The 1924 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad (French: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and commonly known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France.
It was the second time Paris hosted the games (after 1900), becoming the first city to host the Olympics twice. The selection process for the 1924 Summer Olympics consisted of six bids, and Paris was selected ahead of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Prague, and Rome. The selection was made at the 20th IOC Session in Lausanne in 1921.[2]
The cost of these Games was estimated to be 10,000,000F. With total receipts at 5,496,610F, the Olympics resulted in a hefty loss despite crowds that reached up to 60,000 in number daily.[3]
The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions were already started from 4 May. The United States won the most gold and overall medals, having 229 athletes competing compared to the host's 401.
Highlights
Colombes Olympic Stadium
The opening ceremony and several sporting events took place in the Olympic Stadium of Colombes, which had a capacity of 45,000 in 1924.
This VIII Olympiad was the last one organised under the presidency of Pierre de Coubertin.
The "Flying Finns" dominated the long-distance running, while the British and Americans dominated the shorter events. Paavo Nurmi won the 1500 m and 5,000 m (which were held with only an hour between them) and the cross country run. Ville Ritola won the 10,000 m and the 3,000 m steeplechase, while finishing second to Nurmi on the 5,000 m and cross country. Albin Stenroos won the marathon, while the Finnish team (with Nurmi and Ritola) was victorious in the 3,000 m and cross country team events.
The British runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won the 100 m and the 400 m events, respectively. Liddell refused to compete in the 100-metre dash because it was held on a Sunday and he was an observant Christian. Their stories were depicted in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire. In addition, Douglas Lowe won the 800-metre competition.
The marathon distance was fixed at 42.195km (26.219mi), from the distance run at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
The 1924 Olympics were the first to use the standard 50 m pool with marked lanes.
Harold Osborn won gold medals and set Olympic records in both the high jump and the decathlon at the 1924 Olympics. His 6' 6" high jump remained the Olympic record for 12 years, while his decathlon score of 7,710.775 points also set a world record and resulted in worldwide press coverage calling him the "world’s greatest athlete".
In gymnastics, 24 men scored a perfect 10. Twenty-three of them scored it in the now-discontinued event of rope climbing. Albert Seguin scored a 10 here and also a perfect 10 on side vault.
Unexpectedly, the national team of Uruguay won the gold medal in football.
Ireland was given formal recognition as an independent nation in the Olympic Movement in Paris in 1924, and it was at these games that Ireland made its first appearance in an Olympic Games as an independent nation.
Originally called Semaine des Sports d'Hiver ("Week of Winter Sports") and held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions held in Chamonix between 25 January and 5 February 1924 were later designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the I Olympic Winter Games. (1924 Winter Olympics)
Overall map of the Olympic venuesThe "Olympic Number" of Life, 10 Jul 1924.
126 events in 23 disciplines, comprising 17 sports, were part of the Olympic program in 1924. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.
Seventeen sports venues were used in the 1924 Summer Olympics. Stade de Colombes served as the final venue for the 1938 FIFA World Cup between Italy and Hungary.
Participating Countries of the 1924 OlympiadNumber of athletes
A total of 44 nations were represented at the 1924 Games. Germany was still absent, having not been invited by the Organizing Committee.[25]China (although it did not compete), Ecuador, Haiti, Ireland, Lithuania, and Uruguay attended the Olympic Games for the first time, while the Philippines competed for first time in an Olympic Games as a nation (though it first participated in the 1900 Summer Olympic Games, also in this city). Latvia and Poland also attended the Summer Olympic Games for the first time (having both appeared earlier at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix).
The 1924 Summer Olympics were the second edition of the Summer Olympics to be held in Paris. 100 years later, the city will host the 2024 Summer Olympics, marking the third time the city hosts the games. One venue from the 1924 Games is slated to be used in 2024. The extensively renovated and downsized main stadium, known since 1928 as Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, will host field hockey.
Last surviving competitor
The last surviving competitor of the 1924 Summer Olympics was Croatian swimmer Ivo Pavelić, who died on 22 February 2011 at the age of 103. Competed for Yugoslavia, as Croatia was part of it at the time.[29]
↑ The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC- Athens to Beijing, 1894–2008: David Miller (2008)
↑ "Opening Ceremony"(PDF). International Olympics Committee. 2002. p.3. Retrieved 23 August 2012.; "Sport athlétique", 14 mars 1891: "[...] dans une éloquente allocution il a souhaité que ce drapeau les conduise 'souvent à la victoire, à la lutte toujours'. Il a dit qu’il leur donnait pour devise ces trois mots qui sont le fondement et la raison d’être des sports athlétiques: citius, altius, fortius, 'plus vite, plus haut, plus fort'.", cited in Hoffmane, Simone La carrière du père Didon, Dominicain. 1840 - 1900, Doctoral thesis, Université de Paris IV - Sorbonne, 1985, p. 926; cf. Michaela Lochmann, Les fondements pédagogiques de la devise olympique „citius, altius, fortius"
↑ M. Avé (ed.). Les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade Paris 1924 – Rapport Officiel(PDF) (in French). Paris: Librairie de France. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2012. 39 seulement s’alignérent, ne représentant plus que 24 nations, la Chine, le Portugal et la Yougoslavie ayant déclaré forfait.
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