History

The difficulty and cost of traveling to California, combined with the international economic depression, severely reduced participation in the 1932 Olympics. The number of countries represented dropped from 46 to 37, and only 1,408 athletes participated, compared to 3,014 at Amsterdam.

Yet the 1932 games were successful financially and competitively. More than 1,250,000 spectators attended the various events and the Los Angeles Organizing Committee ended with a surplus of more than $1 million.

Led by William May Garland, the LAOC took a bold step to increase participation, offering food, housing, and local transportation to every athlete for only $2 a day. To make the offer economic feasible, organizers constructed the first Olympic Village.

Another tradition that began in Los Angeles was the use of the victory stand, with the national anthem of the gold medal winner's country played during ht medal ceremony.

While quantity was way down, the overall quality of the athletes didn't seem to suffer. Sixteen world records and 33 Olympic records were set in 1932. The United States returned to form in the track events, with Eddie Tolan leading an American sweep in both sprints and the 400-meter relay team setting a world record of 40.0, beating the second-place Germans by nearly a second.

American women did exceptionally well in both swimming and track. Helene Madison won gold medals in both individual freestyle races and as a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay team.

Mildred "Babe" Didrikson also won three medals, two of them gold. She scored a very unusual double in the 80-meter hurdles and the javelin throw. Didrikson actually tied with teammate Jean Shiley with a world record in the high jump, but she was disqualified for a technical violation in the jump-off and had to settle for a silver medal.

Men's swimming was dominated by the Japanese, who won four of the five races. The only U. S. champion was Clarence "Buster" Crabbe, who later became known as Hollywood's Buck Rogers.

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