USA Los Angeles
X Summer International Olympic Games

It was American Los Angeles that had forwarded its bid for the right to host the 1932 Summer Olympics. And of course, it had been accepted.
Athletes of 37 nations (according to other sources – of 41 nations) competed at the Los Angeles Olympics. These 1876 athletes included 1678 men and 198 women. They had played for 117 sets of medals in 17 sports, but to be on the safe side the organizers had stricken 120 medals of different values for each sport.
What were the innovations of the X Olympiad? The winners for the first time used a victory podium. For the first time the first prize winners were hailed with their national anthems played and national flags raised.
For the first time the Olympic Village was built for the athletes. However this innovation featured a sort of gender discrimination – only male athletes were entitled to occupy the Olympic Village while female athletes had to stay at an especially reserved hotel.
The Games of the X Olympiad were opened on July 30, 1931 at the Olympic Stadium known as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that accommodated 105,000 spectators. And for the fist time one of the Olympic traditions had been broken – the USA president ignored the Opening Ceremony but sent Vice President Charles Curtis instead. The Athlete’s Oath was voiced by George Calnan, the US fencer.
The design of the Olympic medals was a replica of the medals stricken for the preceding Games. The only difference was in the name of the host city and date of the Games.
OBVERSE: a figure of the Greek Goddess of Victory, holding a laurel wreath in her right hand, hand raised, and a palm leaf in her left hand. On the left of the goddess, there is a Panathenaean amphora standing on a shelf rock, with depicted competing athletes. A view of an amphitheatre looking like the Roman Coliseum appears on the right of the goddess. A horizontal four-line inscription in English reading “X – Olympiad – Los Angeles – 1932” is engraved in the right upper segment.
REVERSE: a scene of an Olympic champion with a palm leaf in his left hand carried in triumph by other athletes; his right hand is raised to hail. The designer’s initials “G. C.” (Giuseppe Cassioli) are engraved at the right edge of the medal next to an athlete figure.
The commemorative medal was designed by Julio Kilenyi of New York. The obverse depicts a standing athlete carrying unfurled banner of the Olympiad, with the letters “X Olympiad, 1932”.
It is worth telling about the design of the commemorative medal in detail. Apparently, puritan America could not allow depicting nude figures, moreover, on the obverse side.
OBVERSE: a figure of an athlete, hair cut with careful parting, wearing the trunks and vest, and sport footgear. The figure is carrying the banner of the Olympics with the three-line inscription in English “X-Olympics-1931”.
REVERSE: two seated female figures representing Los Angeles and California, the home state of the city. The figures are holding the USA coat of arms. The left female figure is holding an olive branch, and the right one – a shield bearing the seals of the State of California and of the City of Los Angeles. There is a poppy branch on the left of the left figure.
A half-round legend in English over the composition reads “Los Angeles California”. The designer’s signature “Kilenyi” is engraved in English underneath.

GOLD WINNER MEDAL (FIRST PRIZE)

Metal	silver-gilt
Diameter	55 mm
Thickness	4,1 mm
Weight	67.9 g
Mint	Whiteben-Hoag Newark N. J. USA

SILVER WINNER MEDAL (SECOND PRIZE)

Metal	silver
Diameter	55 mm
Thickness	4,1 mm
Weight	68,5 g
Mint	Whiteben-Hoag Newark N. J. USA

BRONZE WINNER MEDAL (THIRD PRIZE) 

Metal	bronze
Diameter	55 mm
Thickness	4 mm
Weight	67 g
Mint	Whiteben-Hoag Newark N. J. USA

BRONZE COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL

Metal	bronze
Diameter	69 mm
Thickness	6 mm
Weight	147 g
Designer	Julio Kilenyi
Mint	Whiteben-Hoag Newark N. J. USA