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Poster for the 1928 Summer Olympics
Host city	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nations	46
Athletes	2,883 (2,606 men, 277 women)
Events	109 in 14 sports (20 disciplines)
Opening	28 July
Closing	12 August
Opened by	Prince Hendrik[1]
Stadium	Olympisch Stadion
Summer
← Paris 1924 Los Angeles 1932 →
Winter
← St Moritz 1928 Lake Placid 1932 →

The 1928 Summer Olympics (Dutch: Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but was obliged to give way to war-torn Antwerp in Belgium for the 1920 Games and Pierre de Coubertin's Paris for the 1924 Games.

The only other candidate city for the 1928 Olympics was Los Angeles, which would eventually be selected to host the Olympics four years later. In preparation for the 1932 Summer Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee reviewed the costs and revenue of the 1928 Games. The committee reported a total cost of US$1.183 million with receipts of US$1.165 million, giving a negligible loss of US$18,000, which was a considerable improvement over the 1924 Games.^[2]

Host city selection

Dutch nobleman, Frederik van Tuyll van Serooskerken, first proposed Amsterdam as host city for the Summer Olympic Games in 1912, even before the Netherlands Olympic Committee was established.

The Olympic Games were cancelled in 1916 due to World War I. In 1919, the Netherlands Olympic Committee abandoned the proposal of Amsterdam in favor of their support for the nomination of Antwerp as host city for the 1920 Summer Olympics. In 1921, Paris was selected for the 1924 Summer Olympics on the condition that the 1928 Summer Olympics would be organized in Amsterdam. This decision, supported by the Netherlands Olympic Committee, was announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 2 June 1921.

The IOC's decision was disputed by the Americans, but their request to allocate the 1928 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles was without success in 1922 and again in 1923.^[3] Los Angeles was eventually selected as host city for the 1932 Summer Olympics.^[4]:p.915

Highlights

• These were the first Olympics to be organized under the IOC presidency of Henri de Baillet-Latour.


• The Olympic Flame was lit for the first time for the duration of the Olympics, a tradition that continues to this day.^[5][6] The torch relay, however, would not take place until the 1936 Summer Olympics.


• For the first time, the parade of nations started with Greece, which holds the origins of the Olympics, and ended with the host country, a tradition which has also continued ever since.


• The Games were officially opened by Prince Hendrik, consort of Queen Wilhelmina, who had authorized her husband to deputise for her.^[4]:p.294 The Queen was unable to attend the opening ceremony as she was on holiday in Norway and did not want to disrupt her trip.^[6] This was the second time a head of state had not personally officiated at an Olympic opening ceremony (the first occasion being the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, which were officially opened by David R. Francis the Mayor of St. Louis). The Queen had initially refused to make an appearance at either the opening or closing ceremony; it is thought that she objected to the Netherlands hosting the 1928 Games as she considered the Olympics to be a demonstration of paganism.^[7] However, she returned from Norway before the conclusion of the Games, to be present at the closing ceremony,^[6] and she presented the first prizes at the prize distribution which was held immediately beforehand.^[4]:p.913


• 
  Athletics events were held on a 400-meter track, later becoming the standard for athletics tracks.


• These Games were the first to feature a fixed schedule of sixteen days, which is still followed. In previous Olympics, competition had been stretched out over several months.


• 
  Johnny Weissmuller, who later appeared in several Tarzan movies, won two gold medals in swimming: an individual gold in the men's 100 m freestyle, and a team gold in the men's 4 x 200 m freestyle relay.


• 
  Paavo Nurmi of Finland won his ninth, and final, gold medal in the 10,000 m race.


• 
  Canadian athlete Percy Williams exceeded expectations by winning both the 100 m and 200 m sprint events.


• 
  South American football made a definite breakthrough, as Uruguay retained its title by defeating Argentina.


• India took its first ever gold medal in field hockey, beginning a streak of six consecutive gold medals in the sport.

The international parking sign (white P on blue background) was first designed for the 1928 Games

• 
  Mikio Oda of Japan won the triple jump event with a result of 15.21 meters (49 ft 11 in), becoming the first gold medalist from an Asian country.


• Algerian-born marathon runner Boughera El Ouafi won a gold medal for France in the men's marathon.


• Among the participants was Crown Prince Olav, who would later become King of Norway; he won a gold medal in the 6 meter sailing event.


• 
  Pat O'Callaghan won the first ever medal for a newly independent Ireland, taking gold in the hammer throw.


• The sponsor Coca-Cola made its first appearance at the Olympic Games.


• These Games were the first to bear the name "Summer Olympic Games", to distinguish them from the Winter Olympic Games.


• 
  Germany returned to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1912, after being banned from the 1920 and 1924 Games. The German team finished second in the 1928 medal count.


• Many cars were expected for the Games, but Amsterdam had no more than 2,000 single car parking spaces. Consequently, a number of new parking sites were provided and a special parking symbol was launched to show foreign visitors where they could park. The white P on a blue background was to become the international traffic sign for parking, which is still used today.^[8][9]

Sports

During the 1928 Summer Olympics, there were 14 sports, 20 disciplines and 109 events in the tournament. In parentheses is the number of events per discipline.^{[4]:pp.973–985}

Eight Dutch stamps from 1928, showing different sports of the Amsterdam Olympics

Women's athletics and team gymnastics debuted at these Olympics,^[10] in spite of criticism. Halina Konopacka of Poland became the first female Olympic track and field champion. Reports that the 800 meter run ended with several of the competitors being completely exhausted were widely (and erroneously) circulated. As a result, the IOC decided that women were too frail for long distance running, and women's Olympic running events were limited to 200 meters until the 1960s.^[11]

Tennis disappeared from the program, only to reappear in 1968 as a demonstration sport.

Demonstration sports

• Kaatsen


• Korfball


• Lacrosse

These Games also included art competitions in five categories: architecture, painting, sculpture, literature, and poetry. However, the IOC no longer considers these to be official medal events, so the medals awarded are not included in today's Olympic medal counts.^[12]

Venues

The Olympisch Stadion in 1928

Prince Hendrik watching the football match Netherlands–Uruguay (0–2)

Fourteen sports venues were used for the 1928 Summer Olympics. The Swim Stadium was demolished in 1929 with it being a temporary venue.^[4]:p.193 The Het Kasteel football stadium was renovated in 1998–99. The Monnikenhuize stadium was demolished in 1950. The Schermzaal sports hall has also been demolished. The Olympic Stadium was renovated between 1996 and 2000, and is still in use. The Old Stadion was demolished in 1929 and replaced with housing in the Amsterdam area.

Participating nations

Participants

Number of athletes

A total of 46 nations were represented at the Amsterdam Games. Malta, Panama, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) competed at the Olympic Games for the first time. Germany returned after having been banned in 1920 and 1924.^[16]

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

IOC	Country	Athletes
GER	Germany	296
USA	United States	280
NED	Netherlands	264
FRA	France	255
GBR	Great Britain	232
BEL	Belgium	186
ITA	Italy	174
SUI	Switzerland	133
HUN	Hungary	109
SWE	Sweden	100
POL	Poland	93
DEN	Denmark	91
ARG	Argentina	81
ESP	Spain	80
AUT	Austria	73
TCH	Czechoslovakia	70
CAN	Canada	69
FIN	Finland	69
NOR	Norway	52
LUX	Luxembourg	46
JPN	Japan	43
CHI	Chile	38
YUG	Yugoslavia	34
EGY	Egypt	32
POR	Portugal	31
TUR	Turkey	31
MEX	Mexico	30
ROM	Romania	29
IRL	Ireland	27
RSA	South Africa	24
GRE	Greece	23
URU	Uruguay	22
IND	India	21
EST	Estonia	20
AUS	Australia	18
LAT	Latvia	14
LTU	Lithuania	12
NZL	New Zealand	10
MLT	Malta	9
MON	Monaco	7
BUL	Bulgaria	5
PHI	Philippines	4
HAI	Haiti	2
RHO	Rhodesia	2
CUB	Cuba	1
PAN	Panama	1
Total	2,883

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1928 Games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	22	18	16	56
2	Germany	10	7	14	31
3	Finland	8	8	9	25
4	Sweden	7	6	12	25
5	Italy	7	5	7	19
6	Switzerland	7	4	4	15
7	France	6	10	5	21
8	Netherlands*	6	9	4	19
9	Hungary	4	5	0	9
10	Canada	4	4	7	15
Totals (10 nations)		81	76	78	235

Poster

Official poster

The official poster for the Games was designed by Jos Rovers, and 10,000 copies were made.

The poster displays a running man in a white shirt, with in the background the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic flag.

The IOC never succeeded in obtaining the copyright of the image. Therefore, out of practical considerations, the IOC used a different poster, with the German text Olympische Spiele, and an athlete partly covered in the Dutch national flag, holding a peace leaf in his hand. The poster was made for a German book about the Amsterdam Olympics.^[17]

Last surviving competitor

The last living competitor of the 1928 Summer Olympics was Clara Marangoni, a member of the silver-medal winning Italian gymnastic team who had been 12 years old during the Olympics.

She died 18 January 2018, at the age of 102. She was also the oldest living Olympic medalist at the time of her death.^[18]

See also

• 1928 Winter Olympics

• Summer Olympic Games


• Olympic Games


• International Olympic Committee


• List of IOC country codes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1928 Summer Olympics.

• 
  "Amsterdam 1928". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.
  


• 
  "Results and Medalists — 1928 Summer Olympics". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.
  


• The Ninth Olympiad. Amsterdam 1928. Official Report


• "Louis S. Nixdorff Diary, 10 July – 15 August 1928"


• Memorabilia of the Ninth Olympiad 1928 Amsterdam