Paavo Nurmi Makes Paris a Test of Pace and Endurance

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Paavo Nurmi produced one of the most formidable displays of distance running in athletic history. On 10 July, the Finnish runner took the gold medal in the 1,500 metres, shattering the Olympic record by three seconds after setting a rapid pace in the opening laps. Less than two hours later, he returned to the track for the 5,000-metre final to face his compatriot Ville Ritola and Sweden's Edvin Wide. Believing Nurmi was weary, his competitors set off at a world-record tempo, prompting Nurmi to discard the stopwatch he usually carried and race them directly, holding off Ritola on the home straight to win by a single metre.

Two days later, Nurmi confronted the cross-country event under extreme conditions, in oppressive summer heat. The intense heat caused twenty-three of the thirty-eight competitors to abandon the race, with several collapsing or requiring stretchers. Nurmi crossed the finish line showing few outward signs of exhaustion, securing individual victory nearly a minute and a half clear of Ritola. When teammate Heikki Liimatainen overcame severe disorientation to finish twelfth, Finland also secured the team gold. The toll on the athletes proved so severe that Olympic organizers removed cross-country races from future Games.