On 14 August 1932, the Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles – the scene of so many feats of sporting glory over the previous 15 days – filled to the rafters once more to witness the culmination of the 1932 Games. The crowds were treated to one final sporting showpiece, the equestrian Prix des Nations, before the pomp and circumstance of the Closing Ceremony began.

The Summer Olympics have seen some controversial races down the years but few that had the repercussions of the women’s 800m in the Amsterdam Games of 1928.

Throughout his school life in Kansas, John Kuck was the most prodigious of field athletes, breaking a multitude of records in all the throwing disciplines.

A double Olympic champion who helped found Aspen ski resort in Colorado and was killed in action during the Battle of Britain in August 1940, Billy Fiske was a real-life hero.

“Winter sports were included on the Olympic Charter in 1894 along with other sports, and I have worked tirelessly ever since to introduce them on the programme, albeit mindful of the material difficulties that need to be overcome in order to achieve that,” wrote Pierre de Coubertin, whose hard work finally came to fruition in the 1920s.