Games of the VIII Olympiad
Host city	Paris, France
Nations participating	44
Athletes participating	3,089 (2,954 men, 135 women)
Events	126 in 17 sports
Opening ceremony	May 4
Closing ceremony	July 27
Officially opened by	President Gaston Doumergue
Athlete's Oath	Georges André
Stadium	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir

The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France. The home city of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern games, was selected over bids of Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Rome, though Paris had also hosted the 1900 Games.

The cost of the Games of the VIII Olympiad was estimated to be 10,000,000₣. With total receipts at 5,496,610₣, the Olympics resulted in a hefty loss despite crowds that reached 60,000 people at a time.¹

Highlights

• The opening ceremony and several sporting events took place in the Olympic Stadium of Colombes which had a capacity of 45,000 in 1924.
• This VIII Olympiad was the last one organised under the presidency of Pierre de Coubertin.
• The "Flying Finns" dominated the long distance running, whilst the British and Americans dominated the shorter events. Paavo Nurmi won the 1500 m and 5000 m (which were held with only an hour between them) and the cross country run. Ville Ritola won the 10000 m and the 3000 m steeplechase, while finishing second to Nurmi on the 5000 m and cross country. Albin Stenroos won the marathon, while the Finnish team (with Nurmi and Ritola) was victorious in the 3000 m and cross country team events.
• British runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won the 100 m and 400 m events, respectively. Their stories are depicted in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire. In addition Douglas Lowe won the 800 m competition.
• The marathon distance was fixed at 42.195 km, from the distance run at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
• The 1924 Olympics were the first to use the standard 50 metre pool with marked lanes.
• Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller won three gold medals in swimming and one bronze in water polo.
• Fencer Roger Ducret of France won five medals, of which three were gold.
• In gymnastics 24 men score a perfect 10. Twenty-three of them scored it in the now discontinued event of rope-climbing. Albert Seguin scored a 10 here and also a perfect 10 on side vault.
• The Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) was used for the first time. This was originally used as a motto by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, a French sporting federation whose founding members included Pierre de Coubertin².
• Ireland was given formal recognition as an independent nation in the Olympic Movement in Paris in 1924 and it was at these games that Ireland made its first appearance in an Olympic Games as an independent nation.
• Originally called Semaine des Sports d'Hiver ("Week of Winter Sports") and held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions held in Chamonix between 25 January and 5 February 1924 were later designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the I Olympic Winter Games. (1924 Winter Olympics)
• These were the first Games to feature an Olympic Village.

Medals awarded

Overall map of the Olympic venues

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Demonstration sports

• Basque pelota
• Canoeing
• Jeu de paume
• La canne
• Savate
• Indoor volleyball

Participating nations

participants

A total of 44 nations were represented at the 1924 Games. Germany was still absent, having not been invited by the Organizing Committee.³ Ecuador, Haiti, Ireland, Lithuania, the Philippines and Uruguay attended the Olympic Games for the first time. Latvia and Poland attended the Summer Olympic Games for the first time (having both appeared earlier at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix).

Medal count

Main article: 1924 Summer Olympics medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	45	27	27	99
2	Finland	14	13	10	37
3	France (host nation)	13	15	10	38
4	Great Britain	9	13	12	34
5	Italy	8	3	5	16
6	Switzerland	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

See also

• International Olympic Committee
• IOC country codes
• Chariots of Fire

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1924 Summer Olympics

• IOC Site on 1924 Summer Olympics
• 1924 medal winners - from CBS
• Picture of the Olympic Stadium of Colombes
• History of the Olympic Stadium (French)
• Original footage of the opening ceremony of the 1924 Summer Olympics (by Polygoon) (Dutch)

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 17 December 2008, at 23:55.

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