The Paris Summer Olympic Games of 1924
Poster of the Olympic Games of Paris in 1924 in the Municipal Museum of Art and History in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine, France). Image credit: Tangopaso, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This summer’s Olympic Games in Paris mark the third time that the French capital has hosted the Summer Games and the 100th anniversary of the last Paris Summer Olympic Games in 1924. Paris 1924, as the VIII Olympiad was known, ushered in many of the features of the Games as we have come to know them. It also ended the era of Pierre de Coubertin, the ‘father of the modern Olympic Games’, who had been instrumental in reviving the Olympic Games and served as President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since shortly after the Athens Games in 1896.
Although Paris is considered to have been the site of the 1900 Summer Olympics, events were held over five months in conjunction with the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) and were not consistently promoted as Olympic competitions such that many athletes were not even aware that they were Olympians. There was no such confusion at Paris 1924. An opening ceremony held at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in the suburb of Colombes welcomed more than 3,000 athletes from 44 nations and introduced the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger). For the first time, an Olympic village was created to house participants, and worldwide interest was represented and fed by the attendance of over 1,000 journalists, including some within the budding industry of commercial radio. Paris 1924 introduced the practice of raising the flags of the IOC, the host country, and the next host country during the Closing Ceremonies.
The 1916 Berlin Games had been cancelled due to war and the extended period of hostilities had delayed the IOC’s determination of concrete plans for 1920. Antwerp, Belgium was confirmed as the host city only after the Armistice was signed in November 1918, giving little time for logistical preparations. Nations on the losing side of the Great War were banned from Antwerp 1920, continued fighting in Eastern Europe prevented several countries from participating, and the cost of tickets and travel to the events negatively affected the size of event audiences. Nevertheless, the Olympic spirit of sportsmanship and unity among nations was a welcome sentiment.
Six years removed from the end of the Great War, the mood at Paris 1924 was more conducive to celebrating athletic and artistic excellence along with international harmony. It was the first time that Ireland and the Philippines competed at the Olympic Games as independent nations, along with numerous other first-time participating countries such as Ecuador, Lithuania, and Uruguay, which went home with the gold medal in men’s football. France took pride in the five medals won by Roger François Ducret in fencing, a total of six medals in road and track cycling, and the gold medal winning men’s water polo team which contributed to second place in the overall medal standings behind the United States. The host country also garnered one gold and two bronze medals in the literature and sculpture categories of the arts competition that constituted part of the Olympic Games from 1912 through 1948.
Lucy Morton, 1924 gold medalist in women’s 200m breaststroke and the first British woman to win an individual Olympic swimming medal. Image credit: Le Miroir des sports, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Excitement was not limited to the French delegation’s achievements. Paris 1924 was the setting for the races that inspired the film ‘Chariots of Fire’, winner of the 1982 Best Picture Academy Award. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian and favorite to win the 100-meter sprint, declined to participate since the race was scheduled for a Sunday when he observed the Sabbath as a day of rest. Instead, he entered the 200- and 400-meter races although he was less experienced and posted slower times than runners at the top of those categories. Liddell’s teammate, Harold Abrahams, prevailed over the defending 100-meter Olympic champion to win the gold medal and dominate British headlines until Liddell took the bronze in the 200-meter event and set a world record to win the 400-meter race.
Americans were heavily favored in swimming and delivered, winning nine gold, five silver, and five bronze medals across eleven events. Duke Kahanamoku, who had won gold in the men’s 100-meter freestyle at the 1912 Stockholm and 1920 Antwerp Games, was competing again along with his younger brother Sam. The brothers placed second and third behind newcomer Johnny Weissmuller, who also won gold in the 400-meter freestyle and as a member of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay plus a bronze medal playing for the men’s water polo team. Weissmuller was later known for his roles as Tarzan and Jungle Jim in Hollywood. Ten of the United States’ nineteen swimming medals at Paris 1924 were earned by American women. Among them, Aileen Riggin added a silver medal in 3m springboard diving to her bronze in the 100-meter backstroke, becoming the first female Olympic medal winner in two different sporting disciplines. Lucy Morton of Great Britain was the only non-American woman to swim to a gold medal (200 meter breaststroke).
LIFE Magazine Cover (10 July 1924). Image credit: LIFE Magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The VIII Olympiad included a then-record 135 female athletes entered in diving, fencing, swimming, and tennis events. Many at the time doubted that women had the fortitude for competitive sports and de Coubertin was adamant that women’s sporting events in the Olympics Games would be “impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and improper.” However, pushback against such views was growing, most notably led by Frenchwoman Alice Milliat, who founded the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale in 1921. Her leadership and persistence resulted in the first Women’s Olympics held in Paris in 1922 where 77 female athletes from five countries competed in eleven track and field events, setting 18 world records that day. Approximately 20,000 people turned out to watch and cheer for the competitors. The IOC objected to the use of the term ‘Olympic’ but could not deny the women’s abilities nor the level of interest in witnessing their efforts and achievements. Milliat forged ahead with the renamed Women’s World Games in 1926, 1930, and 1934 to compel the IOC to gradually broaden the number and range of women’s sporting events in the Olympic Games.
One hundred years later, Paris repeats as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir has been renovated and has served as the venue for this year’s field hockey matches. The Olympic Village now includes all athletes whereas women were excluded in 1924 and participation has skyrocketed to over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 nations. Radio broadcasts have given way to internet streaming and television programming on multiple channels. But the Olympic spirit of 1924 remains constant as competitors athletes, coaches, and judges take the Olympic oath during the opening ceremonies:
“… we promise to take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules and in the spirit of fair play, inclusion and equality. Together we stand in solidarity and commit ourselves to sport without doping, without cheating, without any form of discrimination. We do this for the honour of our teams, in respect for the Fundamental Principles of Olympism, and to make the world a better place through sport.”
Jeu de français
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games include many more sports than its predecessor did in 1924, although polo from one hundred years ago is no longer contested as an Olympic sport. The word search below includes 32 sports in French, some of which have endured and others which have been added since the last time the Games were held in Paris, but it is up to you to determine which terms to look for. Bonne chance!
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