The 1924 Olympics, known as the VIII Modern Olympics, were held in Paris from May to July. Over 3,000 athletes from 44 nations participated in a variety of sports. Notable achievements included American William Hubbard becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold, Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi winning 5 titles, and British runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell winning gold in the 100m and 400m respectively. The United States topped the medal table with 45 gold medals.

1. Paris 1924

2. HISTORY
 The 1924 Olympics officially known as the VIII Modern
Olympic Games were held in Paris, France, between
May 4 and July 27. Paris hosted over three thousand
athletes, 2956 men and 136 women.

3.  The 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.

4.  Paavo Nurmi (FIN-athletics) 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.
 Great Britain scored two major victories when Harold
Abrahams became the first European to win an
Olympic sprint medal, while Eric Liddell took the gold
in the 400m in a time of 47.6 seconds. Lidell's time was
a world record, but was not officially recognised
because the runners only had to run around one bend
until 1936.

5.  The gold medals won by British runners Harold
Abrahams in the 100 meters and Eric Liddell in the
400 were chronicled in the 1981 Academy Award-
winning film 'Chariots of Fire.' The
movie, however, was not based on fact. Liddell, a
devout Christian, knew months in advance that the
preliminary for the 100 (his best event) was on a
Sunday, so he had plenty of time to change plans and
train for the 400.
 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

6.  At the 1924 Paris Games, the Olympic
motto, 'Citius, Altius, Fortius', (Swifter, Higher, Strong
er) 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, signaling 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.

7.  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. Finnish
runner 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 before being 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.

8. OFFICIAL PROGRAM AND SPORT
EXHIBITION
 - Official Program - Sports exhibition
 Athletics Pelota vasca
 Boxing Cane fighting
 Cycling Canadian Canoe and kayak
 Swimming Savate
 Riding Volleyball
 Fencing
 Football
 Gymnastics
 Weightlifting
 Fight
 Modern Pentathlon
 Rowing
 Rugby
 Tennis
 Shot
 Candle

9. MEDALS
 # Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
 1 United estates 45 27 27 99
 2 Finland 14 13 10 37
 3 France 13 15 10 38
 4 United kingdom 9 13 12 34
 5 Italy 8 3 5 16
 6 Switerland 7 8 10 25
 7 Norway 5 2 3 10
 8 Sweden 4 13 12 29
 9 Netherlands 4 1 5 10
 10 Belgium 3 7 3 13

10. PHOTOS OF THE ATHLETES
William
DeHart Eric liddell Harold Abrahams
hubbard
Paavo Nurmi Gertrude Ederle
Johnny Weissmuller