Historical Society has eye on Olympics

Culver City has played a part in the past Los Angeles Olympic Games, and the Culver City Historical Society looks forward to being involved in 2028 Games when the world’s athletes return to the region.

 

Culver City has played a part in the past Los Angeles Olympic Games, and the Culver City Historical Society looks forward to being involved in 2028 Games when the world’s athletes return to the region.

During the CC Historical Society’s April 18 General Meeting and Program, it will look back at Olympic history, as well as forward, with the help of a representative from LA84 Foundation, and any past and future Olympians in attendance.

“Our featured speaker will be Wayne Wilson, who has served for three decades as vice president, Education Services, for LA84 Foundation,” a Society spokesperson said. “Mr. Wilson holds a doctorate in sports studies from the University of Massachusetts, writes and speaks frequently about the Olympic Movement, and previously served on the Research Council.

In 1932, marked the construction of the first Olympic Athletes Village in nearby Baldwin Hills. Along with the athletes came appetites. Thus began the Great Olympic Bread War, which involved Helms Bakeries and a lawsuit that took nearly 20 years to resolve. Local luminaries Douglas Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford, who both have Culver City streets named after them, were instrumental in publicizing the 1932 games.
The 1984 Summer Games was famously a budget conscious affair, with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee using a former helicopter assembly plant in Culver City as its headquarters. The ’84 Games also was the first time a women’s Olympic marathon was held, with both the men’s and women’s marathon routes passing through Culver City on their way to the finish line.

How will Culver City play a part in 2028? Are future Olympians from Culver City training right now on our streets and in our parks?

Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Any local Olympians or Olympic volunteers who wish to take part in the evening’s Q&A are more than welcome to attend.

All are invited to this free program at 7 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Ave. The entrance to both the ARC and Multipurpose is through the back of the