This historic, silent film shows highlights of the 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, held in Lake Placid, New York. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It was the first of four Winter Olympics held in the United States; Lake Placid hosted again in 1980.

The games were awarded to Lake Placid in part by the efforts of Godfrey Dewey, head of the Lake Placid Club and son of Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. California also had a bid for the 1932 Winter Games. William May Garland, president of the California X Olympiad Association, wanted the games to take place in Wrightwood and Big Pines, California. The world’s largest ski jump at the time was constructed in Big Pines for the event, but the games were ultimately awarded to Lake Placid.

The film opens with shots of Lake Placid (:25) before showing then-Governor Roosevelt opening the games at (1:02) and the march of athletes from 17 nations. At (2:15) there is an aerial shot of the Olympic Arena hockey venue. Canada won the Gold and was undefeated in this sport. At (4:06) the 10,000 meter speed skating race is shown, won by American Irving Jaffee in under 20 minutes. The film also shows Kit Klein winning the 1500 meter women’s race in 3 minutes, six seconds (6:14). At (7:00) the women’s figure skating event is shown. Quite a bit different than the modern event that’s for sure!

At 8:44 a sled dog race is shown. At 10:41 the intimidating ski jump, won by Birger Ruud of Norway with a distance of 218 feet. The 2-man bob sled is seen at 12:44. This event was won by the Stevens Brothers of the USA with a time of just under 4 minutes, 20 seconds.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com