1924 Summer Olympics

Six cities claimed to organize the Olympics-24: Amsterdam , Barcelona , Los Angeles , Paris , Prague and Rome . Since in 1924 the 30th anniversary of the modern Olympic movement was celebrated, noting the merits of Coubertin , it was decided to hold the VIII Olympic Games in Paris. The capital of France was the first city to which the IOC twice entrusted the organization of the Olympic Games.

The organization of the competition was impeccable; they broke all records in terms of the number of participants. The German team, as in previous games, was not invited. The Paris Games were one of the most visited. In total, 625,821 people watched them. The amount of the box office was 5,496,610 francs of that time. Of these, 1 million 88 thousand francs brought football , one and a half million - athletics and 758 francs (93 spectators) - the modern pentathlon .

VIII Olympiad was the last Olympiad, the preparation of which was led by Pierre de Coubertin.

For the first time, the Olympic motto appeared at the Olympics. The Olympic motto consists of three Latin words - “Citius, Altius, Fortius!” (Russian translation - “Faster, higher, stronger!”).

The length of the marathon was taken equal to 42,195 meters , which it is to this day.

The following countries took part in the 1924 Olympics: Australia , Austria , Argentina , Belgium , Bulgaria , Brazil , Great Britain , Hungary , Greece , Haiti , Denmark , Egypt , India , Ireland , Spain , Italy , Canada , the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , Cuba , Latvia , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Mexico , Monaco , Netherlands , New Zealand , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Romania , USA , Turkey , Uruguay , Philippines , Finland , France , Czechoslovakia , Chile , Sweden , Switzerland , Ecuador , Estonia , South Africa , Japan . Of these, athletes from Ireland, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Uruguay, the Philippines and Ecuador participated in the Games for the first time.

Competitions were held in the following sports: boxing , wrestling , cycling , gymnastics , rowing , equestrianism , athletics , sailing , swimming , polo , rugby , modern pentathlon , shooting , tennis , weightlifting , fencing and football .

In the capital of France, for the last time at the Olympic Games, rugby competitions were held, and for the last time before the big break, in tennis. In both, the athletes of the United States won.

During the demonstrations, the audience was presented with French boxing , the Basque ball game and - in the program of the children's holiday - meetings in volleyball and basketball .

Women participated in competitions in swimming and diving , tennis and for the first time in fencing .

The Olympics on July 5 (some competitions took place earlier) were opened by the President of the French Republic Gaston Doumergue . On the honorable platform next to him were the Prince of Wales - the future king of Great Britain Edward VIII , Prince Carol of Romania and many other crowned persons. The opening ceremony of the Olympics was preceded by a religious ceremony in the Notre Dame Cathedral, during which the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Dubois, delivered a sermon.

The VIII Olympic Games showed many excellent results. Eight world and fourteen Olympic records were set for track and field athletics , four world records for swimming, and Olympic records were improved in all eleven types of swimming.

Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi , like four years ago, was recognized as the best athlete of the Games, he won 5 gold medals at the VIII Olympiad. His compatriot Ville Ritola , who lived and trained in the United States and was specially recalled to his homeland before the Olympics, won the 10,000-meter, 3,000-meter hurdle race; in addition, he received a gold medal for winning the team championship in the 3000-meter race and a silver medal in the 5000-meter race.

Five medals, of which three were gold, were won by the French fencer Roger Ducre . He won the personal foil tournament and as part of the team, foil and fencer tournaments. He received two silver medals in personal competitions in saber and sword fencing .

Competitions of swimmers took place in a tense struggle in the Turret pool. The American Johnny Weissmuller brilliantly performed, having won at both major distances - 100 and 400 meters freestyle.

Two bronze medals in shooting “running deer” received Alfred Swan . In total, at the Olympic Games of 1912 , 1920 and 1924, he won three gold, three silver and three bronze medals. His father Oscar was also awarded medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze) at three Olympics - 1908 , 1912 and 1920 . So the outstanding Swedish arrows, father and son, won six gold, four silver and five bronze medals. This is the only case in the history of the modern Olympic Games. In antiquity, only one such family success is known. Spartan Hippostenes in 632-608 BC e. six times he won the Olympic wrestling competitions, and in the same sport, his son Hetoimekles received the olive branch of the winner five times.

The football tournament brought together 22 teams. For the first time, overseas players - Uruguayans - performed at the Olympics. Beginners in a brilliant style defeated with an impressive score - 7: 0 - a strong team of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . All experts unanimously recognized that this team was not just a winner, but really the best technically and tactically tournament team.

In water polo, France violated the hegemony of the British, who won the last three Olympics. True, the French owe their victory to the Hungarians, who knocked out the British team from the preliminary competitions.

Since 1924, when summing up the results of the struggle in the unofficial team standings , six prizes occupied by athletes and teams began to be taken into account: the first place was estimated at 7 points, the second at 5 points, the third at 4, the fourth at 3, the fifth at 2, the sixth - 1 point.

• Olympics page . IOC official website .