Know Your Olympics - Paris Olympics 1924

With the success of the Antwerp Games, the Olympics once again regained its prominence. The quadrennial event were now to be hosted once again in Paris in 1924. 24 years after the 1900 World Fair brought the Olympics to France, the Summer Games were back in the country.

It were the last Olympics that were held under the presidency of the iconic founder, Pierre de Coubertin. In a way, these were his 'Farewell Olympics'. The Paris edition was also the first edition, where athletes stayed in an official Olympic village. These games also proved to be economically disastrous.

The Paris Games are also famous for the rise of the Finnish legend, Paavo Nurmi. Having made the world take notice with his skills at Antwerp, the Finnish soldier won five gold medals in the Games. Paavo continued to hold a grudge that he could have won a sixth gold medal had the Finnish authorities not removed his name from the 10000m.

It was at these Games that the mottos of Citius, Altius, Fortius, i.e. Faster, Higher and Stronger were first used. Also, the movie buffs remember these Olympics very well. How can't they, for it were the victories of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, that formed the basis of the Oscar winning "Chariots of Fire". Both were iconic British runners in their own right.

While Eric made headlines for his religious preferences, giving up his preferred race for a religious sermon, he compensated for it with an iconic victory in the 400m. Harold, on the other hand, was a Jewish runner, who fought every kind of prejudice on his way to the top of the podium in the men's 100m.

The 1924 edition also saw the rise of American legend Johnny Weissmuller. One of the earliest actors to have immortalized the iconic role of Tarzan, Johnny was also an Olympic champion. He won his first three gold medals as a swimmer in the Paris Games. He also won a bronze medal as part of the water polo team.

Here are some more interesting facts about the 1924 edition of the Summer Olympics.