1928 Summer Olympics - Definition and Overview

The Games of the IX Olympiad were held in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had made a bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, but had to give way to war-victim Belgium and De Coubertin's Paris before finally being awarded with the organisation.

Highlights

• For the first time, the Olympic Flame was lit during the Olympics. The torch relay was however not started 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 still continued until this day.
• Women's athletics and gymnastics debuted at these Olympic, in spite of criticism. Halina Konopacka of Poland became the first female Olympic track and field champion. The 800 m ended in several of the competitors being completely exhausted. Because of this, running events longer than 200 m were not included in the Olympics until the 1960s.
• Johnny Weissmuller, later also actor in several Tarzan movies, won three gold medals in swimming.
• Paavo Nurmi of Finland won his 9th gold medal by finishing first in the 10000 m.
• Canada's Percy Williams surprised everyone 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.

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Medal count

Top medal-collecting nations:
(for the full table, see 1928 Summer Olympics medal count)

1928 Summer Olympics medal count
Pos	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States of America	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

References

See also

• International Olympic Committee
• WikiProject Sports Olympics
• IOC country codes

External links

• IOC Site on 1928 Summer Olympics (http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1928)

Bibliography