Olympic Games - 1924 Paris

Olympic Games - 1924 Paris

The 1924 Games saw American William DeHart Hubbard became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal when he triumphed in the long jump.

His compatriot Robert LeGendre broke the long jump world record with a leap of 7.76m, but this was in the penthalon, and he had to settle for bronze.

The Finns again dominated the middle distance events, with Paavo Nurmi taking five gold medals, two of which he won within an hour of each other. Nurmi was honoured for his achievements when a statue of him was erected outside Helsinki stadium.

Tennis made its last appearance before being brought back more than 60 years later at Seoul. The IOC, which was fiercely anti-professional, had doubts whether the game's top players were truly amateurs.

Great Britain scored two major victories when Harold Abrahams became the first European to win an Olympic sprint medal, while Eric Liddell took the gold in the 400m in a time of 47.6 seconds.

Lidell's time was a world record, but was not officially recognised because the runners only had to run around one bend until 1936.

The gold medals won by British runners Harold Abrahams in the 100 meters and Eric Liddell in the 400 were chronicled in the 1981 Academy Award-winning film ' Chariots of Fire.' The movie, however, was not based on fact. Liddell, a devout Christian, knew months in advance that the preliminary for the 100 (his best event) was on a Sunday, so he had plenty of time to change plans and train for the 400. Also, he and Abrahams never competed against each other in real life.

Speaking of the movies, Johnny Weissmuller of the U.S. won three swimming gold medals in the 100 and 400-meter freestyles and the 4x200 freestyle relay. He would later become Hollywood's most famous Tarzan

In the pool, Johnny Weissmuller, later to become Tarzan, won three golds in freestyle events and a bronze in the men's water polo.

At the 1924 Paris Games, the Olympic motto, 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' , (Swifter, Higher, Stronger) was introduced, as was the Closing Ceremony ritual of raising three flags: the flag of the International Olympic Committee, the flag of the host nation and the flag of the next host nation. The number of participating nations jumped from 29 to 44, signaling widespread acceptance of the Olympics as a major event, as did the presence of 1,000 journalists. Women's fencing made its debut as Ellen Osiier of Denmark earned the gold medal without losing a single bout. Johnny Weissmuller of the United States won two gold medals in swimming on 20 July alone. That same day he earned a bronze medal in water polo. He later went to Hollywood and starred as Tarzan in twelve movies.

American swimmer Gertrude Ederle won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle. Two years later she caused a sensation by becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel (La Manche) - and in a time almost two hours faster than any man had ever achieved. Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, won five gold medals to add to the three he had won in 1920. His most spectacular performance occurred on 10 July. First he easily won the 1,500m. Then, a mere 55 minutes later, he returned to the track and won the 5,000m. Nurmi's teammate, Ville Ritola, did not do badly either in 1924: he won four gold medals and two silver.
 

Paavo Nurmi (FIN-athletics) had a crazy programme. He participated in the 1,500 and 5,000m, the finals of which were less than an hour apart, in the 3,000m, both individual and team events, as well as the cross-country! Nurmi obtained an incredible five titles