This summer, athletes from around the globe are gathering in France for the chance to represent their countries as the best of the best. But this is not the first time Paris has hosted these renowned events. Exactly one hundred years ago, sports champions were making headlines with victories of their own.
Perhaps the most famous of these are names you may recognize. Eric Lidell and Harold Abrahams were two British runners whose stories of conviction and resilience inspired the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. Or you might be familiar with the “Flying Finns,” Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola, running celebrities even before they beat the competition in a collective nine events (Nurmi won five himself, becoming the first to do so in a single year).
But some athletes, lesser-known or forgotten, have their own incredible tales to tell from Paris 1924.
Richard Norris Williams – Tennis, U.S.A.
More than a decade before he competed in Paris, Richard Norris Williams and his father, Charles, were passengers aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic. Charles would not survive the disaster—Williams watched one of the ship’s huge funnels crash into the water where his father swam, mere feet away.
Williams was fortunate to be rescued, but frostbite had damaged his legs. Doctors recommended amputation. It was news the tennis champion refused to accept. He paced the deck of the rescue boat every two hours until feeling came tingling back into his limbs.
In Paris 1924, with several more championship wins to his name, Williams and his partner Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman achieved ultimate victory in the mixed doubles tournament. The win was a testament to human will, and triumph after tragedy.
Williams died in 1968 at age seventy-seven and was laid to rest in Philadelphia’s Old Saint David’s Church Cemetery.
William “DeHart” Hubbard – Long jump, U.S.A.
DeHart Hubbard’s high school athletic performance caught the eye of University of Michigan alumnus Lon Barringer, who reached out to Michigan’s head of athletics, Fielding Yost, on Hubbard’s behalf. Yost barred Black players from joining Michigan’s football team but made a rare exception for Hubbard, one of the few Black athletes he allowed in non-team sports.
Hubbard fully lived up to the faith of his supporters. A stellar university career earned him a place on the U.S. team in Paris 1924, where he qualified for the long jump and triple jump (reportedly there were other events in which, as a Black man, he was not permitted to compete).
With a long jump distance of 24 feet 5 inches, he was literal leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. His jump clinched the win and made Hubbard the first African American ever to win gold in an individual event. It was a huge accomplishment in itself, and certainly a historic one at a time when rules and prejudice kept many Black athletes out of sports altogether.
Hubbard went on to set a long jump world record at the 1925 NCAA championship (and tied the record for the 100-yard dash). And in 1928, he once again qualified to represent team U.S.A. in Amsterdam.
Hubbard was laid to rest in Highland Park Cemetery in Ohio. For his contributions to his sport, he was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, as well as the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. An athletic scholarship was created in his honor in 2010.
Alice Walker – Fencing, Great Britain
Paris 1924 saw the first appearance of a women’s fencing event, and one of its competitors was British foil fighter Alice Walker.
Walker wrote extensively about women’s fencing, a favorite subject that she staunchly defended. In the early decades of the 20th century, the public was slowly growing out of the belief that women were too weak for physical activity. But the sentiment still lingered. Walker insisted that, as sports go, it was a good one for both health and happiness—and she was sure to clarify that despite the supposed masculinity of fencing, women would be able to retain their “womanliness.”
It must have been a thrill for Walker to see fencing added to the Paris lineup in 1924. At that time, Walker was forty-eight years old and on the waning end of her foil fighting years. But that didn’t stop her from continuing to challenge perceptions as one of twenty-six women fencers who competed for gold.
While Walker did not advance beyond her starting pool, her influence was clear in the presence of her teammates. Many of them were there at all because they’d first been inspired by her writing.
Johnny Weissmuller – Swimming, U.S.A.
You know Tarzan’s characteristic yodeling yell? That’s thanks in part to Johnny Weissmuller, who today is remembered primarily for his acting career. He played the titular role in 1932’s Tarzan the Ape Man, which first featured the sound that has stuck with Tarzan to this day.
But eight years before he became “King of the Apes,” Weissmuller was in Paris, wowing the world as a team U.S.A. swimmer. He broke records with his wins in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyles, then secured a third gold with his team in the 4×200-meter relay.
By the time he retired from swimming at age thirty-six, Weissmuller had won five golds, broken sixty-seven world records, and never lost a race. His acting career took him through twelve Tarzan movies, sixteen Jungle Jim movies, and twenty-six episodes on the Jungle Jim TV show before his retirement in 1957.
At his 1984 burial in Cementerio Valle de la Luze in Acapulco de Juarez, Mexico, Weissmuller was honored with a 21-gun salute. And perhaps more personally, he was lowered into his grave to a recording of his distinctive Tarzan yell, played three times by his own request.
These are just a few of the thousands of stories lived by the roster of athletes who found themselves in Paris one hundred years ago. More can be found in this search, if you’re interested to dive into more sports history research.
What are some of your favorite stories from past competitions? Or perhaps you have some athletes in your family history with inspiring tales of their own? Let us know!
What a lovely email. Many thanks for the information and no doubt the work that others have done. Great read.
Fantastic read! I also thought of Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, who also competed in the 1924 Olympics, winning three medals and continuing on later to swim the English Channel. (a movie was recently made called “The Young Woman and the Sea”) So great to read and learn about these athletes, thank you!
We don’t forget. Sylvie (France)
Nous n’oublions pas. Sylvie (France)
Thank you for this. Fascinating!
Because of Find-a-Grave, gone but not forgotten sports heroes!
These wonderful athletes achieved well earned recognition for their achievements. I pray they haven’t seen what happened to the Olympics.
Thanks for the excellent article, especially with the Paris 1924 running champions. I am surprised that Dehart Hubbard has an unmarked grave; is the exact location of his mortal remains known within Highland Park Cemetery? I am in the UK, but someone geographically closer with sports loyalties should give him a burial plaque.
Thank you for this email. I found the information very interesting.
Wonderful article. Thanks for making us remember.
Thank you for the email, I would like to add Eulace Peacock, a track star in the 1930s. He was even faster than Track and Field Legend Jesse Owens.
Quite interesting. I’ll pass the info along to some of my “sports friends”. I have many. 100 years is not so long ago.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
This was such a fitting email coming while the 2024 Olympic Games are actually being played. The man (Pierre de Coubertin) who thought up the whole idea of the modern day Olympics is the article about the interesting memorial and it was very interesting.
Thank you for all who worked on this – much appreciated.
Another name from the 1924 Olympics is Arthur Porritt, who won the bronze medal in the 100m race made famous in “Chariots of Fire” but for legal reasons they could not use his name in the film. He went on to a glittering career as Surgeon to the English Royal Family and later he became the Governor General of New Zealand, his homeland. And then there is Benjamin Spock, who won gold with the US eights rowing team in Paris and went on to become probably the most famous pediatrician in the world and wrote the book on childcare.
My father’s second cousin, William Kenneth Bartlett, was a US discus thrower in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, placing 5th. He had thrown the discus and played football for University of Oregon, including their 1917 win in the Rose Bowl. He took a leave from school to enlist during WWI, serving in Europe. He returned to UO to finish his degree and play in tjhe 1920 Rose Bowl. His second place finish in discus at the AAU championship earned him a place on the Olympic team.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/263654512/william-kenneth-bartlett
Weissmuller was more likely honored by a 7-rifle volley, not a 21-gun salute, which is usually reserved for heads of state and involves the firing of artillery (“gun” in military usage refers to only a large-bore weapon). This is a common mistake in obituaries.
While not an Olympian, Edward “Ned” Trickett FG Memorial 246157931, of Australia was the World Champion Sculler from 1876-1880.
James Leslie “Les” Darcy FG 48629368 was the World Middleweight Boxing Champion prior to WWI.
This Olympic story about tennis, which has been a part of my long life, caught my eye. I did not play but I spent many hours watching my husband, Don Skakle, and sons, Andrew and Clifford, play.
Sybil Austin Skakle
More than a decade before he competed in Paris, Richard Norris Williams and his father, Charles, were passengers aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic. Charles would not survive the disaster—Williams watched one of the ship’s huge funnels crash into the water where his father swam, mere feet away.
Williams was fortunate to be rescued, but frostbite had damaged his legs. Doctors recommended amputation. It was news the tennis champion refused to accept. He paced the deck of the rescue boat every two hours until feeling came tingling back into his limbs.
In Paris 1924, with several more championship wins to his name, Williams and his partner Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman achieved ultimate victory in the mixed doubles tournament. The win was a testament to human will, and triumph after tragedy.
I love these informational tidbits you provide to coincide with special events or holidays. They teach me new things and put a smile on my face. We can all use both of those on a regular basis. Keep them coming… always something to look forward to!
I discovered how I am related to the great Pudge Heffelfinger (10th cousin) the first professional football player through Find a Grave, Ancestry, and Newspapers. com. I grew up in Dillsburg, PA never knowing how I was connected to the Heffelfingers who lived in my area. After I made this connection, I not only figured out that I am related to him, but how I was related to Heffelfingers in many other places. Last summer, I wrote an article in the Dillsburg Banner newspaper about making the connection.
I would add Sybil Bauer. Won gold in the backstroke. Broke 23 world records in her lifetime and even once beat the men’s record for the 440 backstroke (non-sanctioned event). She was engaged to Ed Sullivan, when she passed away at 23 years old 🙁
I loved your article but would like to add something.
I went to high school with a Peter Svikis. The surname is Latvian and between the wars Latvia was an independent country. His father Karl represented his country in basketball at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. After the war he escaped and went to Denmark and then sailed to Brisbane but then moved south to New South Wales where he spent the rest of his life.
Reading this reminded me of a discovery of an Olympian in my own family tree. David Connolly Hall won a bronze medal in the 1900 Paris Olympics in the 800 meter race. He won bronze even after running half of the race wearing only one shoe. He lost the other shoe after the runner behind him stepped on his heel, causing his shoe to fly off. Pretty amazing. I learned this through this article: https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/david-c-halls-legend-lives-on-in-renamed-building-after-hall-health-rebrands-as-husky-health-center/#cb=