Water Polo at the Olympic Games: Los Angeles 1932

World War I was the first tragic event to negatively affect the Olympic Games, for the 1916 edition, supposed to be staged in Berlin, was not held. However, just one year after Amsterdam 1928, a second, dramatic accident had consequences on the Olympics – the Great Depression that broke out in 1929. Consequently, many nations could not afford the expenses for travelling and this phenomenon mainly involved the European countries, since the 1932 edition of the Olympics would be hosted by Los Angeles, the only one city to make a bid.

by Simone PierottiFor the first time in 28 years, the Games were staged on American soil. The United States were the second country to have their head of state not attending the event, after Queen Wilhelmina did not officiate the Olympics in Amsterdam. Something similar had also happened in 1904 under the presidence of Theodore Roosevelt, as the Mayor of Saint Louis David R. Francis refused to support that edition of the Olympics. Similarly, Herbert Hoover did not show up himself in Los Angeles, which hosted half the number of the participants at Amsterdam four years before.

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