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Sports and participation
As opposed to the 1904 Saint Louis Games that had been organized in the American continent, the Los Angeles Games had not been connected with any world's fair or other non-sports event. The strict and careful planning of the competition programme resulted in the organization being condensed to 16 days. That duration had constituted a guideline for the planning of the Olympic Games in the following decades.
The Games, the beginning of which was declared by the vice president of the USA Charles Curtis in the presence of 105,000 spectators, began on 30 July and were concluded on 14 August 1932. Originally 52 states had entered the Games, but eventually the participants were 1131 men and 127 women athletes coming from 37 states. The absence of the rest had been attributed to the long distance and the high travelling cost, which had been the case, to an even greater extent, at the Games of 1904. On the one hand, the above fact had contributed to the improvement of the quality of the Games, since most of the countries sent only those athletes who were most likely to get a distinction. On the other hand, though, it had attenuated the significance of participation, which was the essence of Olympism.
Nevertheless, the presence of athletes with high performances to their credit and the excellent condition of the sports venues created the conditions for strong competition, which in its turn brought about the achievement of remarkable world performances for those times. The American athletes excelled in most sports, while many European athletes accomplished remarkable performances in the track and field events. Another outstanding presence was that of the Japanese in swimming.
15 sports and 126 events were carried out in the Los Angeles Games. It was the first time that the 80m hurdles and the javelin throw were included in the programme of women's track and field events. The winning athlete in the above events was the American Mildred Didrikson, one of the leading figures of the Games.
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