Olympic Games of 1928 (Summer)

The Event: International athletic competition

Also known as: Games of the IX Olympiad

Date: May 17–August 12, 1928

Place: Amsterdam, Netherlands

The 1928 Summer Games at Amsterdam were the first to incorporate the lighting of the Olympic flame into the opening ceremonies. Representatives from Greece led the parade of nations, while the host country entered the stadium last. These Games witnessed an expanded program of events for women and were also the only Summer Games held in a country other than the one hosting that year’s Winter Games until 1948, when St. Moritz, Switzerland, hosted the Winter Games and London, England, hosted the Summer Games. The 1928 Summer Games were also noteworthy for their broad range of medal-winning nationalities: Athletes from twenty-eight countries were awarded gold medals, while five other countries captured at least one silver or bronze medal.

Amsterdam had sought to host the 1920 and 1924 Games, but the cities of Antwerp and Paris were chosen first. After competing with Los Angeles for the next opportunity to host, Amsterdam’s selection as host city was announced in 1923 by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), after which the Netherlands Olympic Committee set about the task of preparing for the Games. Of the sixty-two countries invited, forty-six accepted and sent 2,883 athletes, of whom almost 10 percent were female. Germany was invited to return to the Games for the first time since having been banned from Olympic competition in 1920. Concurrent with the Games were art competitions, sports congresses, and reports on physiological research, including the first gathering of a sports medicine group.

The Games

Dutch nobleman Prince Hendrik, representing Queen Wilhelmina, officially opened the 1928 Summer Olympics. Dutch athlete Henri Denis took the Olympic Oath. The Amsterdam Olympics were the first Summer Games to initiate symbolic practices that became rituals performed at all later Olympic Games. These included the lighting of the Olympic flame at the Olympic stadium, the selection of Greece as the first country in the parade of nations, with the host country as the final entrant into the stadium, and a public releasing of doves. It was in the marketing for the 1928 Summer Olympics that posters first displayed the Olympic design of five interlocking rings. These Games were also the first to be officially designated the “Summer” Olympics, as well as the first to be conducted in a separate country from the same year’s Winter Games.

The 1928 Summer Games consisted of 109 competitions in sixteen sports, plus three demonstration sports. Early competition in football and field hockey occurred in May and June, with the majority of the competition taking place over the final two to three weeks of the Games. Women’s events were extended to include track-and-field competitions and gymnastics, despite the various objections of de Coubertin and the Vatican.

Notable Performances

Official attendance at the Games’ events amounted to 251,747 spectators, over half of whom were believed to have come for the football (soccer) competition alone. Swiss gymnasts Georges Miez and Hermann Hänggi each won four medals, totaling five gold medals between them. Paavo Nurmi of Finland won the last of his nine gold medals in the 10,000-meter race, along with two silver medals. India initiated a streak of six consecutive Olympic gold medal performances in field hockey by winning its initial gold medal at the 1928 Summer Games. American swimmer and future film star Johnny Weissmuller won gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle swim and the 4 × 200-meter relay events. Then a major general, Douglas MacArthur served as president of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) during these Games and led the American team presence. In all, athletes from five continents won gold medals, and the Games featured eleven multiple gold medal winners, led by Swiss gymnast George Miez, who received three.

The 1928 Summer Games also featured the first expanded Olympic program for women, offering competition in gymnastics and five track-and-field events. However, German runner Lina Radke’s visible exhaustion after winning the 800-meter race contributed to the future limiting of women’s Olympic races to distances of 200 meters or less until 1960.

Summary of Competition

The United States won fifty-six total medals, including twenty-two gold medals, easily outdistancing Germany’s thirty-one medals and ten gold medals. Finland and Sweden each totaled twenty-five medals. The Dutch won nineteen medals, six of which were gold. In men’s athletics, British and Canadian competitors tended to dominate the short distances, while the Finns performed better in longer races. Americans were strongest in relays and field events. American and Canadian women took eight of the fifteen track-and-field medals. Italian and Argentine athletes excelled at boxing, while the Danes and Dutch took cycling honors. American divers received gold medals in the four diving events, winning nine of the twelve overall medals. French and Italian athletes won almost half of the fencing medals. Swiss male gymnasts won gold medals in five of their sport’s seven events, while the Dutch women’s gymnastics team won a gold medal in their discipline.

Uruguay received a gold medal in football, defeating Argentina in a second game after the first had ended in a tie. Due to the rising popularity of Olympic competition in this sport and conflicts between the international football group Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Olympic concept of amateurism, FIFA formed its own World Cup tournament for 1930. That event was hosted by Uruguay, who defeated Argentina again. With football removed from the program of events at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Olympic football became secondary to the World Cup in the eyes of FIFA fans.

India won a gold medal in field hockey without allowing any of its competitors to score a goal, while northern European countries completely dominated the sailing competition. American swimmers, both men and women, won eleven of the thirty-three total medals in their events, including six gold medals. Finnish and Swedish athletes were preeminent in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Impact

The Summer Games of 1928 further reinforced the universal appeal of the Games with their record attendance, new traditions in the opening ceremonies, and expanded women’s competitions. Outstanding individual and team performances ushered in an era of Olympic fame after the IOC presidency of de Coubertin. As the Games welcomed Germany’s return, political issues that would embroil the Games in subsequent years were minimized, likely due to the year’s overall prosperity and efforts to communicate international goodwill. The Amsterdam Games provided a financial model that future host countries would study as they prepared for the Games. The Coca-Cola Company, a frequent Olympic sponsor, was first involved in the financing of the Olympic Games at the 1928 Summer Games.

Bibliography

Guttman, Allen. The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games. 2d ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002. A chronologically organized study of the Olympic Games’ political and social significance, written for an undergraduate audience.

Johnson, William Oscar. The Olympics: A History of the Games. New York: Bishop Books, 1996. Provides an overview of the Games, including statistics, surrounding issues, and impact.

The Olympic Games: Athens 1896–Athens 2004. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2004. Provides a visual history of the modern Olympic Games, discussing background information and a chronology of events and medalists.

Van Rossem, G., ed. The Ninth Olympiad: Being the Official Report of the Olympic Games of 1928 Celebrated at Amsterdam. Amsterdam: J.H. de Bussy, 1928. Provides the official details of the preliminary organizing efforts, conduct, and administration of the 1928 Summer Games.

Wels, Susan. The Olympic Spirit: One Hundred Years of the Games. San Francisco: Collins, 1996. Offers a general overview of the Games, including a summary of the 1928 Summer Games.