Was the heatwave going to make the marathon “a race to the death”? – Liberation

2024-05-03 08:20:00

1924-2024, the Olympic Games in Paris

A century ago, France hosted the Summer Games. And the press at the time was alarmed at the risks that the organizers were putting the athletes in in a month of July that was turning into a slump.

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With RetroNewsthe BNF press site, a look back at the 1924 Paris Games as the press of the time reported them.

But who could say one day that the Breton climate was rotten? It has been good to live in Brittany for a long time, it can even be hot there. The proof ? L’Ouest-Eclair (ancestor of Ouest-France) wrote in its edition of July 13, 1924 that it is warmer in Rennes (29 °C) than 1,200 kilometers further south, in Antibes, and that Celtic nights display the same temperatures as the Occitanes. Highly symbolic consequence: “As a result of the heat wave, the July 14 review will be canceled or brought forward [plus tôt dans la journée].» The problem is taken seriously up to the top of the State, since in the Senate, Edouard Herriot, President of the Council, raised it, authorizing the commanders of the army corps to eliminate magazines in the provinces in the event of excessive heat .

So it’s July 13th. Eight days earlier, the Paris Olympics officially started, where people were also sweating. The press is worried. “It’s enough for the Olympic Games to be an oven without making it a massacre,” storms the Work on its front page. The main source of concern is the athletes engaged in long races, first and foremost the marathon which must be run the same evening to close the athletics events. The Work, progressive, support of the left cartel in 1924 then of the Popular Front, does not hesitate: “Will the marathon race be a race to death?” “The suffocating heat that we are experiencing draws attention to this competition, the severity of which will be aggravated by a dangerous temperature.” The organizers have certainly postponed the start from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. but “is this arrangement sufficient?” asks the daily, which recalls that the day before, the cross-country event turned into a game of massacre: “It put several runners in great danger. One of these had to be transported, in poor condition, to Beaujon hospital. Out of forty starters, three-quarters gave up, asphyxiated by the heat.”

This 10-kilometre cross-country race brought down drops of sweat but also a lot of ink. That of the Excelsior, for example, which describes scenes of the apocalypse. “I would rather go to forced labor than run an Olympic cross in this heat,” an American runner who had reached the end of the effort told the newspaper. “Many competitors gave up during the first kilometers,” says the daily founded in 1910, which revolutionized the French press with the widespread attention given to photography. Wide, the great Swedish runner, suffering from sunstroke, had to be taken to hospital.” Ditto for the Frenchman Lausseig. As for his compatriot Marchal, “completely groggy he fell as if dead 25 meters from the post”. Bad publicity for the sport considers the newspaper, which emphasizes: “Cross-country is a winter sport and the members of the International Federation who let this race go have done considerable harm to the sport.” A winter sport played at 32.9°C, look for the mistake.

This cross under a blazing sun was a “real ordeal” but “seems to have made known the limits of human courage”, admires the Echo of Algiers of July 14. The runners “found, in the hollow paths at the start of their journey, nests of heat which constituted real furnaces”: “There was certainly, in this cross, a struggle of the athletes’ muscles but above all there was a struggle of wills. The task imposed was so formidable that it caused countless casualties.” As for those who have drawn from the depths of their will and their courage the strength to go to the end of the 10 kilometers, the newspaper describes them curiously (original exclamation points): “What poor people, what great athletes! these exhausted people approaching the post! What great children in their valour!”

Retrolympic precedents

And the marathon finally? He ran while “Paris was dancing in the shade at 33 degrees”: “The sky was as fiery as that of Hellas [les provinces centrales de la Grèce antique, ndlr]», Describes the Quotidien of July 14. Paris-Soir speaks of “Senegalese temperature”. But no drama like during cross-country. “In spite of the heat [somme toute très supportable, avec 25,1°C], no accident occurred,” reported La Croix on July 15, which welcomed the fact that the start of the race had been postponed to 5:30 p.m. “The marathon was in no way tragic,” welcomed Le Petit Journal the day after the ‘test. Obviously, it was cooler and less muggy than the day before.” Almost the ideal time to take out a marathon runner. “All those who had witnessed the dramatic end of the cross-country race the day before were overcome with understandable anxiety,” recalls the Journal. Was this marathon going to turn into a disaster? […] Fortunately, the scorching sun of the day before was less fierce. […] The race was able to take place not only without any accident but even in the best conditions we could have dreamed of.”

The 1924 Olympic marathon champion is named Albin Stenroos. A Finn like Paavo Nurmi, gold medalist in the 1500, 5000 m, cross-country, and Ville Ritola first in the 3000 m steeplechase and 10,000 m. These gold mongers also won the 3,000m and team cross-country races. They were nicknamed “the Flying Finns”. Men who came from the cold stronger than the heatwave. Perhaps the magic of the Olympic Games.