Women could compete in track and field at the Summer Olympics for the first time in Amsterdam. Forty-six nations (including newcomers Haiti and the Philippines) participated in the 1928 event, which is recorded with often surprising intimacy by Wilhelm Prager and his crew (as when the great Paavo Nurmi, having just lost the 5,000 meters by stride, refuses to pose for the usual close-up). Photo-finish cameras were employed for the first time in this Olympiad, and multiple cameras were used to cover the Marathon through varied terrain, as well as the open-air gymnastics competition. Italian technicians contributed significantly to the making of this film.