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Show LAS Your Old School: 1928 Amsterdam Olympics

Last week we looked at the Chocktaw “cousin” of lacrosse and this week we dive back into the history books of the game to look at the 1928 Olympics.

Lacrosse was a demonstration sport in 1928, but that didn’t stop these hardy souls from showing off on the highest stage Teams from Canada, Great Britain, and the United States participated in the event, and each team ended up with a 1-1 record.

Scores:

August 5, 1928 – United States 6 – Canada 3

August 6, 1928 – Great Britain 7 – United States 6

August 7, 1928 – Canada 9 – Great Britain 5

The US team was made up of collegiate lacrosse players from Johns Hopkins, and if you feel like some light reading, I’d suggest this diary from the Smithsonian’s online collection which details Baltimore native Louis S. Nixdorff’s experiences at the games. He complains about playing games on back-to-back days and details the long boat ride over the Atlantic. A great read for the history buffs.

Canada's lacrosse team competes at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. (CP Photo/COA)

Some other highlights of the 1928 Olympics:

– Johnny Weissmuller, who later appeared in several Tarzan movies, won two gold medals in swimming.
– These games were the first to bear the name “Summer Olympic Games”.
– Germany returned to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1912, after being banned from the 1920 and 1924 Games. The German team finished second in the 1928 medal count.

Me Tarzan, You silver medalist
Logo of the 1928 Games

Sources:

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928_Summer_Olympics

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