In the midst of the Great Depression, the city of Los Angeles was only able to attract half as many athletes as the 1928 Amsterdam Games. Those who came, however, stayed in style. The 1,206 men at the Games were housed in the Olympic Village -- Los Angeles was the first Olympics to have a single village. The women numbered 126 in Los Angeles, and they lodged in a luxury hotel. Los Angeles set a precedent for duration of the Olympics, as the 1932 Games were completed in 16 days. The shortest duration of the Games from 1900 to 1928 was 79 days. Since 1932, all of the Games have remained between 15 and 18 days.

Twenty-six Leaguers made the 16-day trip, which ended up being longer for John Anderson (Cornell ‘29). Anderson, also a tackle for Cornell on the gridiron, won the gold medal in the discus throw. Then Hollywood came calling. Anderson stayed in California to star in “Search for Beauty.”

Besides Anderson, three more Ivy tracksters won medals in Tinsel Town. Frederick Morgan Taylor (Dartmouth ‘25) won yet another medal (bronze) in the 400-meter hurdles, to accompany his gold from 1924 and bronze from 1928. Karl Warner (Yale ‘34) helped the United States 4x400-meter relay team win the gold with a world record-time of 3:08.2. The record would be broken 20 years later in Helsinki.

Also on that relay team was William A. Carr (Penn ‘33). Carr was coming off a gold medal performance in the 400-meter race, where he beat nemesis Ben Eastman of Stanford University. Carr’s 46.2 in the 400-meter race was not topped in Olympic competition until the 1952 Games -- just like the relay record. Tragically, Carr’s running career ended in March 1933 after an automobile accident. Carr’s 1932 Heptagonal Championships time of 46.28 in the 400-meters still ranks in fifth place all-time.

A wealth of fencers and field hockey players made the trip to Los Angeles. Hugh Alessandroni (Columbia ‘29) won a bronze medal with the United States foil team that also included Dernell Every (Yale ‘28) and Frank Righeimer (Yale ‘29). Righeimer also joined Tracy Jaeckel (Princeton ‘28) on the bronze medal epee team.

Two Quakers and three Tigers were on the 1932 United States men’s field hockey squad. The team won a bronze medal in a field of three, as the gold medal Indian team continued their dominance of men’s field hockey.

Albina Osipowich (Brown ‘33) became the first woman from the Ancient Eight to participate in the Olympics when she swam for the United States in 1928 -- winning two gold medals. Swimmer Helen Johns (Brown ’36) followed up this performance, as a part of the 1932 United States gold medal team in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.