, Italy Team Road Race: Italy 1km Time Trial: Edgar Laurence Gray, Australia 2000m Tandem sprint: Louis Chaillot/Maurice Perrin, France Sprint: Jacobus van Egmond, Netherlands Team Pursuit: Italy EQUESTRIAN, Open Individual Dressage: Xavier Lesage, France Individual Jumping: Takeichi Nishi, Japan Individual 3-Day Event: Charles Pahud de Mortanges, NED Team Dressage: France Team 3-Day Event: United States FENCING M\Individual Epee: Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici, Italy M\Individual Foil: Gustavo Marzi, Italy M\Individual Sabre: Gyorgy Piller, Hungary M\Team Epee: France M\Team Foil: France M\Team Sabre: Hungary W\Individual Foil: Ellen Preis, Austria GYMNASTICS, Men Club Swinging: George Roth, USA Floor Exercise: Istvan Pelle, Hungary Horizontal Bar: Dallas Bixler, USA Parallel Bars: Romeo Neri, Italy Pommel Horse: Istvan Pelle, Hungary Rings: George Gulack, USA Rope Climbing: Raymond Bass, USA Tumbling: Rowland Wolfe, USA Vault: Savino Guglielmetti, Italy Individual All-Around: Romeo Neri, Italy Team: Italy HOCKEY Team, men: India MODERN PENTATHLON Individual: Johan Oxenstierna, Sweden ROWING, Men Single Sculls: Henry Pearce, Australia Double Sculls: Kenneth Myers/William Gilmore, USA Coxless Pair: Hugh Edwards/Lewis Clive, Great Britain Coxed Pair: United States Coxless Four: Great Britain Coxed Four: Germany Eight: United States SAILING X\6m Class: Sweden X\8m Class: United States X\Star: United States M\Finn: Jacques Lebrun, France SHOOTING, Men (NEW) 25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Renzo Morigi, Italy 50m Small-Bore Rifle prone: Bertil Ronnmark, Sweden SWIMMING, Men  100m Freestyle: Yasuji Miyazaki, Japan 400m Freestyle: Clarence Crabbe, USA 1500m Freestyle: Kusuo Kitamura, Japan 100m Backstroke: Masaji Kiyokawa, Japan 200m Breaststroke: Yoshiyuki Tsuruta, Japan 4x200m Freestyle Relay: Japan 3m Springboard: Michael Galitzen, USA 10m Platform: Harold Smith, USA WATER POLO: Hungary SWIMMING, Women 100m Freestyle: Helene Madison, USA 400m Freestyle: Helene Madison, USA 100m Backstroke: Eleanor Holm, USA 200m Breaststroke: Clare Dennis, Australia 4x100m Freestyle Relay: United States 3m Springboard: Georgia Coleman, USA 10m Platform: Dorothy Poynton, USA WEIGHTLIFTING 60kg: Raymond Suvigny, France 67.5kg: Rene Duverger, France 75kg: Rudolf Ismayr, Germany 82.5kg: Louis Hostin, France 82.5+kg: Jaroslav Skobla, Czechoslovakia WRESTLING, FREESTYLE 56kg: Robert Edward Pearce, USA 61kg: Hermanni Pihlajamaki, Finland 66kg: Charles Pacome, France 72kg: Jack Francis van Bebber, USA 79kg: Ivar Johansson, Sweden 87kg: Peter Joseph Mehringer, USA 87+kg: Johan Cornelius Richthoff, Sweden WRESTLING, GRECO-ROMAN 56kg: Jakob Brendel, Germany 61kg: Giovanni Gozzi, Italy 66kg: Erik Malmberg, Sweden 72kg: Ivar Johansson, Sweden 79kg: Valno Anselmi Kokkinen, Finland 87kg: Rudolf Svensson, Sweden 87+kg: Carl Oscar Westergren, Sweden