Winter Olympic Games 1928. History of Olympic Games. Hot, winter, your Switzerland
St. Moritz (Switzerland)
The St. Moritz Games were the first Olympics for the new IOC president, Henri de Baie-Latour, who replaced the retired Pierre de Coubertin in 1925. The Belgian was known as a less subtle politician than his predecessor, but he was a tough administrator and a talented organizer - these qualities helped him save the White Olympics project, which from its first steps was on the verge of collapse.
To begin with, Baye-Latour had to suffer a lot in search of a place to host the first official winter Games (recall that the 1924 sports week in Chamonix was recognized by the IOC only retroactively). And then the competition program was half disrupted due to abnormally warm weather in the Engadine Valley.
Venue – St. Moritz, Switzerland
February 11 - 19, 1928
Number of participating countries - 25
Number of athletes participating - 463 (28 women, 435 men)
Medal sets - 14
Overall Winner - Norway
The three main characters of the Games according to "SE"
Sonya Henie (Norway),
figure skating
William Fiske (USA)
bobsled
Johan Grettumsbroten (Norway),
ski race
AGAIN LOSSES
ANNOUNCEMENT TEAM
After the 1928 Olympics, many newspapers wrote that the unpredictability of the weather put an end to the very idea of \u200b\u200bholding the Winter Games. But the IOC took a more optimistic position on this issue. First of all, because the competitions, with all organizational overlays, were a great success with the public. Especially the performances of figure skaters.
The only type of program in which women were represented was won by 15-year-old Norwegian Sonya Henie: she later became the main star of pre-war figure skating, and then made a career in show business. In the men's figure skating tournament, success was celebrated by another Norwegian - Gillis Grafström, who performed with a swollen injured knee, but still became a three-time Olympic champion in St. Moritz.
Hockey matches turned out to be another top discipline. Team Canada, represented by the university team from Toronto, scored more than ten goals in each match. True, the main competitors of the Canadians, the US team, did not arrive in St. Moritz.
When the Maple Leaves returned to their homeland with Olympic gold, they were called to a duel and beaten by American hockey players from Boston University. It was Canada's first loss on the international ice hockey scene.
The Olympic tournament in St. Moritz was retroactively given the status of a world championship, so the players from Toronto inadvertently brought their homeland the title of champion of the planet.
One of the features of the 1928 Winter Games was the format of the bobsleigh competition - it was allowed to include up to five people in the crews. Starts on the bobsleigh track were the main hope for medals for the hosts of the Olympics - the Swiss. However, American bobsledders and skeletonists left the hosts no chance. The crew led by 16-year-old William Fiske became the Olympic champion in bobsleigh, and the young pilot found three members of his team by advertising in the newspaper. None of this trio before the trip to St. Moritz had no idea about the bobsleigh. After 12 years, Fiske will become a military pilot and die at the beginning of World War II.
The same fate will await another participant in bobsleigh starts in Switzerland - the French marquis Jean d'Olan. This restless aristocrat was the champion of his country in diving and bobsleigh, performed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and various air shows. In 1944, his fighter caught fire during a battle with German Messerschmitts, and d'Olan was unable to leave the blazing cockpit.
EXPERIENCE TAKES THE TOP
Warm weather and the associated inconvenience did not prevent athletes from the northern countries - Norway, Sweden and Finland - from taking all the medals of the 1928 Games in skiing and skating disciplines, with the exception of one bronze. At the same time, athletes who had experience of performing in Chamonix four years earlier became two-time champions of the second White Olympiad. Finnish speed skater Klas Thurnberg added two more St. Moritz gold medals to his five medals at the 1924 Games. And three-time Chamonix medalist Johan Grettumsbroten from Norway won the 18 km race and the Nordic combined event in Switzerland.
The most amazing competitions of the 1928 Olympics were the demonstration performances of equestrian skiers. Athletes accelerated on skis on the ice of the lake, grabbing the long horse reins, and had to overcome a distance of 1900 meters in this way. Eight athletes came to the start, all of them representing Switzerland. This was the first and last appearance of this sport at the Winter Games, although in different variations (with dogs, deer and other animals) similar competitions are held to this day.
Oleg SHAMONAYEV
NUMBERS AND FACTS
Since 1928, the Winter Olympics were for the first time officially separated from the Summer ones, and thus it was in St. Moritz that the first White Olympiad actually took place.
The skeleton, then known as the toboggan, made its debut in the program of the Games. The first gold medal in the history of the discipline was won by the American Jennison Heaton, who also became one of the five medalists from the USA in bobsleigh competitions.
For the first time, the geography of the Winter Olympics went beyond Europe and North America: Argentina, Mexico and Japan were among the participants. Latin Americans fielded bobsleigh teams (Argentines - as many as two), and the Japanese were represented by skiers. However, none of these countries have won awards.
Norway won the medal standings for the second time in a row. Although this time her application was only the 8th largest (25 people). Nevertheless, the Norwegians won 6 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze medals. In total, representatives of 12 teams received awards - two more than in Chamonix-1924.
More than half of the medals - 24 out of 41 (58.5 percent) - went to the Nordic teams - Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is worth noting that the Olympic Games appeared as an alternative to the intra-Scandinavian Nordic Games, and for a long time Norwegians, Swedes and Finns were on the verge of boycotting the Winter Olympics.
Klas Thunberg (Finland) and Johan Grettumsbrotten (Norway) won two gold medals each in St. Moritz. At the same time, Thunberg became the record holder of the Winter Olympics - on his account, taking into account the Games in Chamonix, there were 5 championship titles.
Skater Bernd Evensen (Norway) was the first athlete in the history of the White Olympiads, who managed to win awards of all merit (one at a time) at one Games.
France won the first Winter Olympic gold in its history (now it is in 13th place in the overall OWG medal table with 27 awards). The winners were figure skaters Pierre Brunet and André Joly.
In figure skating, Sonya Henie won with a big advantage, having won her first Olympic gold. Norwegian on the day of the start of the Games was 15 years and 316 days old. Only in 1998 this record was broken: American Tara Lipinski became the champion in the same figure skating at the age of 15 years and 242 days (on the opening day of the Olympics).
The Swiss national team, which had the most impressive delegation (44 athletes), out of 41 Olympic medals won only one bronze - in hockey. This result is still the worst in history for the host country of the Games.
The hockey tournament was again won by the Canadian team, represented by a team from the University of Toronto. The Canadians did not miss a single goal in 3 matches, winning them with a total score of 38:0.
Canadian David Trottier became the top scorer of the hockey tournament with 15 (12+3) points.
II Winter Olympic Games were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland from 11 to 19 February 1928.
City selection
Unlike previous Games, the choice of a new capital was held on a competitive basis. At the IOC session in May 1926 (Lisbon, Portugal), among the three Swiss candidate cities - Davos, Engelberg and St. Moritz - the choice was made in favor of the latter.
Interestingly, the Dutch also initially claimed to host the 1928 Olympics, but withdrew their candidacy due to uncertainty that the weather in February would allow the Games to be adequately held. The Swiss, in turn, were more confident in the climate, although, as it turned out, in vain. The insidiousness of nature that year truly knew no bounds: on some days a week's rainfall fell in the mountains, but then the temperature rose to + 20 °, and the athletes drowned in deep puddles.
Participating countries
The 1928 Games were attended by 464 athletes (26 women) from 25 countries. Among the debutants of the Winter Games were representatives of Germany, Holland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, as well as envoys from distant Japan, Argentina and Mexico.
The countries marked in blue are those that took part in the Winter Olympics for the first time.
Green - previously participated in the Winter Olympics.
The yellow dot is the venue for the games (St. Moritz).
Sports
The program of the Games included cross-country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon, bobsleigh, skeleton, speed skating, figure skating and hockey.
Curling left the games, which was listed as a demonstration at the last Games. Military patrol competitions (a prototype of modern biathlon) were transferred from the main competitions to demonstration competitions. Skeleton debuted as the main look at the games. Also, as a demonstration type, dog racing was present at the games.
The opening ceremony
The solemn opening ceremony of the Games took place on February 11 on the ice of the Badrutz Park ice rink. It snowed heavily at night, so the organizers had to postpone the ceremony for half an hour to clear the skating rink of snow. The ceremony began with the arrival of IOC members, as well as high-ranking Swiss officials.
Spectators gather for the opening ceremony
President of the Swiss Confederation Edmund Schults arrives at the opening ceremony
After the arrival of official guests, the parade of athletes began. An interesting point - many of them came with their equipment, dressed in sportswear. Skiers carried their skis, and hockey players were fully equipped (their first games began immediately after the opening ceremony).
Parade of participating countries. Team Canada
national flag bearers
President of the Swiss Confederation Edmund Schults addressed the audience with a solemn speech and declared the II Winter Olympic Games open. After that, the flag of the Olympic movement was raised over the stadium, and the Swiss Nordic skier Hans Eidenbenz recited the Olympic Oath on behalf of all athletes.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the II Winter Olympic Games took place on February 19. On this day, there were still competitions, postponed to a later date due to overlays with warm weather. The tournament in pairs figure skating ended in the morning, and the closing ceremony began immediately after the end of the hockey match between the national teams of Canada and Switzerland.
As at the opening of the Games, a parade of participating countries was again held, marching with national flags.
The President of the NOC of Switzerland, in accordance with the protocol, presented awards to the winners and prize-winners of the Games, and also congratulated all participants on the completion of the Olympiad. Then the Olympic flag was lowered to the sound of fireworks.
After that, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Count Henri de Baie-Latour officially declared the II Winter Olympic Games closed.
Scandals at the II Winter Olympics
Before the 10,000-meter speed skating races, the hot sun flooded the ice of the race tracks, but the organizers decided not to cancel the competition. The race was opened by an American Irving Jeffy and Norwegian Bernt Evensen. The ice continued to melt, and the results worsened from race to race. The fifth pair retired as the quality of the ice no longer allowed the competition to continue. The competition was declared over, and the organizers distributed the medals among those who managed to run. The best result was in the first pair, "gold" was awarded to Irving Jeffy, "silver" - to Bernt Evensen. The Finns and Norwegians protested as many athletes, including one of the favorites, the Norwegian Ivara Ballangruda, did not have time to get to the start. It was decided to cancel the results of the competition and not to play medals in this form. But the US delegation demanded the return of the medal to their athlete Irving Jeffy, threatening to leave St. Moritz otherwise. The Organizing Committee tried to reach a compromise and decided to hold a second race with the onset of favorable weather conditions. But the decision came as a surprise to the Norwegian skaters, who had already left Switzerland with no hope of repeating the competition. However, weather conditions did not allow for repeated starts. Awards in this discipline officially remained unplayed.
Competitions at a distance of 500 m were also not without surprises. Chronometers, which in those years were able to record time with an accuracy of only tenths of a second, revealed two winners and four (!!!) bronze medalists. Without foreseeing such a situation, the organizers of the Games went to "borrow" the missing medals from other, not yet played, disciplines, and then urgently made additional tokens.
The History of the Winter Games (IZI) is a project of "Sports Day by Day" before the Olympics in Pyeongchang. We write only about the most interesting and important - without water, pathos and stamps.
St. Moritz-1928
Host country: Switzerland
464 athlete
25 countries
14 sets of medals
Key facts about St. Moritz 1928
Summer and winter games were held in one year. Holland had the right to hold the winter games before the summer ones (Amsterdam-1928), but refused.
In hockey, Canada again tore everyone apart, beating rivals and not missing a single puck (38:0). The Americans did not participate. Returning home, the Canadians lost the first ever international match to the team of Boston University - 0:1.
11 accredited Spanish journalists came to St. Moritz. Not a single athlete from Spain competed at the Olympics.
Cross-country skiing on horseback (skjering) was demonstrated to the public for the first time in St. Moritz
For the first time, a skeleton appeared in the program of the Games. In bobsleigh, the teams competed in fives - the last time in Olympic history
Barrel jumping on skates - another demonstration entertainment of the Olympics
Ski jumping in St. Moritz
Canada - Switzerland - 13:0 - immediately after this match, the closing ceremony of the Games was held
Speed skating at the 1928 Olympics
Hot, winter, your Switzerland
The slogan “Hot. Winter. Yours." Before the 10,000 meters speed skating races, the sun melted the ice. The athlete had to run through the porridge. American Irving Jeffey and Norwegian Bernt Evensen were the first. The remaining ice continued to melt, the results from race to race deteriorated noticeably. The fifth couple just went out of the way. The favorites did not even have time to go to the start, and the organizers decided to recognize the competition as valid. Gold was won by Jeffy, silver by Evensen. Finns and Norwegians filed a protest.
The organizers panicked. They canceled the results. The Americans who won the gold threatened the whole delegation to leave Switzerland. It was decided to hold the competition again, but it turned out that the Norwegians had already gone home. The weather conditions did not improve - as a result, the medals were never officially played, and Irving Jeffy flew to the USA without gold - he was taken away.
In the 500m races, the chronometer determined two winners and four bronze medalists. Few medals were made, they had to be withdrawn from those sports that had not yet ended, and then additional ones were minted.
Medal standings St. Moritz 1928
1. Norway 6+4+5=15
2. USA 2+2+2=6
3. Sweden 2+2+1=5
4. Finland 2+1+1=4
5-6. France 1+0+0=1
5-6. Canada 1+0+0=1
…8. Switzerland 0+0+1=1
City selection
Two cities claimed to host the 1928 Summer Olympics: Amsterdam and Los Angeles. Preference was given to the capital of the Netherlands. 14 members of the IOC voted in favor of this decision, with four against and one abstention. A number of subsequent discussions and repeated voting did not change the results of the first vote. Los Angeles spent.
Preparing for the Games
The 1928 Olympic Games were the first to take place without Pierre de Coubertin as president of the IOC. In 1925, the 62-year-old founder of the Olympic movement announced his resignation for health reasons. Before leaving, partly disillusioned with the Olympic movement, Coubertin published a “sports testament”, in which he once again outlined his concept regarding the essence of sports: “Professionalism, here it is - the enemy!”. His “testament” ended with the following optimistic conclusion: “Despite some disappointments that in an instant destroyed my best hopes, I believe in the peaceful and moral qualities of sport.”
In Amsterdam, a tradition was born that was never violated later: during the Games, a fire burned, lit in Olympia from the sun with the help of a mirror. Runners carried it to Amsterdam, passing it to each other like a baton. They crossed Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
Starting with this Olympics, sponsorship cooperation between the IOC and the well-known concern Coca-Cola began.
Coca-Cola stall at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam
Symbolism
The posters for the IX Summer Olympic Games were designed by artist Joseph Rovers.
Two of them are considered to be the main ones. One shows a marathon runner holding a laurel branch, a symbol of victory and the Olympic spirit. Three wavy lines at the bottom of the poster - red, white and blue - symbolize the national flag of the Netherlands.
On the other, an athlete runs around the stadium, the Olympic flag with five rings is flying in the distance.
Participating countries
After a 16-year break, German athletes were admitted to the Games. Athletes from Malta, Panama and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) took part in the Olympics for the first time. The USSR national team did not take part in the 1928 Games.
All countries participating in the 1928 Summer Olympics: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Denmark, Egypt, India, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , Cuba, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Rhodesia, Romania, USA, Turkey, Uruguay, Philippines, Finland, France, Czechoslovakia, Chile, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, South Africa, Japan.
In total, 2883 athletes from 46 countries took part in the Games.
Athletes from the USA won with a clear advantage. But at the same time, the Americans won medals in only 9 sports out of 20, but the athletes of the German national team, which was second in the overall standings, achieved success in 16 sports.
The opening ceremony
Traditionally, the head of state was supposed to open the Olympic Games. However, Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands, a true Christian, resolutely refused to take part in the ceremony, because she considered the Olympics "pagan games." The Games were opened by her husband Prince Hendrik of Orange. The Queen was not present at all at the Olympic events.
Amsterdam Olympic Stadium. Opening ceremony of the 1928 Games
At the opening ceremony, the traditional parade of athletes took place, and Harry Denis, a Dutch football player, pronounced the Olympic oath on behalf of the athletes.
The Estonian national team before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 28, 1928
The Danish team at the opening ceremony of the Games
Team Great Britain at the parade of participating countries
Cars in the parking lot near the Olympic Stadium
Employees of the medical staff of the Olympics
Press box at the IX Summer Olympic Games in Amsterdam
Security chief with a collection of photographic equipment confiscated from visitors. Photography was allowed only to accredited photographers
Prior to the opening ceremony, hockey (May 17-26) and football (May 27 - June 15) competitions were held. Therefore, May 17 is considered the official start date of the Games.
Scandals of the IX Summer Olympic Games
On the eve of the opening of the Games, French athletes, led by the Secretary General of the French Athletics Federation Paul Merikamp, went to the Amsterdam stadium to get acquainted with the venue of the competition. The watchman tried to keep the French out, although a few minutes earlier German athletes had entered the stadium.
In the course of the dispute that began, Paul Mericamp pushed the watchman, in response, he hit the Frenchman in the face with a bunch of keys. Athletes beat the watchman. As a result, they spent several hours at the police station.
The next day, the same watchman again refused to let the French into the stadium. The French team regarded what was happening as a provocation. To resolve the situation, the intervention of the Dutch Foreign Ministry was required. After that, the organizing committee of the Games brought the French team an official apology.
In 1925, Pierre de Coubertin announced his resignation. Quite disappointed, he published a "sports testament", in which, once again setting out his concept regarding the essence of sports: "Professionalism, here it is - the enemy!" On May 28, 1925, at a session in Prague, the International Olympic Committee elected a new president, the Belgian diplomat Comte de Baye-Latour, who served in office until 1942, until his death. The IOC received only one bid for the 1928 Games, from Amsterdam. So Amsterdam won the right to host the Olympic Games without any struggle. For the first time, the founder of the Games, Pierre de Coubertin, was not present at the Summer Olympics in the Netherlands: he became seriously ill. In general, the Olympics went on as usual. And although the number of participating countries increased, the number of athletes was somewhat less, and the competition program was reduced.
In Amsterdam, a tradition was born that was never violated later: during the Games, a fire burned, lit in Olympia from the sun with the help of a mirror. Runners carried it to Amsterdam, passing it to each other like a baton. They crossed Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
Lighting the Olympic flame. July 28, 1928.
The arrival of the national team of Uruguay in Amsterdam
Arrival of the French ice hockey team at Amsterdam Central Station
After a 16-year break, the German team entered the Olympic start, and, I must say, it came out in a solid line-up - 233 people. Athletes from Malta, Panama and Rhodesia took part in the Olympics for the first time.
German athletes in white skirts, black jackets and white hats pose for the camera before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 28, 1928.
Greek Olympic team participating in the 1928 Olympics
For the first time, competitions among women in athletics appeared in the Olympic program - 100 and 800 meters, 4 x 100 meters relay, high jump, discus throw - and gymnastics. The brightest event was the performance of athletes. Each type of program was marked by a world record.
Argentine national football team during the Olympics
American Betty Robinson won the 100m race and also won the silver medal in the 4 x 100m relay. A 16-year-old student didn't know she was a good runner until her teacher saw her running after a workout. She began running only four months before the 1928 Olympics. In her first outdoor performance, she set a world record in the 100 meters. At the Amsterdam Olympics, Betty won the half meter in the 100m final, her fourth time in the event. Three years after the Olympic triumph, Elizabeth was in a plane crash. The man who found her, even thought that she was dead, carried her into the trunk of his car and took her to the funeral home. She was unconscious for seven weeks and could not walk properly for another two years, but he survived. Betty Robinson wanted to return to the sport and compete in the sprint. But her leg could no longer fully bend at the knee, which prevented the athlete from taking the correct starting position. However, she could run in relay races. And in 1936, Betty Robinson won her second gold medal in the 4x100 meters relay as part of the American team.
Athletes from Czechoslovakia at the stadium
The 800m race was won by Lina Radke-Batschauer from Germany, the 4x100m relay was won by Canada (Fanny Rosenfeld was among the winners), and their compatriot Ethel Catherwood won the high jump. Two gold medals in the 100m and 200m went to Percy Williams of Canada.
The Estonian Olympic team before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 28, 1928.
Interestingly, the inclusion of 800 meters in the program for women caused great controversy. During the 800-meter races, young women fell exhausted onto the track. It was decided to exclude this distance from the Olympic program since 1932, and again it appeared only at the XVII Games, in 1960, where the USSR athlete Lyudmila Shevtsova won. Her result was 12.5 seconds higher than Lina Radke's.
Canadian athletes prepare to take part in the opening ceremony of the 1928 Olympics
But, in general, the fight was exciting and interesting. As in previous Games, Finnish athletes performed well. They won five gold, five silver and four bronze medals, won the 1500m, 5000m, 3000m hurdles and 10000m. At the last distance, the legendary Paavo Nurmi was the first to finish. It was his 9th Olympic gold medal!
The Australian Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
As for the American athletes, they won nine gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals in Amsterdam. An interesting struggle took place in the long jump sector, which was fought between an American Eduard Hemm and an athlete from Haiti Silvio Kator. In 1928, it was they who fought the main fight for the championship. The American came to the Olympics with the rank of world record holder (7.90 m). The stubborn struggle for Olympic gold also brought him victory with an Olympic record (7.73 m). However, the ambitious Kator still took revenge on the Olympic champion by winning the world championship with a new world record (7.93 m).
Argentina Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
An unexpected victory was brought to France by the marathon run. The hero of the marathon was a small Algerian Buzhera El Kafi, a laborer from the Renault factories in Billancourt. His run in Amsterdam was a masterpiece of tactics, caution, endurance. After the first ten kilometers, he was 2 minutes 30 seconds behind the leaders. The leaders - a Japanese and a Finn - seemed much more active. Japanese K. Yamada, small, but surprisingly wiry and strong, made a breakthrough at the twenty-fifth kilometer. His mistake was that he went ahead very early. This mistake of Yamada became a trump card for El Kafi, who, picking up speed, saw rivals on his road who were exhausted in a fight with the Japanese. When the second hour of running struck, he was already bypassing the Japanese runner. But three kilometers before the finish line, another danger awaited him - the Chilean Miguel Reyes Plaza rushed forward. But he also overestimated his strength, and one and a half kilometers before the finish line, El Kafi was already confident in his success. And he became an Olympic champion.
Belgian Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
In Amsterdam, the first victories were won by representatives of Japan: Mikio Oda in the triple jump and Ishiuki Tsuruta in the 200m breaststroke. The Mail of the Land of the Rising Sun also noted the first Olympic award of Japanese athletes. Kinue Hitomi won her first silver in the 800m. She lost less than a second to the world record holder German runner Karoline Radka. Kinuye Hitome surpassed the old German world record by as much as 2 seconds, but this was not enough. Karolina Radke set a new world record (2:16.8) in a stubborn struggle and rightfully became an Olympic champion.
The British Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
As for swimming, it was in this sport that the Hero of the 1928 Olympics appeared. They rightfully became the American Johnny Weissmuller. Weissmuller competed in the 100m freestyle and 4 x 200m relay, ending up with two gold medals. Johnny Weissmuller performed with brilliance in the basins of America and Europe for about ten years. He has five gold Olympic medals in his collection. Twice he became the champion of the Olympic Games in the most prestigious swimming distance - 100 meters freestyle. At the same distance, Weissmuller was the first to break the minute and brought the world record by 1924 to 57.4 seconds. In the pre-war and post-war years, the screens of the world were filled with numerous episodes of the American action movie "Tarzan". Particularly successful were those episodes in the film where Tarzan demonstrated amazing athletic qualities: a breathtaking race with a crocodile, dizzying stunts in the jungle, long underwater journeys of the hero. The excellent sports data of the performer of the role of Tarzan are indisputable. There is nothing surprising in this: after all, five-time Olympic champion Johnny Weissmuller starred in the role of Tarzan.
The German Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928.
At the Amsterdam Olympics, the winner of the weightlifting competition was for the first time determined by the sum of the classic triathlon: bench press, snatch, clean and jerk. Weightlifters competed in five weight categories, and Olympic and world records were broken in all categories.
The Danish Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
Field hockey competitions brought together 9 teams. For the first time, Indian hockey players took part in the Olympics. The debut brought them gold medals. From then until 1960, they had no defeats, and only in Rome did they have worthy rivals in the person of the Pakistani team.
The Canadian Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
The football tournament attracted 17 teams. This tournament was a great success with the audience, which was more than 250 thousand. The final was South American: Uruguay played Argentina. To determine the champion, had to play two matches. The first ended in a draw - 1:1. And only in the additional second match, the Uruguayans were able to win - 2:1. In the match for third place, the Italian team defeated the Egyptian team with a score of 11:3.
The Finnish Olympic team during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. July 28, 1928
In fencing competitions on rapiers and swords, the Italians and the French competed. And if the first in both cases won the team, then in the individual competition the veteran, the Frenchman Lucien Godin, excelled. So brilliantly ended the career of this outstanding fencer, who fought for the Olympic title for twenty-five years. The strongest saber fencers showed themselves to be the Hungarians, who won the championship both in the individual and in the team event. It was their first of seven consecutive gold medals in the Olympics.
Cars in the parking lot near the Olympic Stadium
At the 1928 Games, the brilliant career of the German Helena Mayer began. Mayer became one of the strongest rapier fencers of her time. At the Olympic Games she won gold (1928) and silver (1936) medals; 3-time world champion (1929, 1931, 1937), 6-time German champion, 9-time US champion. In 1923, at the age of 13, she won the German championship for the first time, playing for the Offenbach fencing club. In 1928, in addition to the Olympics, she won the Italian championship. In 1932 she moved to the USA to study at the university. In 1933, after the Nazis came to power in Germany, for some time it was one of the sports symbols of Nazi propaganda. Later, her half-Jewish origin surfaced, and she was even expelled from her native fencing club in Offenbach. However, Helena Mayer was named to the German Olympic team in 1936. After the 1936 Olympics, she finally emigrated to the United States.
Security chief at the Olympics with a collection of confiscated photographic equipment
In aristocratic equestrian sport, 2 gold medals (individual and team dressage competitions) were won by Karl Friedrich von Langen-Parow, a baron, a German aristocrat. In equestrian sports, overcoming obstacles in the individual championship was won by the Czechoslovak athlete Frantisek Ventura on Eliot. Without receiving a single penalty point, he defeated 46 of the world's best athletes from 16 countries in a dispute.
Ladies from the medical staff of the Olympics
In freestyle wrestling, which was called freestyle wrestling in those years, US athletes were noticeably pressed by Europeans, and primarily by Finns and Swedes. Only in featherweight weight the title of the Olympic champion went to the American.
Crowd outside the Olympic Stadium
The queue for checking tickets to the stadium.
Operator of the Italian film company during the match.
Press places
Grandstands of the Olympic Stadium
American swimmers pose for photographs
400m hurdles won by English Lord David Burghley, Olympic Stadium
Akiless Järvinen during the decathlon competition. He won silver
Test start of sprinters
August J. Scheffer (from London), 3rd in weightlifting (middleweight)
Al Morrison, Olympic wrestling champion
American takes an autograph
Argentine cyclist Saavedra during a race
Boxing, Lambert Bep Van Klaveren (right) Featherweight Champion. Olympic gold medalist
Gymnastic team from France
