1932 Winter Olympics

Lake Placid

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Location of Lake Placid in the United States

The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It was the first of four Winter Olympics held in the United States; Lake Placid hosted again in 1980.

The games were originally to take place in Wrightwood and Big Pines, California. The largest ski jump in the world was constructed in Big Pines for the event. But poor snow conditions caused Olympic officials to move the event to Lake Placid.

Highlights

• The Games were opened by Franklin D. Roosevelt, then the Governor of New York. He was elected President of the United States nine months later.
• Irving Jaffee won the 5,000 m (3.1 mi) and the 10,000 m (6.2 mi) speedskating gold medals, beating previous champion and world record holder Ivar Ballangrud in the 10,000 m by 4.5 m (15 ft), mainly because the favourites were unaccustomed to the common start.
• The USA won the medal tally with a total of 12 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze).
• Seventeen countries participated.

Events

A WPA poster,
advertising the bobsled run

Medals were awarded in 14 events contested in 4 sports (7 disciplines).

• Bobsleigh (2) ()
• Ice hockey (1) ()
• Skating
  • Figure skating (3) ()
  • Speed skating (4) ()
• Nordic skiing ()
  • Cross-country skiing (2) ()
  • Nordic combined (1) ()
  • Ski jumping (1) ()

Demonstration sports

The Games also included events in three demonstration sports.

• Curling
• Sled dog race
• Speed skating (women)

These were the last Winter Olympics without alpine skiing, which was added in 1936. Alpine skiing held its 1932 World Championships during the Olympics, February 4–6 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1932 Winter Olympics

Venue	Sports	Capacity	Ref.
Intervales Ski-Hill	Nordic combined (ski jumping), Ski jumping	9,200
Lake Placid	Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing)	Not listed.
Mt. Van Hoevenberg Bob-Run	Bobsleigh	12,500
Olympic Arena	Figure skating, Ice hockey (final)	3,360
Olympic Stadium	Ice hockey, Speed skating	7,475

Participating nations

The Olympic Bobsled run from the air

Athletes from 17 nations competed in these Games, down from 25 nations at the previous Games in 1928. Argentina, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia did not send athletes to Lake Placid.

2

Medal count

III Olympic Winter Games U.S. commemorative stamp (1932)

Main article: 1932 Winter Olympics medal table

  Host country

1	United States	6	4	2	12
2	Norway	3	4	3	10
3	Sweden	1	2	0	3
4	Canada	1	1	5	7
5	Finland	1	1	1	3
6	Austria	1	1	0	2
7	France	1	0	0	1
8	Switzerland	0	1	0	1
9	Germany	0	0	2	2
10	Hungary	0	0	1	1
Total		14	14	14	42

See also

• 1932 Summer Olympics
• Olympic Games celebrated in the United States
  • 1904 Summer Olympics – St. Louis
  • 1932 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles
  • 1932 Winter Olympics – Lake Placid
  • 1960 Winter Olympics – Squaw Valley
  • 1980 Winter Olympics – Lake Placid
  • 1984 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles
  • 1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta
  • 2002 Winter Olympics – Salt Lake City
  • 2028 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles

• List of IOC country codes

External links

• "Lake Placid 1932". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
• Template:IOC medals
• III Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid 1932, 1932 The official report.
• Lake Placid Olympic Authority
• The program of the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics