Citius Altius Fortius OFFICIAL REPORT III Olympic Winter Games LAKE PLACID 1932 Issued by III Olympic Winter Games Committee LAKE PLACID, N Y, U S A Compiled by GEORGE M LATTIMER Copyright 1932 III Olympic Winter Games Committee PRINTED IN U S A Contents PAGE Foreword ................................................. 7 Official congratulations.......................................... 8, 9 List of officers and committees...............................11-16 Olympic regulations and protocol and general rules...............23-34 Brief history of Olympic Winter Games.......................35, 36 History of winter sports at Lake Placid........................37-42 How III Olympic Winter Games were awarded to Lake Placid........43-52 Organization following award of Games to Lake Placid............53-72 General organization...................................... 73-78 Finance............................................... 79-92 Publicity ..............................................93-108 Local Arrangements Housing .......................................103-115 Transportation.........................................115 Health and safety................................... 115, 116 Special sections Office lay-out .......................................... 117 Entry forms .......................................117-122 Tickets.......................................... 122-123 Attendance.........................................123, 125 Diplomas, medals, and badges.........................126, 127 International secretary...............................128 Souvenir book.......................................129 Concessions ...........................................130 Ushers and information.................................130 Feeding..............................................131 Music...............................................131 Decorations ....................................... 131, 132 Medical attention.......................................132 Social affairs. ...................................132, 137-139 Olympic facilities Summary of seating capacities.........................141 3 PAGE Intervales ski-hill...................................141-144 Ski trails. ......................................... 145, 146 Stadium ......................................... 147-150 Arena ..........................................150-157 Bob-run .........................................157-166 Olympic Winter Games Opening day. ...............................167, 168, 173-180 Official competitions Skiing......................................181-203 Speed-skating..................................204-212 Figure-skating................................. 213-223 Hockey .....................................224-239 Bobsleigh ..................................240-249 Demonstrations Sled-dog racing. ................................ 250-254 Curling.....................................255-258 Womens speed-skating. ..........................258-262 Closing ceremony. ...................................... 263 Point scoring. ...................................... 264, 265 Tables of honor Chamonix ........................................266 St Moritz ......................................... 267 Lake Placid ........................................268 Lake Placid demonstrations. ..........................269 Table of participation. ................................... 270 III Olympic Winter Games program. .................... 272, 273 Alphabetic list of entries. ..................................274-276 Xth Olympiad Summer Games. ............................ 277, 278 Conclusion ...............................................279 Index ................................................ 281-287 List of illustrations.......................................288-290 4 —G Cleveland Jack Shea of Lake Placid, subseqent winner of the 500 and 1500-meter speed-scating races, takes Olympic oath for American team on opening day of Games A Word of Explanation This book, Official Report of the III Olympic Winter Games, is -intended to serve a dual purpose. It tells the complete story of the Lake Placid Games and the plans for staging them, and it gives a detailed history of the development of the winter-sports movement in Lake Placid, the pioneer winter resort of the North American continent. These two motifs underlying the plan of the book are closely inter- twined. The Games could never have been awarded to Lake Placid if it had not been for the international standing that this resort had at- tained as a winter-sports center. So the history of the Games in reality goes back to that day, over a quarter of a century ago, when organized enjoyment of the sports of snow and ice and cold began where the highest peaks of the Adirondack mountains cast their shadows on the village by the two lakes. Progress, was steady from that day to the morning of February 4, 1932, when Winters sons and daughters from 17 nations of the earth paraded past the reviewing stand in the stadium at Lake Placid in the impressive opening ceremonies of the III Olympic Winter Games. The Lake Placid Games have given a tremendous impetus to winter sports in the United States. Other communities are finding that snow and ice are among their greatest assets for sport and recreation. It is hoped that this book will help these same communities to develop their organized enjoyment of winter still further. For this reason facts and figures of Lake Placids experience and the story of this experience are given in great detail. May they prove helpful. For much that the Organizing Committee did there was no pattern. If it can leave one for others it will be glad. All those concerned with the plans for the celebration of the III Olympic Winter Games feel only the utmost confidence that the Winter Games of the quadrennial Olympiad are destined to reach greater heights and more enduring fame with the passing years. This book attempts to tell the story of the part that Lake Placid played in making this achievement predictable and possible. III Olympic Winter Games Committee Lake Placid, N Y June 1, 1932 7 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, Honorary President of the Olympic Games I congratulate you and your co-workers most sincerely on the success of these Winter Games of the Xth Olympiad. 8 Statement by Count de Baillet-Latour Washington, D C March 11, 1932 Dear Dr Dewey Before leaving America I wish to congratu- late you on the success of the III Olympic Winter Games. Altho weather conditions and the extraordinary economic situation ren- dered your task extremely difficult, 17 nations represented by 364 athletes took part in the Gamesa showing that reflects only the highest credit upon the countries represented on the International Olympic Committee and your own Organizing Committee. I feel that I may say, and speak conserva- tively when I say it, that European nations that participated in the III Olympic Winter Games were more than pleased at the plans made for staging the Games in Lake Placid, facilities for the conduct of the sports, and other arrangements such as housing, feeding, and transportation that made the stay of your international visitors one that they will long remember. The Games themselves brought out the Count de Baillet-Latour, President, International most spirited competition in all the events on Olympic Committee the Olympic program. This made the Games that much more enjoyable for both spectators I feel certain that you would not be satis- and participants. All who attended took home fied if the success of the competitions should with them, I am sure, a better idea than they be the only reward for the work you and your ever had before of just what international competent staff did in staging the III Olympic sports competition means in its highest sense. Winter Games of 1932. You were working Beyond a doubt the athletes taking part went for an idealto increase the love for winter Back to their native lands imbued with the sports in the United States with the view of same idea. augmenting the ranks of, the Olympic family The thanks of the International Olympic and of making Lake Placid the best-equipt Committee are due the community of Lake resort for these sports. You have reacht these Placid for taking on in the III Olympic Win- two goals. ter Games of 1932 a greater burden in pro- portion to its size than any community ever Very sincerely yours, assumed in staging Olympic contests. You know how I feel about the exceptional man- ner in which this obligation was discharged. It is something that Lake Placid and the Lake Placid Olympic organization can always look back on with pride, as a great task master- President of the fully handled. International Olympic Committee 9 10 —Ranger L Moore Ready for the Games. A general view of the stadium in the heart of the principal Adirondack mountain range just south of Lake Placid List of Officers and Committees International Olympic Committee Founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin Honorary President of the Olympic Games Headquarters Lausanne, Switzerland President Count de Baillet-Latour Members Argentine Republic Esthonia His Excellency M de Alvear, Former President His Excellency Dr F Akel, Minister of Esthonia of the Argentine Republic, Paris in Stockholm R C Aldao, Buenos Aires Finland Australia Ernst Krogius, Helsingfors R Coombes, Sydney France James Taylor, Sydney Albert Glandaz, Paris Marquis de Polignac, Rheims and Paris Austria Count Clary, Paris Dr Theodore Schmidt, Vienna Germany Belgium His Excellency Secretary of State Dr Theodore Count de Baillet-Latour,