The olympic movement started to find it's real form and gain well earned respect around the world. So, thanks to this the IOC started searching for organisers also outside Europe.
Because of the worldwide economical downfall in the beginning of the 1930's Los Angeles was the only canditate to apply for the X olympiad summer olympic games and the games were granted to the Californian metropole
As the center of the olympic venues was chosen the Exhibition park located in the western part of the Los Angeles. In the park the organisers built the main stadium - Memorial Colisseum stadium, swimming stadium and the armory of 160th Army regiment was refurbished as venue for fencing competitions.
The coastal town of Long Beach was chosen as a venue for rowing and sailing. Pasadena had a velodrome hosting the cycling events. Olympic Auditorium in the city center of Los Angeles hosted the wrestling, boxing and weight lifting
International Olympic Commitee sent an invitation to all of it's member nations. The location of the host city caused some concerns as the distance might have been too long to travel. However, the invitation was approved by 37 countries, Colombia and China participated first time ever in the olympic games
The biggest teams came naturally from the hosts - USA had 474 athletes, Japan sent 157 and Germany 134 athletes. My home country Finland sent 40 athletes. The biggest scandal was caused by the participation of Paavo Nurmi who was chosen to the olympic marathon, but he was disqualified as the Swedish olympic commitee had found that Mr Nurmi had been competing in New York and got paid for this. He was found to be a professional athlete and so disqualified.
Despite all pre-games problems the vice president of USA Charles Curtis declared the games of tenth olympiad open at the Colisseum Memorial Stadium. Two weeks of olympic competitions were ahead
LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISSEUM STADIUM
The city of Los Angeles decided to build a multi purpose stadium suitable for larger sports events in 1920. A location was found in an unused racing track. The building was started immediately and the stadium was planned to be in a shape of a bowl and to accommodate 75.000 spectators.
When Los Angeles was given the 1932 olympic games, the stadium was decided to be expended to accommodate 105.000 spectators. A cauldron for oympic flame was erected in the southern end of the stadium where the beautiful archway was located. A score board to serve the spectators was erected below the olympic flame cauldron.
The building of stadium was finished in 1923
Colisseum stadium hosted the events of athletics, field hockey and gymnastics.and equestrian competitions. Also the American football and Lacrosse whch were the demonstration sports were competed here.
During my visit in the Olympic Stadium was set up for the local American Football team USC Trojans who is now the main user of the stadium. The Colisseum is also open daily in the midweek for guided tours where gentleman called Mr Colisseum takes interested guests around the historical site.
The present capacity of the Colisseum is 93.000 spectators and as mentioned it's main user is the USC Trojans football team. Stadium is also used in larger concerts and sports events. In May it was used for World Games for athletes with special needs.
Los Angeles has been chosen as a canditate for 2024 Summer Olympic Games. LA would be second city to be hosting Summer Olympic Games after London.
Memorial Colisseum was chosen as an US Historical Landmark in 2004.
LOS ANGELES SWIMMING STADIUM
Swimming was a growing olympic sport after the athletics and because of this also the number of spectators began to grow and there was an urgent need for a proper stadium for aquatic sports in the summer olympic games. 1932 organising commitee decided to build an aquatic stadium for 10.000 spectators next to the Colisseum.
The building of the swimming stadium was finished only few months of the opening ceremonies. The stadium had a temporary grandstand for 5.000 spectators and a permanent grandstand which is still the base for the present stadium.
The swimming stadium hosted swimming, water polo, diving events and the swimming of the modern pentathlon
After the 1932 games there were plans to demolish the swimming stadium as it was originally planned to be only a temporary venue. However the city of Los Angeles decided to take over the stadium and open it for public recreational pool. The diving tower was taken down and the temporary grandstand was demolished it was re-placed by children's training pool
In 2015 the old stadium's name is now LA84 Foundation John C. Argue Swim Stadium and it is still a public swimming pool. When I visited Los Angeles, I had a great pleasure to have a good swim in the old olympic pool. Same time there was children's swimming lessons going on.
From the original swimming stadium the original outside of the stadium, the original dressing rooms and the lower section of the grand stands were still left for the public to see the historical site. Outside of the stadium there are olympic rings to mark the Olympic Landmark from 1932 games
160th REGIMENT STATE ARMORY
Armory was built in 1912 to serve the US Army 160th Regiment on the 1st and 2nd World War. US Army gave the building for the organisers' use for free of charge. The great hall was transferred to the use of the fencing events of the games. The arena seated originally 1200 spectators but due to large demand of the tickets, an additional 600 chairs were added to the balcony of the hall.
The Armory was transferred back to the US Army after the games and in 1961 the building was transferred to the trustees of the board of California City Colleges. The building is present an annex for the California Science Center and serving as a Science Center School.
On my visit at the site, I was approached by local security officers challenging my intents while taking pictures of the building, but after short negotiations, I was able to visit shortly the old hall which served as the venue for the fencing competitions for the 1932 games
THE OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM
The auditorium was built in 1924 in the city centre of Los Angeles. The opening of the auditorium in 1925 was a major media event as it was attended by actor Rudolph Valentino and boxer Jack Dempsey. The auditorium was used as a minor sports venue but 1932 games organisers granted the wrestling, boxing and weight lifting to the auditorium
During the games, the auditorium was the biggest indoor sports arena with seats for 15.300 spectators.
After the games the auditorium was used for the biggest boxing, wrestling and roller skating events in 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. Hollywood got also interested in the venue as in 1976 the boxing scenes of movie Rocky were filmed in the olympic auditorium.
The auditorium was closed in 1985, but re-opened in 1990's for a concert venue and also to host some WWF wrestling matches.
In 2005 the venue was bought by the Korean-American Glory Church of Jesus Christ. The church still operates in the auditorium. I had a great pleasure to visit the great hall of the church by kind help of local preiest
LONG BEACH
The Olympic organisers faced a dilemma with the sports competed on water i.e. sailing and rowing as the city center of Los Angeles did not have any venues to organise these sports.
The city of Long Beach came to help and offered the port of Long Beach at the organisers use. A separate stadium of rowing was built and next to it the port of Long Beach was used as the base for the sailing boats.The port of Long Beach is still venue for leisure vessels
Next to the leisure harbor is located still the rowing venue and it's called Long Beach Marine Stadium. Surprisingly not very many local knew that this is actually an old olympic venue. A very kind local gentleman took me on a quick ride on his boat on the old rowing stadium so that I was able to see it from the athlete's point of view.
Unfortunately the Marine stadium is no longer in active. Local residents use it for private boating and yachting, but no longer for rowing purposes. The stadium was a canditate for the rowing and canoeing events for the 1984 summer olympic games, but it was not chosen
The games of the 10th olympiad in Los Angeles was a great success for organisers as well as for the International Olympic Commitee. Even that worldwide echonomical downfall was crushing everyone, the art of sport gave many people a good escape from sometimes very harsh reality. The organisers were told to have achieved a financial result of $ 1 million which that time was conciderably a huge sum of money
The most successfull team of the Olympics was the hosts USA with 41 gold medals. For some people surprising second most successful team was Italy with 12 gold medals and third best was France with 10 gold medals. Great Britain achieved 4 gold medals.
In the conference of International Olympic Commitee in Lausanne 1931, German capital Berlin was chosen to host the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. At the time of 1932 nobody knew yet what the history would bring to these games, but this time we don't think about it and concentrate to move my olympic adventure to a new country where I have never visited before - Germany
DID YOU KNOW
- The podium was used first time in the medal giving ceremonies as well the photo finish to decide the
winners
- In the team competition of the Equestrian were no medals given as none of the participating countries
was able to provide a full team to teh event
- 3000m steeplechase final became actually 3400 meters as the organisers mis-calculated the laps. The
winner was same on both final laps, but American competitor was able to pass the British runner on the
extra lap to get silver medal
- It would take 52 years until the Summer Olympic games would return back to USA when the
1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles again
.
LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISSEUM STADIUM
The city of Los Angeles decided to build a multi purpose stadium suitable for larger sports events in 1920. A location was found in an unused racing track. The building was started immediately and the stadium was planned to be in a shape of a bowl and to accommodate 75.000 spectators.
 | ||
| Memorial Colisseum under construction 1922 |
When Los Angeles was given the 1932 olympic games, the stadium was decided to be expended to accommodate 105.000 spectators. A cauldron for oympic flame was erected in the southern end of the stadium where the beautiful archway was located. A score board to serve the spectators was erected below the olympic flame cauldron.
The building of stadium was finished in 1923
 | |
| Memorial Colisseum during the opening ceremonies 1932 |
 |
| Olympic Square 1932 |
During my visit in the Olympic Stadium was set up for the local American Football team USC Trojans who is now the main user of the stadium. The Colisseum is also open daily in the midweek for guided tours where gentleman called Mr Colisseum takes interested guests around the historical site.
 | |
| Olympic Square 2015 |
 |
| Los Angeles Memorial Colisseum 2015 |
 |
| Marathon Gate |
 |
| Outside the main Grand Stand |
 |
| Close shot of the south end of the stadium |
The present capacity of the Colisseum is 93.000 spectators and as mentioned it's main user is the USC Trojans football team. Stadium is also used in larger concerts and sports events. In May it was used for World Games for athletes with special needs.
Los Angeles has been chosen as a canditate for 2024 Summer Olympic Games. LA would be second city to be hosting Summer Olympic Games after London.
Memorial Colisseum was chosen as an US Historical Landmark in 2004.
LOS ANGELES SWIMMING STADIUM
Swimming was a growing olympic sport after the athletics and because of this also the number of spectators began to grow and there was an urgent need for a proper stadium for aquatic sports in the summer olympic games. 1932 organising commitee decided to build an aquatic stadium for 10.000 spectators next to the Colisseum.
The building of the swimming stadium was finished only few months of the opening ceremonies. The stadium had a temporary grandstand for 5.000 spectators and a permanent grandstand which is still the base for the present stadium.
The swimming stadium hosted swimming, water polo, diving events and the swimming of the modern pentathlon
 |
| Temporary grandstands 1932 |
 | |
| Swimming Stadium 1932 |
In 2015 the old stadium's name is now LA84 Foundation John C. Argue Swim Stadium and it is still a public swimming pool. When I visited Los Angeles, I had a great pleasure to have a good swim in the old olympic pool. Same time there was children's swimming lessons going on.
From the original swimming stadium the original outside of the stadium, the original dressing rooms and the lower section of the grand stands were still left for the public to see the historical site. Outside of the stadium there are olympic rings to mark the Olympic Landmark from 1932 games
 |
| Olympic Swimming Stadium 2015 |
 |
| Swimming Stadium Facade 2015 |
 | |
| Olympic Rings in the wall of Swiming Stadium 2015 |
 |
| The remaining part of the original main grand stand |
160th REGIMENT STATE ARMORY
Armory was built in 1912 to serve the US Army 160th Regiment on the 1st and 2nd World War. US Army gave the building for the organisers' use for free of charge. The great hall was transferred to the use of the fencing events of the games. The arena seated originally 1200 spectators but due to large demand of the tickets, an additional 600 chairs were added to the balcony of the hall.
 | |
| 160th Regiment Armory 1932 |
 | |
| Inside Olympic Fencing Hall 1932 |
The Armory was transferred back to the US Army after the games and in 1961 the building was transferred to the trustees of the board of California City Colleges. The building is present an annex for the California Science Center and serving as a Science Center School.
On my visit at the site, I was approached by local security officers challenging my intents while taking pictures of the building, but after short negotiations, I was able to visit shortly the old hall which served as the venue for the fencing competitions for the 1932 games
 | ||
| Fencing Hall Outside 2015 |
 | |
| Fencing hall 2015 |
THE OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM
The auditorium was built in 1924 in the city centre of Los Angeles. The opening of the auditorium in 1925 was a major media event as it was attended by actor Rudolph Valentino and boxer Jack Dempsey. The auditorium was used as a minor sports venue but 1932 games organisers granted the wrestling, boxing and weight lifting to the auditorium
During the games, the auditorium was the biggest indoor sports arena with seats for 15.300 spectators.
 |
| Inside the auditorium dring boxing 1932 |
 | |
| Outside the auditorium 1932 |
After the games the auditorium was used for the biggest boxing, wrestling and roller skating events in 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. Hollywood got also interested in the venue as in 1976 the boxing scenes of movie Rocky were filmed in the olympic auditorium.
The auditorium was closed in 1985, but re-opened in 1990's for a concert venue and also to host some WWF wrestling matches.
In 2005 the venue was bought by the Korean-American Glory Church of Jesus Christ. The church still operates in the auditorium. I had a great pleasure to visit the great hall of the church by kind help of local preiest
 | |
| Olymic Auditorium 2015 |
 |
| Inside the Olympic Auditorium 2015 |
LONG BEACH
The Olympic organisers faced a dilemma with the sports competed on water i.e. sailing and rowing as the city center of Los Angeles did not have any venues to organise these sports.
The city of Long Beach came to help and offered the port of Long Beach at the organisers use. A separate stadium of rowing was built and next to it the port of Long Beach was used as the base for the sailing boats.The port of Long Beach is still venue for leisure vessels
 |
| Long Beach Sailing Venue 1932 |
 |
| Long Beach Sailing Venue 2015 |
Next to the leisure harbor is located still the rowing venue and it's called Long Beach Marine Stadium. Surprisingly not very many local knew that this is actually an old olympic venue. A very kind local gentleman took me on a quick ride on his boat on the old rowing stadium so that I was able to see it from the athlete's point of view.
 |
| Long Beach Marine Stadium 1932 |
 |
| Long Beach Marine Stadium 1932 |
 |
| Long Beach Marine Stadium 2015 |
Unfortunately the Marine stadium is no longer in active. Local residents use it for private boating and yachting, but no longer for rowing purposes. The stadium was a canditate for the rowing and canoeing events for the 1984 summer olympic games, but it was not chosen
The games of the 10th olympiad in Los Angeles was a great success for organisers as well as for the International Olympic Commitee. Even that worldwide echonomical downfall was crushing everyone, the art of sport gave many people a good escape from sometimes very harsh reality. The organisers were told to have achieved a financial result of $ 1 million which that time was conciderably a huge sum of money
The most successfull team of the Olympics was the hosts USA with 41 gold medals. For some people surprising second most successful team was Italy with 12 gold medals and third best was France with 10 gold medals. Great Britain achieved 4 gold medals.
In the conference of International Olympic Commitee in Lausanne 1931, German capital Berlin was chosen to host the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. At the time of 1932 nobody knew yet what the history would bring to these games, but this time we don't think about it and concentrate to move my olympic adventure to a new country where I have never visited before - Germany
 |
| Traditional Olympic Selfie in front of Los Angeles Memorial Colisseum |
DID YOU KNOW
- The podium was used first time in the medal giving ceremonies as well the photo finish to decide the
winners
- In the team competition of the Equestrian were no medals given as none of the participating countries
was able to provide a full team to teh event
- 3000m steeplechase final became actually 3400 meters as the organisers mis-calculated the laps. The
winner was same on both final laps, but American competitor was able to pass the British runner on the
extra lap to get silver medal
- It would take 52 years until the Summer Olympic games would return back to USA when the
1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles again
.
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