Olympia, Three Volume Set: Olympia, 1932: Herausgegeben Von Den Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken Altona-Bahrenfeld; Olympia, 1936: Band I: Die Olympischen Winterspiele Vorschau Auf Berlin; Olympia, 1936: Band II: Die XI. Olympischen Spiele In Berlin 1936 [GER…

Three volume set. German text. Colorized and black-and-white photographs mounted throughout. A history of the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games, athletic festival held in Los Angeles that took place July 30–Aug. 14, 1932. The Los Angeles Games were the ninth occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. Only about 1,300 athletes, representing 37 countries, competed in the 1932 Games. The poor participation was the result of the worldwide economic depression and the expense of traveling to California. The Los Angeles Games featured the first Olympic Village, which was located in Baldwin Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, and covered 321 acres (130 hectares). The male athletes were housed in more than 500 bungalows and had access to a hospital, a library, a post office, and 40 kitchens serving a variety of cuisines. The female athletes stayed at a downtown hotel. The Los Angeles Coliseum was expanded to seat more than 100,000 people, and a new track was installed. Made of crushed peat, the new surface was exceptionally fast, resulting in 10 world records in the running events. Uniform automatic timing and the photo-finish camera were used for the first time at the 1932 Games.The star of the Games was American Babe Didrikson (later Zaharias). She had won five events at the U.S. Olympic trials, but Olympic rules allowed women to compete in no more than three. Didrikson competed in the 80-metre hurdles, javelin, and high jump, winning two gold medals and a silver. The U.S. team returned to its dominance of the track-and-field events, winning 11 gold medals. American Eddie Tolan won the 100- and 200-metre runs. The first race-walking event was held at the Los Angeles Games. See also Sidebar: Stanislawa Walasiewicz: The Curious Story of Stella Walsh. The Japanese swim team, composed almost entirely of teenagers, won five of the six men's events. Kitamura Kusuo, who won the gold medal in the 1,500-metre freestyle at age 14, became the youngest male swimmer ever to win an Olympic event. American women dominated in swimming, taking four of the five gold medals; Helene Madison won gold medals in the 100- and 400-metre freestyle races and earned a third gold as part of the U.S. relay team.--Britannica. Berlin 1936 Olympic Games, athletic festival held in Berlin that took place August 1–16, 1936. The Berlin Games were the 10th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. The 1936 Olympics were held in a tense, politically charged atmosphere. The Nazi Party had risen to power in 1933, two years after Berlin was awarded the Games, and its racist policies led to international debate about a boycott of the Games. Fearing a mass boycott, the International Olympic Committee pressured the German government and received assurances that qualified Jewish athletes would be part of the German team and that the Games would not be used to promote Nazi ideology. Adolf Hitler's government, however, routinely failed to deliver on such promises. Only one athlete of Jewish descent was a member of the German team (see Sidebar: Helene Mayer: Fencing for the Führer); pamphlets and speeches about the natural superiority of the Aryan race were commonplace; and the Reich Sports Field, a newly constructed sports complex that covered 325 acres (131.5 hectares) and included four stadiums, was draped in Nazi banners and symbols. Nonetheless, the attraction of a spirited sports competition was too great, and in the end 49 countries chose to attend the Olympic Games in Berlin. The Berlin Olympics also featured advancements in media coverage. It was the first Olympic competition to use telex transmissions of results, and zeppelins were used to quickly transport newsreel footage to other European cities. The Games were televised for the first time, transmitted by closed circuit to specially equipped theatres in Berlin. The 1936 Games also introduced the torch relay by which the Olympic flame is transported from Greece.Nearly 4,000 athletes competed in 129 events. The track-and-field competition starred American Jesse Owens, who won three individual gold medals and a fourth as a member of the triumphant U.S. 4 × 100-metre relay team. Altogether Owens and his teammates won 12 men's track-and-field gold medals; the success of Owens and the other African American athletes, referred to as “black auxiliaries” by the Nazi press, was considered a particular blow to Hitler's Aryan ideals. See also Sidebar: Sohn Kee-chung: The Defiant One. However, the Germans did win the most medals overall, dominating the gymnastics, rowing, and equestrian events. Hendrika (“Rie”) Mastenbroek of the Netherlands won three gold medals and a silver in the swimming competition. Basketball, an Olympic event for the first time in 1936, was won by the U.S. team. Canoeing also debuted as an Olympic sport.--Britannica