1932 Los Angeles Summer Games
1,408 Athletes, 37 Countries, 117 Events
In the midst of the Great Depression, the city of Los Angeles was
only able to attract half as many athletes as the 1928 Amsterdam
Games. Those who came, however, stayed in style. The 1,206 men at
the Games were housed in the Olympic Village Los Angeles - the
first Olympics to have a single village. The women numbered 126 in
Los Angeles, and they lodged in a luxury hotel. Los Angeles set a
precedent for duration of the Olympics, as the 1932 Games were
completed in 16 days. The shortest duration of the Games from 1900
to 1928 was 79 days. Since 1932, all of the Games have remained
between 15 and 18 days.
Twenty-six Leaguers made the 16-day trip, which ended up being
longer for John Anderson (Cornell '29). Anderson,
also a tackle for Cornell on the gridiron, won the gold medal in
the discus throw. Then Hollywood came calling. Anderson stayed in
California to star in 'Search for Beauty.'
Besides Anderson, three more Ivy tracksters won medals in Tinsel
Town. Frederick Morgan Taylor (Dartmouth '25) won
yet another medal (bronze) in the 400-meter hurdles, to accompany
his gold from 1924 and bronze from 1928. Karl
Warner (Yale '34) helped the United States 4x400meter
relay team win the gold with a world recordtime of 3:08.2. The
record was broken 20 years later in Helsinki.
Also on that relay team was William A. Carr
(Penn '33). Carr was coming off a gold medal performance in the
400-meter race, where he beat nemesis Ben Eastman
of Stanford University. Carr's 46.2 in the 400-meter race was not
topped in Olympic competition until the 1952 Games just like the
relay record. Tragically, Carr's running career ended in March 1933
after an automobile accident. Carr's 1932 Heptagonal Championships
time of 46.28 in the 400-meters still ranks fifth all-time.
A wealth of fencers and field hockey players made the trip to
Los Angeles. Hugh Alessandroni (Columbia '29) won
a bronze medal with the United States foil team that also included
Dernell Every (Yale '28) and Frank
Righeimer (Yale '29). Righeimer also joined Tracy
Jaeckel (Princeton '28) on the bronze medal epee team.
Two Quakers and three Tigers were on the 1932 United States
men's field hockey squad. The team won a bronze medal in a field of
three, as the gold medal Indian team continued their dominance of
men's field hockey.
Albina Osipowich (Brown '33) became the first
woman from the Ancient Eight to participate in the Olympics when
she swam for the United States in 1928 winning two gold medals.
Swimmer Helen Johns (Brown '36) followed up this
performance, as a part of the 1932 United States gold medal team in
the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
| Name |
School |
Sport |
| Helen Johns |
Brown University |
Women's Swimming |
| Hugh Alessandroni |
Columbia University |
Men's Fencing |
| Norman Armitage |
Columbia University |
Men's Fencing |
| John Anderson |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Cristobal M. Martinez-Zorrilla |
Cornell University |
Men's Fencing |
| Malcolm W. Metcalf |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| Frederick Morgan Taylor |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| N. Penrose Hallowell, Jr. |
Harvard University |
Men's Athletics |
| William A. Carr |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Daniel E. Dean |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| James C. Gentle |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Field Hockey |
| Wilson T. Hobson, Jr. |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Field Hockey |
| Grant McDougal |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| Charles M. Sheaffer, Jr. |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Field Hockey |
| Harold A.R. Van Buskirk |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Fencing |
| Horace C. Disston |
Princeton University |
Men's Field Hockey |
| Samuel E. Ewing |
Princeton University |
Men's Field Hockey |
| Warren Ingersoll |
Princeton University |
Men's Field Hockey |
| Tracy Jaeckel |
Princeton University |
Men's Fencing |
| David McMullin, III |
Princeton University |
Men's Field Hockey |
| E.J. Moles |
Princeton University |
Men's Swimming |
| Frank Connor |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |
| Dernell Every |
Yale University |
Men's Fencing |
| John Huffman |
Yale University |
Men's Fencing |
| Frank Righeimer |
Yale University |
Men's Fencing |
| Karl Warner |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |