Athletics at the 1924 Paris Summer Games:

The 1924 Olympics was the Olympics of Chariots of Fire, and that Academy Award winning movie focused on the sprints. Much of the movie was true but there were a few things for which the producers took some literary license. Notably, although Britain’s Harold Abrahams was one of the favorites for the 100 metres, in the movie the other protagonist, Scotland’s Eric Liddell, hears about the schedule for the 100 while taking the boat over to France. Liddell was devoutly religious and when he heard that the 100 final would be held on a Sunday, he withdrew from the 100 metres. But this was fabricated. Liddell knew about the Olympic schedule several months in advance and never intended to run the 100 in Paris. He focused instead on the 200 and 400, adjusting his training for the longer sprints.

Besides Liddell the other favored athlete in Paris in 1924 was the defending champion, Charlie Paddock, of the United States. In the 100 final, Abrahams faced four Americans, Paddock, Jackson Scholz, Loren Murchison, Chet Bowman, and New Zealander, Arthur Porritt. Abrahams won the race, as depicted in the movie, becoming the first European winner of the 100 metres. Scholz won the silver medal with Porritt in third, and Paddock a well-beaten fifth.