The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

by Jim McKinnon, co-chair Advocacy and Outreach.

The theme for this year’s archive’s month poster is O-H-I-Olympics, most of you, if not all, should have received your posters by now so the theme is not a surprise. The Summer Olympics this past summer were held in Paris where athletes from around the world competed for a gold, silver or bronze medal. 2024 wasn’t the only time that Paris was the host city for a summer games. In 1900 Paris hosted, but also in 1924, 100 years ago. How did the games 100 years ago compare to the games of this year? Were there similarities or glaring differences?

In 1924, Paris became the first city to host the games twice when it hosted the VIII Summer Olympics Games. In 2024 when the city hosted the XXXIII Games, it became the second city to host the summer Olympics three times. Perhaps one of the biggest differences in the two games is how long they lasted. The 1924 games started on May 4, but the opening ceremony wasn’t held until July 5. The games lasted until July 27. It’s not uncommon for Olympic games to start before the opening ceremony, however, it’s usually a day or two before the opening ceremony, not two months. Earlier this year the Paris games officially opened on Friday July 26, but some of the game started two days prior.

In 1924 the world population was much less than it is today, world travel was a luxury not everyone had access to and the newly formed American Olympic Association was only three years old, as one may imagine the number of athletes and spectators who could go to the Olympics was limited. There were only 3,088 athletes at the 1924 games and only 229 from the United States. There were a total of 44 teams and 126 events. Compared to the games 100 years prior, the 2024 games seem huge – there were 10,714 athletes, 329 events and over 200 teams. And speaking of spectators, there are no reports of celebrities at the 1924 games, but at the 2024 games it seemed that finding celebrities in the crowd could have been a new sport introduced this year – there were sightings of Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart, Tony Hawk, Seth Rogan, Tom Cruise, First Lady Jill Biden, Kendall Jenner, Mariska Hargitay and Bill Gates. However, in 1924, celebrity to be, American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller won 3 gold medals in swimming and one bronze for water polo, later won 2 more gold medals in 1928 then became famous for playing Tarzan of the Apes in 12 movies.

In 1924 the television was still three years from being invented, so how did anyone outside of Paris know what was going on at the Olympics? Well, broadcast radio, of course! Radio Paris was born in 1923 and was able to provide live sports commentary by journalist Edmond Dehorter. Each evening the BBC summarized the day’s events, broadcasting as far as they could. Radio provided a recap of the day’s events and when the results reached the United States it could have been a day or more later. In contrast, the 2024 Olympics were broadcast almost 24 hours a day. I remember waking up at 4:30 some mornings and catching events happening live in Paris. They were shown again later in the day, but watching them live first thing in the morning was exciting. And it wasn’t just one channel where the Olympics were being shown, all of the NBC affiliates or networks owned by NBS had Olympic coverage. Anyone could watch some of the Olympics if they chose.

Each of the Paris games had their “firsts.” The 1924 Paris games were the first to have an official closing ceremony, which has now become one of the highlights of the games for host cities. 1924 was also the first Olympics where an African American man won an individual gold medal. DeHart Hubbard won in the long jump. Also in 1924 was the first time there was an Olympic Village for athletes to stay in while competing. In 2024 the games aimed to be the most sustainable games ever with an emissions reduction strategy and aimed to deliver a 55% smaller carbon footprint than the 2012 London games, which has been seen as a reference for sustainable games. They were the first to offer a Clean Transport Policy where 100% of spectators traveled to venues by public transport, bike or walked; any ticket holder was given free access to the Paris zero emissions bus fleet. Also the Olympic Village was a showcase of sustainable development with low carbon and eco designed buildings, using 100% renewable energy and having a zero waste policy strategy; construction was also minimal, 95% of the venues were existing or temporary. This year, for the first time ever the opening ceremony this year was held outside a stadium, athletes were paraded on boats along the Seine. Also the 2024 games were the first games to reach full gender parity with equal numbers of male and female athletes.

In both Paris games the United States took home the most medals. In 1924 the US had a total of 99 medals and in 2024, 125.

The Olympic Games continue to be the highlight of many athletes’ careers. While there’s speculation that the games are less exciting, or less attended or even less important, the changes from the 1924 games to the 2024 games show that the host cities take many things into consideration when planning their games. The host city literally becomes the host of the entire world for a two week period and for some folks, the world stops during those weeks to absorb all that’s happening in the games. I’ve never been to an Olympic Games, but 2028 will be back in the US, in Los Angeles and I think I may have to go!!

Oh! One more first….and hopefully last from the 2024 games…..Break dancing…I don’t think anyone will miss that!