A brief history of the VIII Olympiad. 1924 was the first Olympic
Games where the athletes were accommodated in an Olympic Village, a group of
wood cabins.
The Paris 1924 Games saw American William DeHart Hubbard became the first black
athlete to win an individual gold medal; 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 pentathlon, and he had to settle for bronze.
Paavo Nurmi 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. Nurmi was honoured for his achievements when a
his statue was erected
outside Helsinki stadium.
Chariots of Fire - 1924 Paris Olympics
Eric Liddell, "The Flying Scotsman", was born in 1902 at 天津 in North
China. When he was 8 Eric was sent to a boarding school in England.
While at Eltham Collage Liddell was renowned as fastest runner in Scotland.
Because of his birth in China, some consider Liddell to be China's first
Olympic.
Liddell was a committed Christian and thus would not consider running on
a Sunday, so could not run in his favoured event the 100m. The only
alternative was to run in the 400m. As Liddell went to his starting
blocks, an American slipped a piece of paper into Liddell's hand with a
quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30, "Those who honour me I will honour."
Liddell ran with that piece of paper in his hand. He not only won the
race, but broke the existing world record with a time of 47.6 seconds.
The gold medals won by British runners Harold Abrahams in the 100 meters
and Eric Liddell in the 400 in the Paris Olympics were chronicled in the
1981 Academy Award-winning film 'Chariots of Fire.'
The Scottish connection with Olympic sprinting was reconnected when Allan
Wells won the 100 metre sprint at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. When asked after
the victory if he had run the race for Harold Abrahams, the last 100 metre
Olympic winner from Britain (in 1924), Wells replied, "No, this one was for
Eric Liddell."
Johnny Weissmuller
Speaking of the movies, Johnny Weissmuller of USA 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.
On a stormy day in July 1927, Johnny Weissmuller was training on the
lakefront off Chicago's North Avenue Beach with his brother Peter when
a sudden storm swamped the pleasure boat Favorite. The disaster killed 27 of
the 71 people aboard, mostly women and children, but the Weissmuller
brothers rescued 11 people. He can really be considered a hero as well
as a legend.
Citius Altius Fortius
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, signalling 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.
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.
The Flying Finn, 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 team-mate, Ville Ritola, did not do
badly either in 1924: he won four gold medals and two silver.
Tennis made its last appearance until it was 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.
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