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Birger Ruud helps
Norway win gold,
silver and bronze in
ski jumping.
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The Olympic Games came to the United States for
the first time in 1932. The Games at Lake Placid
included the debut of the two-man bobsled event,
and three demonstration sports: women's
speedskating, dog-sled racing and curling (for the
second time). Snow had to be trucked in so that
the ski jump competition staging area could be
covered.
Highlights
 Americans John Shea and Irving
Jaffee broke the Scandinavian grip on
Olympic speedskating by sweeping all four
gold
medals in the sport. Shea finished on
top in the 500m and 1,500m, while Jaffee
took the gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m.
Before Shea's and Jaffee's success, only two
other non-Scandinavians — both Americans
— had been able to win medals in Olympic
speedskating.
Birger Ruud led a Norwegian
sweep of the gold, silver and bronze in the
ski jump competition. Ruud later successfully
defended his gold medal at the 1936
Olympic Winter Games.
| Attendance | Male Athletes | Female Athletes | Most-Medaled | U.S. Rank | | 17 nations | 274 | 32 | U.S. (12) | First |
Source: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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