1924 Paris Summer Olympic Opening Ceremony

www.olympicceremony.org
1920 Antwerp - Amsterdam 1928

The Games of the VIII Olympiad

Paris, France
1924

The 1924 Olympic Stadium in Paris

Olympic Ceremony Records
italics indicate records at the time

• First City to Host Two Official Summer Olympic Games (1900,1924)
• First Country to Host Two Official Summer Olympic Games (1900, 1924)
• First Country to Host Three Olympic Games (1900, 1924 Winter, 1924)
• First Use of a Canon (canons were also used in the Closing Ceremony of 1920 Antwerp)
• First Use of Loudspeakers
• Last Olympics Without an Olympic Flame
• Most Nations Participating (44) - previous Antwerp 1920 (29)
• Most Athletes Participating (3,089) - previous Antwerp 1920 (2,626)

Opening Ceremony

Stade Olympique (45,000)
July 5, 1924

Video

Official Report
(many pictures of the Opening Ceremony are found in this report - click the black arrow in the right-hand corner to see a larger view)

Opening Ceremony Highlights

The Opening Ceremony of the 1924 Olympics solidified the rituals that began with the 1920 Antwerp Games.  This ceremonial program would be followed for several decades, and beginning with these Olympics you will slowly be able to see a crescendo of artistic elements that will eventually lead to the ultra-elaborate ceremonies of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in Nazi-controlled Germany.  The 1924 Paris games will be the last Olympics without an Olympic Flame.

• Church Service at Notre Dame Cathedral, along with a Protestant service as well
• French President and dignitaries meet at L'Elysee Palace to parade to the Stadium
• French President Arrives at the Stadium
• The Parade of Nations enters through the giant "Marathon Door" at the Olympic Stadium
• Band music plays during the Parade
• Airplane Flyover
• French President declares the Games open
• Trumpet fanfare and canon blasts
• Olympic Flag raised
• Doves released
• All the national flags form a semicircle around an athlete who takes the Athlete's Oath on loudspeakers for the first time
• 500 person choir performs (song unknown)

Photos

Gold Medal of the 1924 Paris Olympics

Opening Ceremony of the 1924 Olympics in Paris

Official Poster of the 1924 Olympics in Paris

OLYMPIC CEREMONY DATABASE

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1900 Paris Summer Olympic Opening Ceremony

www.olympicceremony.org
Athens 1896 - St. Louis 1904

The Games of the II Olympiad

Paris, France
1900

Tug of War competition in the 1900 Olympics

Olympic Ceremony Records 
italics indicate records at the time

• First Olympics Without an Opening Ceremony
• First Olympics Held as Part of the World's Fair
• First Olympics that Women Competed
• Most Countries Participating (24) - previous Athens 1896 (14)
• Most Athletes Participating (997) - previous Athens 1896 (241)
• Most Olympic Events (95) - previous Athens 1896 (43)

Opening Ceremony

No official Opening Ceremony

Video

No official Opening Ceremony

Official Report

Opening Ceremony Highlights

The 1900 Olympic Games took place during the Paris World Exhibition of 1900.  These massively outshone the games and with the poor organization, it nearly killed the Olympic movement.  Even though there were no opening ceremonies, I did find the following ceremony for the Archery events in the Official Report.  This was the first time Archery would be a part of the Olympics.  Even though it is in French, I will give some of the details below in English:

• Archery was one of the first events of the games; the Archery Parade Grand Prix of the Exposition took place on May 27
• Instead of competing as nations, the competitors paraded with their professional archer company
• The parade consisted of 178 companies of archers and 25 crossbow companies
• 1,723 company members marched in the parade
• 182 flags were marched (some hundreds of years old - part of the old archer companies)
• 4 marching bands paraded
• 2,000 military gunmen marched in the parade
• The parade was 3km in length and started at noon, arriving at the shooting range at 1:00.
• 4,000 people were in attendance at the shooting range
• President of the Competition M. Jay, opened the games, and archers launched arrows into the sky
• 200 bronze medals were distributed to the participating companies
• Archery competitions lasted 48 days

Photos

Velodrome of Vincennes - home to many events of the Paris 1900 games

Olympic Victory Plaque
(not officially a medal, but this is the first gold Olympic victory prize)

Olympic Poster

OLYMPIC CEREMONY DATABASE

SUMMER

1896 1900 1904 Intercalated 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952
1956 Equestrian 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

WINTER

1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 20141980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006
2010 2014 2018