Europe is still trying to heal its wounds from the tragic effects of WWI and it doesn’t seem to mind that someone by the name Adolph Hitler is convicted for five years in prison for the notorious episodes in a Munich pub, where he writes his book "Mein Kempf". America is still swaying between its existing power and its effort to persecute professors that were teaching the Darwin theories. Paris nevertheless, still has a shade of light on its horizon, and the Baron Couberten had expressed his wish for the Games to be held once again in Paris.

The French were desperate to erase the memories of the unsuccessful Olympiad of 1900. They built a fantastic stadium for 60.000 spectators with the appropriate infrastructure and for the first organized the presence of the media. The IOC created an international board for the appeals. The scenery was ideal.

In the 1924 Olympic Games, many athletes rose to stardom. Among them were the "Flying Fin" Paavo Nurmi, the "Hollywood Tarzan" Johnny Waismuller, Harold Abraham and Eric Linde. It was also the time for the first Afro-American gold medallist, William Dehart in the long jump with 7.44m.

Waismuller made history by winning three gold medals in the 100m, 400m and 4X200m. Paavo Nurmi a son of a lumberjack was discovered during an army expedition where he was asked to walk a 20Km distance with full apparel. He ran the distance. Nurmi was the star athlete and was expected to win every competition he was participating in. The IAAF in a desperate move to make the Fin’s mission impossible changed the race schedule and placed the finals of the 1500m and the 5000m one hour apart. Nurmi was participating in those events as well as the 3000m and the 10000m cross-country. He was disappointed that the Finish federation prohibited him from competing in the 10000m the excuse they gave him is that he would get exhausted in the remaining races. Nurmi thought not.

Nurmi’s historical week began like this:

• 6th July. Ville Ritola his compatriot athlete with whom Nurmi never had a good relationship, was breaking the world record in the 10000m, Nurmi ran faster than him in the practice track.
• 10th July. Won the 1500m by a huge margin, always checking his watch in order to keep up with the pace. One hour later Nurmi competes in the 5000m and wins the race on the final lap.
• 11th July. Finally in the 10000m cross-country, Paavo Nurmi competes in the race where 39 runners will give up during the race mid-way due to exhaustion. The athletes that crossed the finish line, collapsed immediately. Nurmi finishes the race first with a large margin and continues to run, saluting the crowd. He was the first athlete to take of his shoes and throw them to the spectators making him the superstar of the Paris Games.