 |
Lake Placid, USA
IIIrd WINTER GAMES |
February 4 - 15, 1932 |
Mascot - none |
17 countries, 252
athletes (21 women) |
4 sports, 14 events |
Opening -
Governor Franklin D Roosevelt of New York |
Torch lit by -
none |
Bear Mountain,
Denver, Duluth, Lake Tahoe, Minneapolis, Yosemite Valley (all
USA) and Montreal (CAN) |
The Olympic Games came to the
United States for the first time in 1932. Lake Placid was a ski station
among the Adirondacks in the State of New York. The traditional dominion
of the Norwegian cross-country skiers was decidedly shaken in the third
edition of the Winter Games which went outside of Europe for the first
time. The Games at Lake Placid included the debut of the two-man bobsled event, and three demonstration
sports: women's speedskating, dog-sled racing and curling (for the
second time). Snow had to be trucked in so that the ski jump competition
staging area could be covered.
Right from the start, the Lake
Placid Games were looking to make history. During the opening ceremony,
the British contingent's flag was carried by a woman, an Olympic first.
The Americans won the four-man bobsled, and team member Eddie Eagan
became the first and only man to win both a Summer and Winter Olympic
medal -- Eagan won the 1920 light heavyweight boxing gold medal.
The speed skating events were
unique in that they did not follow the traditional European format of
paired races, but rather group starts, heats, and elimination, much like
track events. Loud and angry protests about the new rules imposed by the
organizers led to the withdrawl of the great Clas Thunberg, making way
for the overwhelming American success of "Jack" Shea and
Irving Jaffee.
Sonja Henie continued her
domination of ladies' figure skating. However, two-time defending
Olympic men's figure skating gold medallist Gillis Grafstrom finished
second to 22-year-old Austrian Karl Schafer. Both figure skating
competitions took place indoors for the first time. Canada's domination
of ice hockey continued, but it was not as easy as before. The final
between the United States and Canada ended in a tie after three
overtimes. Canada was declared the winner on the basis of a better goal
average throughout the Olympics.
The United States led the medal
standings with 12 medals.
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