1932 Summer Olympics

The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held during the worldwide Great Depression, with some nations not traveling to Los Angeles as a result; 37 countries competed, compared to the 46 at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, and even then-U.S. President Herbert Hoover did not attend the Games. The organizing committee was led by William May Garland, a local sports enthusiast and real estate developer.

Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in 2028, becoming the third city in the world—following London and Paris—to do so.

Host city selection

The selection of the host city for the 1932 Summer Olympics was made at the 23rd IOC Session in Rome, Italy, in 1923. Remarkably, the selection process consisted of a single bid, from Los Angeles's Olympic bid Committee led by William May Garland, and as there were no bids from any other city, Los Angeles was selected by default to host the 1932 Games.

Development and preparations

Budget

Los Angeles was awarded the games on April 9, 1923. William May Garland led the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG), officially titled the "Xth Olympiad Committee" with a staff of 70 employees. The Games were originally heavily backed by local corporate interests and L.A. business elites. They were primarily underwritten by a state bond act, the “California Olympic Bond Act of 1927″. Later approved as "Proposition 2" by CA voters with 73% of the vote in 1928. The OCOG raised funds from various sources. 1,247,580 worth of ticket sales, 42.4% of venues capacity bringing in . A total of 331,518 programs were sold at cents each (over $33K, $800k in 2026). The OCOG received a share of venue concessions run by a local firm at each venue bringing in sales revenue. The OCOG charged a day for male athletes and coaches to stay at the olympic village. Lastly, corporate sponsors like, Omega, Helms Bakery and Coca-Cola provided a revenue source.

Most venues were rented out or leased at no cost to the OCOG. The OCOG paid for the dredging of Alamitos Bay in Long Beach for rowing events. They paid for the olympic village, a pool for swimming events and paid for temporary stands at city parks and golf courses used. Including concessions, post-games equipment sales and the bond, estimates of earnings have been placed as high as . The OCOG did not report the financial details of the Games, although contemporary newspapers stated that the Games had made a profit of at closing ceremony.

Security

Los Angeles Police (LAPD) Chief Roy E. Steckel and the four other committee members deployed 650 police officers dedicated to traffic control every day of the Games. The Chief ordered police officers to work 12-hour days and to postpone vacations. 150 university students assisted the police as traffic officers. The L.A.P.D. employed 800 duly sworn police officers. According to the L.A.P.D.'s official site, crime was very low during the Olympics, with there being only "two robberies, eight burglaries, 39 thefts, and 10 auto thefts".

Transportation

Automobiles were the primary method of transportation. A five-member traffic Committee was organized by the OCOG consisting of experts from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and traffic management experts. Athletes were transported in sixty eight bus carriages to competition venues and the Olympic village in Baldwin Hills. Police escorts were provided by LAPD. The OCOG urged attendees to use the red car trolleys to avoid congestion at venues, the Pacific Electric trolleys were the largest rail network in the world at the turn of the century.

Venues

thumb|right|200px|The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted ceremonies, athletics, equestrian and field hockey events.

thumb|The Rose Bowl hosted the track cycling events.

Fifteen sports venues were used for the 1932 Summer Olympics. In order to control costs in the wake of the Great Depression, existing venues were used. They included two golf courses, two city parks, three public highways, and a city road. The Swimming Stadium was the only new venue constructed for these games.

The Rose Bowl, constructed in 1921, was made into a temporary velodrome for track cycling events under the auspices of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, constructed in 1923, was used as the Olympic Stadium.

The Olympic Auditorium was constructed in 1924 in preparation for Los Angeles being awarded the Games; it was modified to meet the specifications of the boxing, weightlifting, and wrestling federations.

Elysian Park, the oldest city park in Los Angeles, was founded in 1886, and has been part of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) training academy since 1925.

The Riviera Country Club opened in 1926 as the Los Angeles Athletic Club Golf Course and was renamed Riviera by the time of the 1932 Games.

Equestrian events were held in various locations. The equestrian cross country route was designed by U.S. Calvary officers John Burke Barry and Sloan Doak, members of the IFE and former Olympians. It was known for being brutally difficult and bisecting multiple rural highways, starting from the Riviera Country Club, thru Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, the Olympic Village and ending at Sunset Fields Gold Club. Named the "Westchester course", although the course does not enter the modern-day neighborhood boundaries of Westchester . Dressage was held at the Riviera Country Club and show jumping at the Coliseum.

The Swimming Stadium, constructed adjacent to the Coliseum in 1932, was intended to be a temporary structure.

||Swimming Stadium ||Diving, Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming, Water polo || align="right"|10,000

| align=center|

|| 160th Regiment State Armory ||Fencing, Modern pentathlon (fencing) ||align="right"|1,800

| align=center|

|| Grand Olympic Auditorium || Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles)||Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling || align="right"|10,000.

| align=center|

|| Los Angeles Police Pistol Range || Elysian Park (Los Angeles)|| Modern pentathlon (shooting), Shooting || align="right"|Not listed

| align=center|

|| Riverside Drive at Griffith Park || Los Feliz (Los Angeles)||Athletics (50 km walk) || align="right"|Not listed

| align=center|

|| Riviera Country Club || Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles)||Equestrian (dressage, eventing), Modern pentathlon (riding) || align="right"|9,500

| align=center|

|| Sunset Fields Golf Club || Baldwin Hills (Los Angeles)|| Equestrian (cross Country), Modern pentathlon (running) || align="right"|Not listed

| align=center|

||"Westchester Course" || Riviera Country Club (start)/ (thru) West Los Angeles/ (end)Sunset Fields Golf Club (Los Angeles) || Equestrian (cross country) || align="right"| Not listed

| align=center|

|| Long Beach Marine Stadium || Long Beach|| Rowing || align="right"|17,000

| align=center|

|| Los Angeles Avenue / Vineyard Avenue / Pacific Coast Highway|| Moorpark (start) / (thru) Oxnard, Santa Monica (end) || Cycling (road) || align="right"|Not listed

| align=center|

|| Rose Bowl || Pasadena ||Cycling (track) || align="right"|85,000

| align=center|

Tickets

Opening ceremony tickets were sold for each.

Events tickets ranged between to per individual event. A pass was available to enter the Coliseum for all events. Children's tickets were available for cents for all events.

The main colors used were red, white and blue, representing the flag of the United States.

{| class="wikitable"

! {Col-span=3} |Main Colors

For the first time, colors were assigned to each sport discipline. Colors were used for programs, badges, athlete identifications and event venue branding. Although not a sport discipline, the Art Festival was assigned "Mocha Brown" as the designated color.

{| class="wikitable"

! Sport Discipline

! Color assigned

!Sport Discipline

!Color assigned

|Athletics

|Modern Pentathlon

|Boxing

|Rowing

|Cycling

|Sailing

|Equestrian

|Shooting

|Fencing

|Swimming

|Gymnastics

|Wrestling

|Field Hockey

|Weightlifting

Mascot

right|thumb|120px

An Olympic mascot, Scottish Terrier Smoky, was featured for the first time in history, albeit unofficially.

Corporate sponsorship

The games introduced consumer culture to the Olympics, relying on local corporate sponsorships and partnerships with the Hollywood film industry of the time. Iconic brands like Coca-Cola expanded their early Olympic presence in 1932 serving as the "official soft drink" of the Games. Local baked goods maker Helms Bakery provided baked food items, including Helms Olympic Bread, the "official baker"." Omega SA also debuted as the "official timekeeper" of the games, they provided one watchmaker and thirty chronographs for officials.The Jeffries Printing Co. was the official printing supplier for the games.

Participating nations

thumb|Participants (blue = first-time)

thumb|left|Number of athletes

A total of 37 nations were represented at the 1932 Games. Colombia made its first appearance at the Olympic Games, and the Republic of China competed for the first time after its failed appearance at the 1924 Games.

{| class="wikitable collapsible" style="width:100%;"

! Participating National Olympic Committees

(host)

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed sortable" style="border:0;"

! Country

! Athletes

| ||align=center| 474

| ||align=center| 144

| ||align=center| 131

| ||align=center| 112

| ||align=center| 108

| ||align=center| 103

| ||align=center| 102

| ||align=center| 81

| ||align=center| 73

| ||align=center| 67

| ||align=center| 58

| ||align=center| 51

| ||align=center| 45

| ||align=center| 43

| ||align=center| 40

| ||align=center| 36

| ||align=center| 33

| ||align=center| 21

| ||align=center| 19

| ||align=center| 13

| ||align=center| 12

| ||align=center| 10

| ||align=center| 8

| ||align=center| 7

| ||align=center| 6

| ||align=center| 2

| ||align=center| 1

|- class="sortbottom"

|colspan=2; style="text-align:right; border:0px; background:#fff;"| Total ||style="text-align:center; border:0px; background:#fff;"| 1,332

Calendar

For the first time, all discipline events were held within 16 days, 3 weekends within the opening and closing ceremonies. A pattern that has been kept ever since. No previous Summer Olympics had lasted less than 79 days. LAOOC organized 117 events in 14 sports across 20 disciplines. As none of the equestrian teams managed to have three riders finish the Team jumping event course on the 14th day of August, no team medal was awarded.

:All dates are in Pacific Standard Time (UTC-7)

{| class=wikitable style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:90%;position:relative;width:75%;"

|-8

|style="width:2.5em; background-color:#00cc33;text-align:center;"|OC||Opening ceremony

|style="width:2.5em; background-color:#3399ff;text-align:center;"|●||Event competitions

|style="width:2.5em; background-color:#ffcc00;text-align:center;"|1||Gold medal events

|style="width:2.5em; background-color:#ee3333;text-align:center;"|CC||Closing ceremony

{| class=wikitable style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:90%; line-height:1.25em; width:75%; text-align:center;"

!style=width:18%; colspan=2|July/August 1932

!style=width:4%;|30th Sat

!style=width:4%;|31st Sun

!style=width:4%;|1st Mon

!style=width:4%;|2nd Tue

!style=width:4%;|3rd Wed

!style=width:4%;|4th Thu

!style=width:4%;|5th Fri

!style=width:4%;|6th Sat

!style=width:4%;|7th Sun

!style=width:4%;|8th Mon

!style=width:4%;|9th Tue

!style=width:4%;|10th Wed

!style=width:4%;|11th Thu

!style=width:4%;|12th Fri

!style=width:4%;|13th Sat

!style=width:4%;|14th Sun

!style=width:6%;|Events

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2|20px Ceremonies||style="background-color:#00cc33;" |OC || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || style="background-color:#ee3333;" |CC||

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3|Aquatics

| style="text-align:left;" |20px Diving

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

|rowspan=3|16

| style="text-align:left;" |20px Swimming

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |4

|

| style="text-align:left;" |20px|alt=|link= Water polo

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Athletics

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |4

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |3

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |3

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |5

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |4

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |4

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |5

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|29

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Boxing

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |8

|

|align=left rowspan=2|Cycling

| style="text-align:left;" |

|

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|rowspan=2|6

| style="text-align:left;" |

|

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Equestrian

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Fencing

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |7

|

|

|

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Field hockey

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Gymnastics

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |3

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |5

|

|

|

|11

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Modern pentathlon

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Rowing

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |7

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Sailing

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |4

|

|

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Shooting

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |1

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Weightlifting

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |3

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |2

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 |20px Wrestling

|

|

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |7

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#3399ff;" |●

|style="background-color:#ffcc00;" |7

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|14

!colspan=2|Daily medal events !! 3!! 6!! 5!! 5!! 14!! 4!! 4!! 3!! 13!! 3!! 10!! 11!! 7!! 5!! 22!! 2!! rowspan=2|117

!colspan=2|Cumulative total !! 3!! 9!! 14!! 19!! 33!! 37!! 41!! 44!! 57!! 60!! 70!! 81!! 88!! 93!! 15!! 116

!style=width:18%; colspan=2|July/August 1932

!style=width:4%;|30th Sat

!style=width:4%;|31st Sun

!style=width:4%;|1st Mon

!style=width:4%;|2nd Tue

!style=width:4%;|3rd Wed

!style=width:4%;|4th Thu

!style=width:4%;|5th Fri

!style=width:4%;|6th Sat

!style=width:4%;|7th Sun

!style=width:4%;|8th Mon

!style=width:4%;|9th Tue

!style=width:4%;|10th Wed

!style=width:4%;|11th Thu

!style=width:4%;|12th Fri

!style=width:4%;|13th Sat

!style=width:4%;|14th Sun

!rowspan=2|Total events

</div><section end="Calendar" />

The Games

Ceremonies

thumb|250px|right|The Coliseum during the opening ceremony

thumb|250px|The Australian Olympic Team at the Olympic Stadium, Los Angeles, 1932

Opening

Attended by 101,022 people. The ceremony included a 300-person orchestra, and a choir of 1,200 singers. Organizing committee President William May Garland provided opening remarks of welcome on behaf of California and the City of Los Angeles before introducing Vice President Curtis to officially open the games.

Sports

117 events in 20 disciplines, comprising 14 sports, were part of the Olympic program in 1932. Football was introduced in Paris 1900 Games. Following Jules Rimet's proposal in 1929 to initiate a professional World Championship tournament of football, the sport was then dropped from the 1932 Games by FIFA in an attempt to promote the new World Cup tournament of 1930. Football returned for the 1936 Games in Berlin.

In one of two Equestrian jumping events (team competitions) no medals were awarded. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

Aquatics
Road (2)
Track (4)
Dressage (2)
Eventing (2)
Show jumping (2)
Freestyle (7)
Greco-Roman (7)

Demonstration sports

Athletic Achievements

thumb|[[Lauri Lehtinen (left) and Ralph Hill finishing the 5000 m race at the 1932 Olympics]]

thumb|right|[[Takeichi Nishi with Olympic steed, Uranus]]

In athletics, Babe Didrikson won two gold medals in the javelin and the hurdles event. She also competed in a jump-off for a gold in the high jump. Her technique in the jump-off was ruled illegal, leaving Didrikson with second place.
Finland's Paavo Nurmi was suspended from competition by the IAAF for alleged violation of amateur rules. Finns charged that the Swedish officials had used devious tricks in their campaign against Nurmi's amateur status, and ceased all athletic relations with Sweden. A year earlier, controversies on the track and in the press had led Finland to withdraw from the Finland-Sweden athletics international. After Nurmi's suspension, Finland did not agree to return to the event until 1939.

Several women's events debuted at these games, among them the 80 meters hurdles and javelin throw. Babe Didrikson won both events and also competed in the high jump where she was controversially denied gold, leaving her with silver. As women, unlike men, were only allowed to enter a maximum of three events, Didrikson could not compete in the discus throw, long jump, and relay where she would have likely medaled based on her prior results. Had the 200 meters and pentathlon been contested at these games (they debuted in 1964), Didrikson would have won them easily based on her performances prior to the Olympics.

In field hockey, 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.

Romeo Neri won three gold medals in gymnastics. Although women's team gymnastics debuted in the previous Olympics, the event was not held in these games; however, there were women gymnasts who traveled to Los Angeles and participated in exhibition events at the 1932 games.

Helene Madison won three gold medals in swimming, while the Japanese upset the men's events and took all but one title. Kusuo Kitamura won the gold medal in the men's 1500 meter freestyle swimming race. He was and continues to be the youngest ever male swimmer to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Takeichi Nishi (Baron Nishi) was the gold medalist with his horse Uranus in the equestrian show jumping individual event. Nishi's gold medal is Japan's only gold medal in the equestrian event to this day. Nishi died in 1945 as an officer stationed in the defense of the island of Iwo Jima, and as such is an important character in Clint Eastwood's film, Letters from Iwo Jima.

Dunc Gray won Australia's first cycling gold medal; he set a world record of 1m 13s in the 1000 time trial. The Dunc Gray Velodrome, built for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, was named after him.

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1932 Games.

Before 1932 all the medals were awarded at the closing ceremony, with the athletes wearing evening dress for the first few Games. The presenting dignitary was stationary while the athletes filed past to receive their medals.

The presentation of the medals and awards varied significantly until the 1932 Summer Olympics. Los Angeles introduced protocol that has now become standard. In Los Angeles, athletes were honored by introducing the first true victory podium, the raising of the medalists' national flags, and the playing of the winner's national anthem. These ceremonies were held immediately following events at the Memorial Coliseum.

Legacy

thumb|300px|right|The first official Olympic Village.

thumb|300px|right|Palm Trees planted throughout Los Angeles during the 1920's. Beautification project prior to the Olympics.

The games were considered a success and a model for future Olympic Games. The Coliseum set attendance records, including a record 101,022 attended the opening ceremony. A record not broken until Sydney 2000 summer games.

For the first time, the Games lasted 16 days, a pattern that has been kept ever since.

When the OCOG announced a surplus after the games, the City of Los Angeles, The USOC and the State of California filed a lawsuit for access to the surplus. Los Angeles Superior Court ruled the surplus belonged solely to the OCOG in 1935. The Bureau of Internal Revenue reported a possible surplus was around $1.2 million. The OCOG decided to repay the state bond and then donated the rest to the local community redevelopment agency, which funded the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games. No documentation of a final accounting was released, but re-constructed by local journalism.

For the 1984 Summer Olympics, the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl were used as venues. Both will become the first stadiums to have ever hosted three different Olympiads during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Other venues that were used as Olympic venues in 1932 will also host Olympic events in 2028. Those venues include Los Angeles Harbor, the Long Beach Marine Stadium and the Riviera Country Club.

Los Angeles Harbor continues to be a major sea port in the Western United States, employing 919,000 people and generating US$39.1 billion in annual wages and tax revenues as of 2007.

The Riveria Country Club continues to host golf events, hosting the 1948 U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995.

The Coliseum was the first (& temporary) Los Angeles home for the National League (NL) Dodgers baseball team when it moved from Brooklyn, New York before the 1958 season. The following year, it hosted the 2nd 1959 MLB All-Star Game and games 3, 4 & 5 of the 1959 World Series. When Dodger Stadium was completed in 1962, the Dodgers moved there where they have been since. The National Football League (NFL) Los Angeles Rams used the Coliseum as its host stadium from 1946 to 1979 when it moved to Anaheim, located southeast of Los Angeles. It also hosted what became known as Super Bowl I in 1967. Even the American Football League's Chargers used the Coliseum as a venue in 1960 until their move to San Diego the following year. The Coliseum continues to host USC Trojans football games to this day, and also hosted UCLA Bruins football for a number of years. The Rams returned to the Coliseum for a span of four years from 2016 to 2019 while SoFi Stadium was being built.

The track constructed in the Rose Bowl was given to the Tournament of Roses Association upon completion of the 1932 Games. It hosted Super Bowl XI in 1977, where the Oakland Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32–14.

Tenth Street, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, was renamed Olympic Boulevard in honor of the Games of the Tenth Olympiad.

Palm trees are not native to Los Angeles. Thousands were planted for the Xth Olympiad. More than 25,000 were planted in 1931 along city boulevards. Palm trees are now synonymous with Los Angeles.

First olympics to use stopwatches and a photo finish camera, which enabled officials to time competitions more precise. An important innovative feature of the watches was the split-seconds function, which made it possible to record both the total elapsed time and intermediate (lap) times posted by each competitor.

The victory podium was used for the first time at the Summer Games (a podium was also used earlier in the year at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid).

Elysian Park's shooting range was left intact for the LAPD to use.

All of the road courses were returned to public usage after the Olympics. until June 2005 when it was bought to be used as a megachurch.

Notes

References

Bibliography

1932 Summer Olympics

Host city selection

Development and preparations

Budget

Security

Transportation

Venues

Tickets

Mascot

Corporate sponsorship

Participating nations

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

Calendar

The Games

Ceremonies

Opening

Sports

Demonstration sports

Athletic Achievements

Medal count

Legacy

See also

Notes

References

External links