Due in part to the fact that they took place during the Great Depression, athletic attendance at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles was significantly lower than it had been at Amsterdam in 1928. For those athletes who did make it to the Games, however, record numbers of spectators made it worth their while-an audience of 100,000 turned out for the Games' Opening Ceremony.

Prior to the tenth Olympiad, the Summer Olympics had generally always been held over a period of months, but with their comparatively short duration of only 16 days the Los Angeles Games began a new tradition. Every Summer Olympics since has adhered to the same length of roughly two weeks.

In total, 18 world records were matched or shattered at the Games, but of all the athletes who helped rewrite the record books no one made a bigger contribution than Japanese swimmer Kusuo Kitamura. With his victory in the 1,500m freestyle, the 14-year-old Kitamura earned himself a permanent place in Olympic history as the youngest man to ever win an individual gold medal. In the medal count, the U.S. defeated Italy 103-36.