It was the first time, based on the Olympic Protocol that the Greek team paraded first in the commencement ceremony and the host country last. The Dutch decision was also established officially from the IOC and in the 1949 convention it was included in the Olympic Charter. It was in these Games that the Olympic Flame burned during the entire two weeks and continued there after in every Olympiad

The commencement ceremony was quite impressive. The parade of athletes compromised of 2724 athletes that were men and 290 that were women representing 46 countries. The only country that was not participating was Germany. The stadium was a newly built construction accommodating 40000 spectators and was sponsored by wealthy Dutch citizens. The government aid was very limited. Fund raising was made through the issuing of stocks whose value after the Games was doubled. It was the first time that the track had a 400m length, like the modern stadiums many events were held under the stands.

Once again the track and field and swimming events were the center of attraction. Percy Williams was marked as the world’s fastest man. He came out of no where to win the 100m and 200m Williams, a Canadian waiter from Toronto traveled to Amsterdam on his own expenses and won the two events, ejecting the Favorite American athletes. The spectators were so overwhelmed by his performance that several hundreds were waiting by his hotel for an autograph. He was so unknown that the spectators never realized that he too waited with them at the hotel, waiting for the Olympian to show up. On his return to Canada, Williams was greeted with a hero’s welcome and enjoyed several dear presents from the country’s officials.

Waismuller broke the 1- minute record in the 100meter freestyle. That record was heavily publicized by the media of the time. Later on he become the famous Tarzan and starred in 11 Hollywood movies.

These Games were the first that the Baron De Couberten did not attend, demonstrating the participation of women in track and field while demanding the perseverance of the Olympic ideals and the traditions of the ancient Greeks.

The participation of the women athletes created many enemies and many expressed their feelings at the end of the 800m race were the women athletes to compete in races longer than the 200m. In the Amsterdam Games, women competed in the 100m, 4X100, 800M high jump and discuss.