Defying the depression which had thrown a quarter of Americans out of work, Los Angeles staged an Olympics sparkling with Hollywood glitter and glamour.
Will Rogers, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable attended competitions. Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks Snr entertained favoured guests.
For the first time athletes were housed in an Olympic village, albeit only the men, guarded by cowboys riding around the perimeter.
Nurmi was denied a chance of a 10th gold medal, this time in the marathon, when he was banned for accepting expenses.
American teenager Babe Didrikson, nicknamed after baseball slugger Babe Ruth, proved a sensation, qualifying for all five women's track and field events although she was allowed to compete in only three.
Didrickson, who excelled at every sport she tried, won the hurdles in world record time, finished second in the high jump, also bettering the world mark, and won the javelin.