1928 Amsterdam Olympics

Also called: Games of the IX Olympiad, Amsterdam 1928

An Olympic flame burned on the stadium tower for the first time, and women’s athletics events were held for the first time. Germany returned after sixteen years, and Japan won Asia’s first gold medal, in the triple jump.

Some 2,900 athletes from 46 nations took part from 28 July to 12 August 1928. A fire kept burning throughout the Games on a tower beside the stadium, the beginning of the Olympic flame. Women’s athletics and gymnastics became official events for the first time, and the custom of Greece leading the parade of nations and the host bringing up the rear began. Germany competed for the first time since 1912. Japan’s Mikio Oda won the triple jump, the first Olympic gold medal for an Asian athlete.