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Instagram was not around, movie making was strictly black and white, Basque Pelota was among the official disciplines which included as well Art Competitions, a performing event where writers, painters, architects and sculptors were exposing their artworks at the Grand Palais, aiming for a gold medal.
Not far from the amazing Art Nouveau building a bunch of hopeful sport journalists created what is today one the most relevant association in the world, AIPS.
CONDITIONS Yet by 1924, the Olympics were approaching professionalism in Paris, making the setup ideal for those pioneers to inaugurated AIPS journey. Believe it or not, the job of covering the Games as a reporter was not much different compared with today’s Olympics. Readers all over the world were craving info about superstars. The fanaticism surrounding athletes of the caliber of Johnny Weissmuller was not different from today’s fascination for LeBron James or Simone Biles. In fact, a century ago, swimming epitomized the Roaring Twenties. It was an era of fast music, fast vehicles – and fast swimmers. Swimming was sort of an unexpected star of the Games. Yet if the battle for bragging rights in the pool was stiffer than ever, it was also occurring under more equal conditions. In a first, elite swimmers of different races got star billing at an Olympic final – a challenge to the era’s popular pseudoscience of eugenics and widespread anti-immigration sentiment in the US, for example. The City of Light had a brand-new swimming stadium, the Piscine des Tourelles, which remains in existence. The pool boasted marked lanes and the venue had a capacity of more than 10,000. In another first for swimming, the men’s 100m freestyle final would have a live broadcast.
TARZAN Johnny Weissmuller was not yet the legendary Tarzan on-screen – he would land that role in 1932 – he ended winning the 100m sprint final in an Olympic record of 59.0 seconds. In total, he won three golds – he also grabbed victories in the 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay – and a bronze that year.
At that time, many sport lovers would learn about Games’ performances a few days later, the telegraph was the grandfather of twitter, but the excitement created was equal – if not superior – to the one caused today by social media.
That first ever live broadcast possibly made Weissmuller the gigantic figure we still revere today. It was a brilliant journalistic intuition, the pillar of modern broadcasting.
Amazing profiles emerged from those Games thanks to high quality writers as the one of Rick Norris Williams, a survivor from Titanic tragedy who refused to have his legs amputated and went on winning the gold medal in tennis in Paris, 12 years after the disaster.
RIVALRY The stories about the majestic rivalry between Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams in athletics inspired 60 years later a filmmaker in Hollywood, who turned those reports into a Award Winning script, Chariots of Fire.
What will take place on August 6th at the UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, will not just be the celebration of 100 years of professional progress. Apart from presenting their collaboration within the framework of the Fit for Life Alliance, AIPS will honor veteran journalists who have covered 10 or more Olympic Games. More important, AIPS will take in advantage of this prestigious opportunity to renew the pledge for good, fair and independent journalism for the 100 years to come.
Riccardo Romani – AIPS Media Photo by Getty Images
