The world missed the 1916 Summer Olympics and it was two years after the First World War that Olympics resumed; the 1920 Summer Olympics. This time, Germany was banned from taking part due to their role in the war. Other nations that were banned were Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary. The world would witness another five editions of the Summer Olympics before Germany, Italy and Japan, dragged the entire world yet again to another war; the Second World War which started in 1939 all the way to 1945. During this time the world missed two editions of the Summer Olympics; the 1940 and the 1944 editions.
Team USA in the 1920 Summer Olympics
in the 1920 Summer Olympics, Team USA dominated in Athletics, Boxing, Rowing, Shooting and Swimming. In this edition of Summer Olympics held in Belgium’s city of Antwerp, USA would prove a hard nut to crack. These games started on the 14th of August and closed on the 12th of September, with King Albert 1 of the host nation; Belgium officially opening the games. By the time the games were closing, Team USA once again dominated the medal chart. In total, it won 95 medals of which 41 were gold, 27 silver and 27 bronze. The second best placed team was Sweden who followed with 19 Gold medals, 20 Silver and 25 Bronze, all totaling to 64. Host Belgium was position five have accumulated 14 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze medals, a total of 36 medals.
Team USA in the 1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics took place in Paris, France and this was the second time the city was hosting a Summer Olympics edition with 44 nations participated in these Games of the VIII Olympiad. The name, The Games of the VIII Olympiad, indicated that this was the eighth edition, but actually this was the seventh editions of the games, because of there was no Olympics in 1916. The first time Paris had hosted the Summer Olympics edition was the 1900 edition, some 14 years ago and the host had topped the medal table, would this be the case? No because Team USA was splendid in their quest for medals and once again they topped the medal table with a total of 99 medals of which 45 were gold medals, 27 were Silver and yet another 27 Bronze medals. Finland was second on medal tally while the host; Team France was third which indicated that the magic of 1900 Olympics did not happen and the world was getting used to the USA dominance in the Summer Olympics both at home and away.
Team USA in the 1928 Summer Olympics
These were the first games to be held in Netherlands’s Amsterdam. There were 46 participating nations. Germany was invited and participated; they had been banned in and did not feature in the 1920 and 1924 editions. Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary had participated in the 1928 edition, only missing the 1920 edition. Team USA was on top of the medal for a third time in row for all the Summer Olympics editions after First World War. Team USA had a total of 56 medals and out of these 56 medals, USA had 22 Gold medals, 18 Silver medals and 16 Bronze medals. Germany was the second team with 10 Gold medals and the host; Netherlands was in position 8 with 6 Gold medals. Team USA had beaten another host, the season for host winning Summer Olympics seemed to have ended, only time would tell.
Team USA in the 1932 Summer Olympics
This was the second Summer Olympics held in USA, in the city of Los Angeles. The number of participating nations reduced from the 1928 editions of the game high of 46 to only 32 nations. The numbers of sports were fewer too with only 14 sports featured. At the end of it all Team USA topped the medal table with 41 Gold medals, 32 Silver medals and 30 Bronze medals. Italy was the runners-up with 12 Gold medals, 12 Silver medals and 12 Bronze medals. It seems that Team USA will always win, had the other nations given up or was USA very strong?
Team USA in the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics was the first edition of the games to be held in Berlin and until today no other edition of the Summer Olympics has been to Berlin in Germany. the other city in Germany to host these multi-sport games would be Munich, in 1972. This was also the last edition before Second World War broke out in 1939. The 1936 Summer Olympic sedition was officially opened by Adolf Hitler on the 1st of August. In this edition of the Summer Olympics, Team USA lost its leadership medal chart to host Germany. Team Germany accumulated a total of 89 medals including 33 Gold, 26 Silver and 30 Bronze medals. Team USA managed a second position with a total of 56 medals of which 24 were Gold. 20 were Silver and 12 were Bronze. 4 of the 24 Gold medals were won by the black Athlete Jesse Owens breaking the NAZI belief of Aryan superiority.
For five Summer Olympics editions in between the two World Wars, Team USA only became second in one edition by losing to the host. The trend had been set. All the times they had lost medal chart leadership in the last 10 editions of Summer Olympics, was to the host. This had happened in three editions. Team USA first lost to host France in the 1900 edition, they later lost to UK's Team GB; this was the 1908 London Summer Olympics and for a third time they have lost to another host; Germany in the 1936 edition. The 1940 and 1944 Summer Olympics did not take place, the world was at war again; the Second World War. The next edition would be the 1948 edition, the world waited for 12 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment