This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of the five apparatus events held every time there were apparatus events at the Summer Olympics (no apparatus events were held in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920). Four of the gymnasts from 1928 returned: István Pelle and Miklós Péter of Hungary, Mario Lertora of Italy, and Al Jochim of the United States; none had finished better than 21st among the 85-man field that year. The vault was still not an event at the gymnastics world championships, and there was no clear favorite (especially without reigning Olympic champion Eugen Mack not present).
