The 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam marked the beginning of a number of Olympic
traditions and decades-long athletic streaks. The Opening Ceremony tradition of
the Greek team marching in first during the Parade of Nations and the host team
marching in last, in this case, the Dutch, began in Amsterdam.
The tradition of a diverse athletic body, though present at past Olympics,
was also more evident at Amsterdam than it had ever been in the past as gold
medals were awarded to competitors from 28 different nations.
With the introduction of female events in gymnastics and athletics, that same
tradition was bolstered even more as the number of women competing at the Games
rose from 135 in 1924 to 277 in 1928.
Amsterdam also saw the first gold medals awarded to Asian athletes when Mikio
Oda and Yoshiyuki Tsuruta of Japan won the triple jump and the 200m
breaststroke, respectively. In field hockey, India began a gold-medal streak
that would last until 1960, while in sabre fencing, Hungary began a gold-medal
streak that would last until 1964. In the medal count, the U.S. continued its
own winning streak, beating the Germans 56-31 for their third consecutive
overall medal victory.
