day 7: XC, TJ, Decathlon

On the seventh day of athletics during the Paris Olympic Games on July 12, 1924,  long-distance running was once again contested. It's no wonder that the Olympic committee trimmed down the events for the upcoming five-ring competition. The Finns, of course, were disappointed and threatened to boycott the games.

"Poor training"

Paavo Nurmi convincingly won the 10-kilometre cross-country race held in the Seine river meadow, with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (in the shade). He outpaced Ville Ritola by over a minute. There was no sign of collusion, and the race could have been one of the few Olympic runs where Nurmi pushed himself to the limit. Heikki Liimatainen was poised for bronze just before entering the stadium, but then things went south. 

"He's as confused as a drunk," 

commented journalist Martti Jukola in a Finnish sports magazine. The man from Karstula struggled to finish 12th.

The race took place on a difficult course. It started on the training field of the Colombes Olympic Stadium. Near the intersection between Avenue Audran and Rue Paul Bert, the runners struggled over a one-metre-high stone wall, a moment captured in a famous photo. The route continued to the banks of the Seine, where a couple of laps were completed through the bushes. Competitors had to push through the undergrowth, even though a proper road was nearby. Out of 38 participants, only 15 made it to the finish line – some of them were completely disoriented after completing the course.

After the race, Nurmi commented on his competitors' numerous interruptions and minute losses with one of the harshest remarks in athletics history:

"Poor training."

Finland secured victory in the team event with the trio Nurmi-Ritola-Liimatainen. The Olympic gold was on the edge, as there was no guarantee that Liimatainen, who wandered around the stadium, would find the finish line.

"The cross-country race at the Paris Olympic Games is the most horrifying running competition in the history of world sports," 

concluded the always articulate Jukola in his race report.

Audiovisuals

• Film (Reimagined Reels)

Results and Reports

Individual

• Olympedia

• Wikipedia

Team

• Olympedia

• Wikipedia

Online Stories

• The 1924 Olympic Cross Country Course — Colombes, France (Andrew Boyd Hutchinson)

• Yle, July 12,  2017 (in Finnish)

• Suomen Urheiluliitto, June 19, 2024 (in Finnish)

Luis Brunetto of Argentina led the triple jump before the final round with a score of 15.425 (50-8). Antwerp Olympic champion Vilho Tuulos was lurking in second place (15.37/50-5). So, the man from Tampere took a risk and made the final jump at full speed. The bounces carried him to a score of 15.72 (51-7¼), which would have secured his Olympic gold and even set a world record if the jump hadn't been flagged for overstepping after a long scrutiny and hand-waving.

Nick Winter, who traveled all the way from Australia to Paris, and was the last athlete selected for the Australian team, delivered a final leap of 15.525 (50-10¼), surpassing Brunetto and securing the win.

Winter himself was surprised by his victory. After the competition, he said that Tuulos was the one he had feared the most.

Finnish sports journalist Martti Jukola, in turn, focused his attention on the jumping technique of the 'Rubber Man from Kangaroo Land' (the Australian). His first hop was disproportionately long, and it didn't seem to cause much impact on his knees and ankles. On the contrary, Winter was able to drive his second leap with full power as well.

Väinö Rainio of Finland achieved his personal best of 15.01 (49-2¾) in the final rounds and finished fourth. 

Results and Reports

• Olympedia

• Wikipedia

After the first day of the decathlon, American Emerson Norton took the lead, pulling a couple of points ahead of his compatriot Harold Osborn. Iivari Yrjölä was in fourth place, Paavo, his brother, in tenth, and Anton Huusari in 12th.

Osborn rumbled past Norton on the second day, winning Olympic gold with a world record of 7710.775 points (1920 tables). Jim Thorpe, who had been disqualified from the 1912 Stockholm Games due to amateurism accusations, amassed 7751.60 points in the Swedish Games according to the 1920 tables, but he accumulated these points over three days.

As Osborn had also cleared the high jump in first place, he took two gold medals back across the pond. The high jump was indeed Osborn's key event in the decathlon; he was able to gain a significant lead over others in that discipline.

Finland's Iivari Yrjölä knocked over more than three hurdles in the high hurdles, leading to his disqualification. Brother Paavo finished ninth overall. Surprisingly, Anton Huusari emerged as the best Finn, finishing fourth, even though he had been outperformed by Paavo Yrjölä in the Finnish trials.

Results and Reports

• Olympedia

• Wikipedia

Online Stories

• IOC