The 1932 Winter Olympics were held in the United States, in Lake Placid, and were the first Olympic Games to be held in North America. They took place during the global financial crisis, therefore they were noticeably inferior to the previous ones in terms of the number of participating countries and the number of athletes.
The Winter Olympics began to be held in 1924, the competitions in Lake Placid became the third in their history. The world financial crisis has left a noticeable imprint on their holding, the number of athletes and participating countries has significantly decreased compared to the 1928 Games. A total of 252 athletes from 17 countries took part in the games, with 150 athletes representing two countries - the USA and Canada.
At the third Winter Olympics, such sports disciplines as bobsleigh, speed skating, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, hockey, and figure skating were presented. Curling and dog sled racing were shown as demonstration sports.
There were no representatives of the Soviet Union at these games; they began to participate in the Winter Olympics only in 1956. The first place in the team competition was won by athletes from the USA with 6 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals. The second place went to the Olympians from Norway: 3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. The third place went to the Swedes with one gold and two silver medals. In total, representatives of ten countries won Olympic medals.
Only four teams took part in the hockey tournament - the national teams of the USA, Canada, Germany and Poland. For the first time, matches were held in an indoor ice rink, the Canadian team became the Olympic champions, the second place went to the athletes from the USA, the third was won by Germany.
On the bobsleigh track, the Americans had no equal, they took all the gold, one silver and one bronze from the two sets of medals played. Athletes from the USA performed just as impressively in speed skating, taking gold at all four distances.
In cross-country skiing, the main battle for medals unfolded between Swedes, Finns and Norwegians. In the short race of 15 kilometers, the Swedes took gold and silver, the Finns went to the bronze. In the 50 km marathon, skiers from Finland won gold and silver, and the Norwegians got bronze. Finally, in the ski nordic event, the entire podium went to athletes from Norway. They also reigned in ski jumping, having won all three medals.
Karl Schaeffer from Austria won gold among figure skaters in men's skating, Sonia Heni from Norway won among women. In pair skating, gold went to André Brunet and Pierre Brunet.
