1924 Paris Summer Games

In swimming, Johnny Weissmuller (USA) made his first Olympic appearance and showed why he would someday become known as the world’s greatest swimmer. He won the 100 and 400 metre freestyle races, helped the U.S. win another gold in the 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay, and for good measure, played on the bronze medal winning water polo team. He would compete in the 1928 Olympics as well, and then turned to Hollywood where he became famous as Tarzan, portraying that character in 12 movies.

In rowing, the eight-oared title was won by the United States, which was represented by the Yale crew. In the second seat was Benjamin McLane Spock, who would later attend Columbia medical school, become a famous pediatrician, the author of Baby and Child Care, and become known simply as “Dr. Spock.”

The Games themselves were the personal playground of Paavo Nurmi, who took up where he left off in 1920. Nurmi won five gold medals and could have won more had the schedulers allowed him time to compete in more events.

In 1981, the movie Chariots of Fire was made celebrating the lives of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell and their route to the 1924 Olympics. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year and was acclaimed as an excellent movie. It was, but some of the story was apocryphal

In the movie Liddell, as he boards the boat for France, appears to hear for the first time that the 100 metre heats will be held on Sunday. He eventually switches to the 400 and wins that gold medal. In truth, Liddell, who was devoutly religious and would not compete on Sunday, knew of the schedule for a year and had trained for the 400 with that in mind. The movie also shows Abrahams losing the 200 to Jackson Scholz (USA) early in the Games and then coming back to win the 100. Actually, Abrahams won the 100 on 7 July, and then returned two days later in the 200, 9 July, only to finish sixth in that race. Scholz did win that race and finishing third was Eric Liddell. That was the only time Abrahams and Liddell ever raced against each other – it had not occurred the year before the Games, as portrayed in the movie.

Finally, the movie shows Abrahams running around the courtyard at Caius College, Cambridge, in less than the time it took the clock to strike the noon bells. He was supposed to be the first to do this, but in truth, it was first done by David Cecil, Lord Burghley, the 6th Marquis of Exeter. Burghley competed at Paris but did not win a medal. He returned four years later to win the 400 metre hurdles at Amsterdam. In the movie, Burghley is portrayed as the aristocratic Lord Lindsay, who won a medal in the 400 metre hurdles. Burghley was alive at the time of the movie’s making, and supposedly did not wish to be directly portrayed in it.

Besides its heralded stars, the 1924 Olympics unveiled several other firsts. The Olympic motto – “Citius, Altius, Fortius” – was used officially for the first time. A small Olympic Village was used with small frame structures built at Rocquencourt, a Parisian suburb. At the closing ceremony the practice of raising three flags – one for the IOC, one for the host nation and one for the succeeding host nation – was instituted for the first time.