Paris 1924 Olympics: photos from 100 years ago

TThe 2024 Summer Olympics will mark the third time that Paris will host the Games. The first time was in 1900 and the last was a century ago, in 1924.

There are about twice as many sports at the Paris Games in 2024 as there were a century ago. In 1924, there were 17 sports, 126 medal events, and 3,089 athletes in 1924 (May 4 to July 27). This year, there will be 32 sports, 329 medal events and around 10,500 athletes (July 26th to August 11th).

In 1924, the US team boasted the most medals. Among the winners was American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, who accumulated three Olympic gold medals. But he arguably made the biggest impact as an actor: he played Tarzan in 12 films.

Female athletes performed strongly at the 1924 Olympics. Lucy Morton became the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming. Tennis star Hazel Wightman was an Olympic gold medalist in women’s doubles as well as mixed doubles, where she shared the honors with Titanic survivor Richard Williams. Wightman’s women’s doubles partner Helen Wills also won a gold medal in women’s singles. (Tennis did not reappear in the Olympics until the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.)

Before the 1924 Olympics, TIME placed James Stillman Rockefeller, great-nephew of Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller and captain of the U.S. Olympic crew, on the magazine’s July 7, 1924, cover. waxed poetic about the stakes: “Now he led them – the bronze-skinned ones – to conquer the rowers of the world, as the warrior Menelaus led the bronze-greaves Argives against ancient Troy. Would his heart and theirs be strong enough? Could he advise and exhort them for the glory of his nation?” It turned out to be a prescient choice. Rockefeller’s team won the gold medal.

In track and field, Lee Barnes was just 17 years old when he won the gold medal in the pole vault, just before starting his freshman year of college. Finnish runner Ville Ritola set the world record in the 10,000 m and became the only athlete to win six athletics medals at a single Olympics. (Track and field is a series of running events.)

But the most famous track story from the 1924 Paris Olympics is the story of Jewish runner Harold Abrahams facing off against devout Christian runner Eric Liddell, which inspired the 1981 Oscar-winning film. Chariots of fire. Abrahams has had to deal with rampant antisemitism and Liddell has refused to compete in any game taking place on Sunday because it is Saturday. Despite these challenges, the rivalry turned into friendship, and they each won gold medals for Great Britain – Abrahams in the 100 m race and Liddell in the 400 m race. In the 200 m event, Liddell won the bronze medal while Abrahams came sixth.

Not all 1924 Olympic competitions involved sports. There was the “Pentathlon of the Muses”, which featured categories such as literature, painting, sculpture and architectural plans, and medals were awarded based on their relationship with sport and the ideals of the Olympics. Legendary composer Igor Stravinsky judged the musical entries for that year’s Games, but no medals were awarded in that category. Athletes were also able to participate in artistic competitions. Alfred Hajos, who won two gold medals for swimming in 1896, won a silver for “urban planning” in 1924.

The 1924 Paris Olympics also introduced some of the rituals that had become common at the Olympic Games. For the past 100 years, the closing ceremony has involved the raising of the flag of the International Olympic Committee, the flag of the host country and the flag of the next host country. The 1924 games were also the first to be broadcast live on radio, and now live broadcasts of the Olympics are standard.

Below is a glimpse of notable moments from the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris: