Relative success : Ireland sent only three athletes but went away with two golds in the 400m hurdles and hammer.

Nurmi ousted : Paavo Nurmi was found guilty of professionalism by the International Federation the day before the opening ceremony. Nurmi was accused of having taken a percentage of the receipts from the stadium where he appeared.

Suspension : Jules Ladoumegue was suspended for several months by the French Athletics Federation for the same reason.

Pure athlete : The star of the Games was the American with Norwegian origins, Mildred "Babe" Didrikson, a former basketball player. She won two golds and a silver in the three athletics events in which she competed. Later Babe was to play in a men's basketball team before turning to golf where she became one of the world's top players.

Podium : For the first time athletes received their medals on a podium.

Accomodation : The olympic village consisted of 700 small prefabricated houses - the first real village of its type and supervised by cowboys.

Diplomacy : In the parade the English delegation was placed between the French and the Germans to prevent the occurence of incidents which might spark a diplomatic row.

Technology : Electronic timing and photo finishes were used for the first time.

Eastern promise : Japanese swimmers in the pool cleared the board, scooping five of the six individual titles.

Local winner : In the 400m freestyle, victory went to local boy Buster Crabbe, who was to later take over from Johnny Weismuller in the role of Tarzan on the big screen.

Capped : In order to limit domination by any one country, the IOC decided to limit the number of each country's competitors to three in any one event.

Stadium : The Memorial Coliseum, modelled on the Coliseum in Rome, was built over a period of three years following its design in 1920. Originally holding 75,000 spectators, it was given a third tier especially for the Gamers, bringing capacity up to 105,000.

Showbiz : During the opening ceremony Gary Cooper, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were spotted in the crowd.

New identity - twice : Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish-born American athlete running in the women's 100m, was to undergo a brutal change just before competing in the 1932 Olympics. Growing up in the United States known as Stella Walsh, her job at the New York Central Railroad was obsolete - forcing her to consider taking up a job offer with the Cleveland Recreation department. But this would have made her ineligible for the Games. With no support from the American authorities, Stella took a vital life decision. Twenty-four hours before she was due to take out US naturalisation papers, she accepted a job offer from the Polish consulate in New York and decided to compete for Poland. Competing as Stanislawa, she went on to win a gold in the 100m final.

Mr Javelin : Matti Jarvinen, who won the gold medal in the men's javelin event, was the youngest son of Finland's first gold medal winner, Verner Jarvinen. Matti's first five throws were the best of the competition - all bettering the previous olympic record. The confident Jarvinen did not even bother to take his tracksuit trousers off until the contest was over - but only to pose for photographs. Between 1930 and 1936, Jarvinen broke the javelin world record ten times.

Special arrangements : Because the Games in 1932 were held in an era of prohibition, no alcohol was allowed. However, a cultural defence by the French and Italian teams, who stated that they needed wine as part of their training diet, was accepted by the American authorities. In the end, the French imported several thousand bottles of wine into the Unites States. Yet, one of the French competitors gave officials food for thought when, during the discus event, he was seen slippingf away to the tunnel on several occasions - to drink some French champagne with his compatriots!

Adaptability : Chuhei Nambu, Japan's world record holder in the long jump, fell victim to a leg injury and could do no better than third in his event. No stranger to the rigours of sport, however, the adaptable Nambu went one better than third two days later and took a gold medal after deciding to compete in the triple jump.

Determination : Canadian pole vaulter Duncan McNaughton, a student at the University of Southern California, was rejected by the Canadian Olympic selection committee for a place in the team for Los Angeles. Unwilling to give up his dream of competing, especially against his university friend and United States pole vault competitor, Bob Van Osdel, McNaughton simply waited until the Canadian team arrived in Los Angeles. Once there, he pestered them into letting him compete. He went on to win the gold medal, ironically, with friend Osdel, who had jelped develop his technique, coming second.

Official blunder : An offer to re-run the final of the 3000m steeplechase because of an official blunder was declined by the USA's Joseph McCluskey, who eventually came in third behind Finland's Volmari Iso-Hollo. The 25-year-old Finnish typesetter crossed the line with a 40-yard lead, discovering that the official who was supposed to change the lap counter and provide the finishing tape had forgotten his duty. Iso-Hollo continued for another lap and won by 75 yards. But McCluskey, who was in second place at the official end of the race, eventually came in third behind Britain's Thomas Evenson, who had passed him on the final and extra lap.

Incident : Ralph Hill of the United States was given an unwelcome introduction to 5000m protocol when, during the final in Los Angeles, he was impeded by the Finnish favourites Lauri Lehtinen. After moving up to second place behind Lehtinen, Hill made a move 50 yards from the finish. However, his Finnish adversary moved out tp the third lane, blocking his path. Hill broke his stride, tried again in lane number one, but to no avail - Lehtinen moved in front again. This went on until Hill was finally beaten, albeit unsportingly, at the tape by a few inches. The crowd showed their disgust following the race with a loud chorus of boos.