The 1924 Paris Olympics saw the participation of 44 nations, 15 more than at the previous Antwerp Games. Germany, deemed responsible for the war, was excluded for the second time in a row. The athletics competitions were held during the first half of July at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in the northern suburbs of Greater Paris. The stadium had been completed in 1907 under the name Stade de Matin. The arena received its 1924 Olympic name in 1920.
The stands at Colombes could seat 45,000 spectators. However, the French public showed limited interest in track and field, leading to competitions, according to some reports, being held in half-empty stands. The modest audience attendance partly contributed to the second Paris Olympics running at a loss. The Games cost around 10.1 million francs, which equals roughly 10 million euros in today's money. Revenues only covered slightly more than half of the costs. The Paris Games are therefore often viewed as an event carried out in a purely amateur spirit, with little thought dedicated to commercialization. The Olympic Committee evidently learned its lesson, as the financial deficit shrank to near zero at the very next Games in Amsterdam in 1928.
The running track at the Colombes Olympic Stadium, paved with reddish cinder, stretched to 500 meters, mirroring the original Stade de Matin. Since there was no desire to build a new stadium, this had to suffice. The choice reflected the post-World War I spirit, where there was an effort to utilize old venues, partly due to strained economic conditions.
US head coach Robertson directing sprinter Hussey (right) at Paris 1924.
In the Paris Olympic track and field, athletes competed in 27 different events. Athletes from 15 nations were handed one or more medals. The United States collected the most hardware (32), with Finland a strong second (17). The modern podium was not yet in use; instead, medals were distributed by the organizers in a separate ceremony held later. National anthems were not played, although the flag of the gold-winning nation was apparently hoisted.
Paris hosted the last Olympic Games where women were not allowed to compete in track and field. The Women’s International Sports Federation refused to accept this exclusion and organized their own shadow Olympics. Consequently, the official Olympic Committee was forced to concede and allow women's participation in the 1928 Amsterdam Games.
The organization of the Paris Olympic athletics events was criticized, particularly the decision to hold the endurance events under inhumanly high heat. For example, in the cross-country race, men literally dropped like flies, as the route ran through the reeds along the Seine River. Much to the dismay of the Finns, the cross-country event was dropped from the Olympic programme after the second Paris Games.
The media followed the Paris Games more closely than ever before. Over a thousand journalists travelled to France. The Games were also broadcast for the first time on the new medium, radio—albeit on a small scale. The broadcasts were apparently only in French and likely did not reach far outside Paris. Reporter Edmond Dehorter at least attempted to commentate on the Games from a hot air balloon hovering above the Colombes Olympic Stadium.
As radio penetrated the sports arenas, a tug-of-war began between the electronic media and the International Olympic Committee over broadcasting rights. The organizers attempted to disrupt the operations of the new mass medium, fearing that live broadcasts would shrink ticket sales. At the next two Summer Olympics, radio broadcasts from inside the stadiums were banned entirely. Yet, the pendulum also swung the other way in Paris: the Games marked the beginning of a trend where the International Olympic Committee became increasingly dependent on media attention.
The US collegiate system continuously produced world-class track and field athletes, refined by professional coaches. Therefore, expectations were high when the large American team set off for Europe a few days after the Final Olympic Trials.
Lawson “Robbie” Robertson, the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania, was selected to perform the same task in the US team. Before their departure, he declared that the team heading to Paris was the strongest ever sent abroad by the States. Like Mikkola (Finland's coach), professional coach Robertson demanded disciplined diets and sufficient rest from the athletes. The validity of his methods is undeniable, judging by the number of medals that rained down upon the Americans from the Parisian sky.
In Britain, the role of a formal head coach was less prominent than in the US and Finland. The island nation upheld the amateur ideal, leading to disdain for professional coaching. However, times were changing. Harold Abrahams, who won the 100 metres in Paris, had hired a professional coach, Sam Mussabini, before the Games—a deviation from the general British approach. Eric Liddell, who won the 400 metres, prepared for the Games under the guidance of Tom McKerchar, a coach at the University of Edinburgh. For the Paris project, McKerchar coached on the payroll of the British Olympic Committee, earning a salary double that of a typical working man. Like Mikkola, McKerchar emphasized the importance of massage when aiming to extract peak condition from an athlete.
Track and field began showing more signs of professionalism or "shamateurism" in the early 1920s, even as the international federation demanded adherence to the pure amateur line. Finland was one of the pioneers of full-time athletics, aiming to secure nearly professional training conditions for its biggest stars, Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola, and other international-level track and field athletes for the upcoming Olympics.
Jaakko Mikkola, who worked at Harvard University and had debuted in the role at the Antwerp Games, was hired as the national team's head coach. Under his leadership, the national team trained over the winter at the Guard's Manege in Helsinki. Mikkola also organized massage, muscle care, and better equipment for the athletes. The head coach led from the front; when necessary, he massaged the athletes himself. When the athletes were not training in the manege, the head coach managed their training through letters, which could be quite stern, particularly regarding diet and drinks. Significantly, the head coach used his connections to arrange suitable jobs for medal hopefuls, enabling optimal training for the Paris Games.
At the beginning of the 1924 Olympic year, the Finnish track and field team received a major boost: Ville Ritola, who had been victorious in American cross-country and road races, chose his allegiance. He moved from New York to Finland, settling in Tampere, where he trained full-time for the Olympics. His training included fast-paced walks from Tampere to Nokia and back.
Ritola formally worked at the Salminen shoe factory. Yrjö Salminen, the owner of the factory, had secretly orchestrated the "Wolf of Peräseinäjoki's" move to the Finnish ranks and organized a fundraiser among Finnish-Americans to cover his travel expenses.
The US track and field union was furious that the dual citizen Ritola had rejected the Americans. The association began trying to implement a rule requiring foreign nationals to reside in the US for five years before being allowed to compete for the country.
Paavo Nurmi quit his job at Sohlberg's machine shop in Helsinki at the beginning of March 1924 and moved back to Turku from his sublet in Kallio's library building. Like Ritola, he trained practically as a professional or at least a scholarship recipient during the winter of 1924. The runner received undisclosed financial training support from a benefactor in the business world.
Finland was gripped by a powerful sporting frenzy in the 1920s. When Ritola arrived in Tampere, a proper celebration was held, and the band struck up the honourary march of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The large US team travelled to Europe in grand American fashion. The journey was made on the ocean liner SS America. To prevent the athletes from becoming sluggish, a 220-yard training track was built on the deck, allowing them to maintain their fitness during the long sea voyage. A substantial travel budget had been assembled because the Americans were keen to make a statement after the disappointments of the 1920 Antwerp Games. Upon arrival in Paris, the Uncle Sam contingent was greeted by a fan base numbering in the thousands and was chauffeured in 70 cars to country villas where Team USA was accommodated.
The British team traveled to France more modestly. The Sons of the Union Jack sailed across the Channel from Newhaven to Dieppe and then continued to Paris. Having no money to spare, the British chose the cheapest and longest route. Upon arrival, the team stayed in some small and rather miserable hotel, as the 100-metre winner Harold Abrahams recalled.
The Finnish team for Paris was selected on the same day that Paavo Nurmi set two world records at the Eläintarha Sports Ground. 54 male athletes were chosen for the Olympics, as women were not yet competing in the five-ring Games. Nurmi's blunt public comment, perhaps made with the authority of a now slightly older statesman, that the team contained too many "tourists," may not have done much to solidify team spirit.
The team travelled to Paris in late June in two separate groups, using a train–ship combination. Their route included Stockholm, Trelleborg, Hamburg, Amsterdam, and Brussels. The second group of competitors followed the same route, except they travelled through Germany instead of the Benelux countries. The journey was certainly more interesting than today's direct flights, as they stopped in various cities to sightsee and even train. In Amsterdam, the athletes eagerly ate bananas and other southern fruits, which were cheaper compared to Finland.
In Paris, the track and field athletes were accommodated at Villa des Rochers, located in the village of Bois-Colombes (Rue Jean Jaures 109), a few kilometres from the Colombes Olympic Stadium. Today, Bois-Colombes is a district of Paris. An Olympic village had also been built near the main venue, but like the Americans, the Finns—then a major sporting power—did not find it suitable.
The Finns were satisfied with the villa accommodation. However, the men from the pine forests found the French dishes exotic, even though a Finnish chef had been hired to supervise the cooking. For example, milk was not available as a beverage. Consequently, the team went and bought it from a nearby farm. At least it was fresh.
Suomen Kuvalehti, June 21, 1924 (in Finnish)
1924 – Pariisin kutsu, May 2, 2024 (in Finnish)