1920 - Antwerp

The 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium April 20 - September 12, 1920 Mascot - none 29 countries, 2669 athletes (78 women) 19 sports (+2 winter sports), 156 events Opening - King Albert I of Belgium Torch lit by - none Candidates: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Budapest, Cleveland, La Havana, Lyon, Philadelphia Doves of peace After an interruption of eight years due to the First World War, the Olympic Games returned to action in Antwerp. The Belgian city, which had been severely bombarded during the war, was chosen to host the Games shortly after the end of the conflict. The Games did not welcome Germany and its allies, and would be organized with one underlying necessity for the 29 nations involved: austerity. In some senses this Olympiad was historic: the five-ringed Olympic flag and oath - pronounced by Belgian fencer Victor Boin - made their first appearance (even though the oath had been read during the intercalated games in 1906). Another innovation was the public's involvement in the releasing of hundreds of doves during the opening ceremony, symbolizing the return of peace to the continent of Europe. The United States came top with 40 gold medals, with a total of 94, although the athletics events were ill-attended, notably due to the elevated price of tickets for the competitions. One surprise victor was Finland, mostly thanks to a young long distance specialist - a 23-year-old who won three gold medals and one silver, a certain Paavo Nurmi. The other big Finnish name at these Games was Hannes Kolehmainen, who, having won the 5000 and 10,000 metres in 1912, went on to win the marathon event. As in Stockholm, the Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku was the fastest in the 100m freestyle, while the Italian fencer Nedo Nadi left Antwerp with five titles. His brother Aldo had to make do with 'only' three team titles and an individual silver medal in the sabre event. American boxer Edward Eagan, who won an Olympic title in the light-heavyweight category, became the only athlete to win both summer and winter Olympic titles after his bobsleigh gold medal with three other team members during the Games in Lake Placid (1932). Suzanne Lenglen, the Frenchwoman whose tennis skills had graced and won titles at Wimbledon, went to the Antwerp Games with one aim in mind. In the ten sets played on her journey to olympic gold, the "divine" Lenglen lost only four games. Overall, the first post-war Games of the modern era allowed the peoples of Europe to find hope and strength in a sporting and spirited atmosphere. The 1920 Olympic Games followed closely the ending of World War I. The world had seen much bloodshed. Should the aggressors of the war be invited to the Olympic Games? The Olympic ideals stated that all countries should be allowed entrance into the Games. Though Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Hungary were not forbidden to come, they were also not sent an invitation by the Organizing Committee. These countries were again not invited to the 1924 Olympic Games. In addition, the newly formed Soviet Union decided not to attend. (Athletes from the Soviet Union did not reappear at the Olympics until 1952.) Since the war had ravaged throughout Europe, funding and materials for the Games was difficult to acquire. When the athletes arrived in Antwerp, construction had not been completed. Besides the stadium being unfinished, the athletes were housed in cramped quarters and slept on folding cots. Though this year was the first that the official Olympic flag was flown, not many were there to see it. The number of spectators was so low - mainly because people could not afford tickets after the war - that Belgium lost over 600 million francs from hosting the Games. On a more positive note, the 1920 Games was notable for the first appearance of Paavo Nurmi, one of the "Flying Finns." Nurmi was a runner who was ran like a mechanical man - body erect, always at an even pace. Nurmi even carried a stopwatch with him as he ran so that he could evenly pace himself. Nurmi returned to run in the 1924 and the 1928 Olympic Games winning, in total, seven gold medals. More than 2,500 athletes competed, representing 29 countries. ANTWERP 1920 GOLD MEDAL WINNERS 125 Men, 7 Women, 20 Open Events 2 Men, 1 Women, 1 Open Events (+ 2 Wintersports) Track Cycling, Freestyle Wrestling introduced 6 new sports - Archery, Boxing, Hockey, Rowing, Rugby, Weightlifting ARCHERY, Men Fixed Small Birds Target: Edmond van Moer, Belgium Fixed Small Birds Target Team: Belgium Fixed Large Birds Target: Edouard Cloetens, Belgium Fixed Large Birds Target Team: Belgium Moving Bird Target - 28m: Hubert van Innis, Belgium Moving Bird Target - 28m Team: The Netherlands Moving Bird Target - 33m: Hubert van Innis, Belgium Moving Bird Target - 33m Team: Belgium Moving Bird Target - 50m: Julien Brule, France Moving Bird Target - 50m Team: Belgium ATHLETICS, Men 100m: Charles Paddock, USA 200m: Allan Woodring, USA 400m: Bevil Rudd, South Africa 800m: Albert Hill, Great Britain 1500m: Albert Hill, Great Britain 5000m: Joseph Guillemot, France 10000m: Paavo Nurmi, Finland 4x100m: United States 4x200m: Great Britain 4x400m: Great Britain 110m Hurdles: Earl Thompson, Canada 400m Hurdles: Frank Loomis, USA 3km Walk: Ugo Frigerio, Italy 10km Walk: Ugo Frigerio, Italy 3000m Steeplechases: Percy Hodge, Great Britain 3000m Team Race: United States Individual Cross-Country: Paavo Nurmi, Finland Team Cross-Country: Finland Marathon: Hannes Kolehmainen, Finland Pentathlon: Eero Lehtonen, Finland Decathlon: Helge Lovland, Norway 25.4kg Weight Throw: Patrick McDonald, USA Discus: Elmer Niklander, USA Hammer Throw: Patrick Ryan, USA High Jump: Richmond Landon, USA Javelin: Jonni Myyra, Finland Long Jump: William Petersson, Sweden Pole Vault: Frank Foss, USA Shot Put: Ville Porhola, Finland Triple Jump: Vilo Tuulos, Finland Tug-of-War: Great Britain BOXING 50.8kg: Frank DiGennara, USA 53.5kg: Clarence Walker, South FAfrica 57.2kg: Paul Fritsch, France 61.2kg: Samuel A. Mosberg, USA 66.7kg: Alebrt Schneider, Canada 72.6kg: Harry Mallin, Great Britain 79.4kg: Edward Eagan, USA 79.4kg+: Ronald Rawson, Great Britain CYCLING, Men Road Race: Harry Stenqvist, Sweden Team Road Race: France 2000m Tandem Sprint: Harry Ryan/Thomas Lance, GBR 50km Track Race: Henry George, Belgium Sprint: Maurice Peeters, Netherlands Team Pursuit: Italy EQUESTRIAN, Open Ind. Dressage: Janne Lundblad, Sweden Ind. Jumping: Tommasso Lequio di Assaba, Italy Ind. 3-day Event: Graf Helmer Morner, Sweden Figure Riding: T. Bouckaert, Belgium Team Jumping: Sweden Team 3-day Event: Sweden Team Figure Riding: Belgium FENCING, Men Team Foil: Italy Team Epee: Italy Team Sabre: Hungary FIGURE SKATING [WINTER] Men: Gillis Grafstrom, Sweden Women: Magda Julin, Sweden Paris: Ludovika Jakobsson/Walter Jakobsson, Finland FOOTBALL Team, men: Belgium GYMNASTICS, Men Individual All-Around: Giorgio Zampori, Italy Team: Italy Team - Free System: Denmark Team - Swedish System: Sweden HOCKEY Field Team, men: Great Britain Ice Team, men: Canada [WINTER] MODERN PENTATHLON Individual: Gustaf Dyrssen, Sweden POLO Team, men: Great Britain ROWING, Men Single Sculls: John Kelly Sr., USA Double Sculls: John Kelly Sr./Paul Costello, USA Coxed Pair: Italy Coxed Four: Switzerland Eight: United States RUGBY Team, men: United Staetes SAILING, Open 6m Class, 1907: Belgium 6m Class: Norway 6.5m Class: Netherlands 7m Class: Great Britain 8m Class, 1907: Norway 8m Class: Norway 10m Class, 1907: Norway 10m Class, 1919: Norway 12m Class, 1907: Norway 12m Class, 1919: Norway M\FINN 12-ft Dinghy, 1920: Netherlands M\FINN 18-ft Dinghy: Great Britain 30 sq m Class: Sweden 40 sq m Class: Sweden SHOOTING, Men 100m Run/Deer Single Shot: Otto Olsen, Norway 100m Run/Deer Single Shot Team: Norway 100m Run/Deer Double Shot: Ole Andreas Lilloe-Olsen, NOR 100m Run/Deer Double Shot Team: Norway 25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Guilherme Paraense, Brazil 30m Rapid Fire Pistol Team: USA 50m Free Pistol: Karl Frederick, USA 50m Small-Bore Rifle Standing: Lawrence Nuesslein, USA 50m Small-Bore Rifle Team: United States 300m Military Rifle Prone: Otto Olsen, Norway 300m Military Rifle Prone Team: United States 300m Military Rifle Standing: Carl Osburn, USA 300m Military Rifle Standing Team: Denmark 600m Military Rifle Prone: Carl Hugo Johansson, Sweden 600m Military Rifle Prone Team: United States 300+600m Military Rifle Prone Team: United States 300m Free Rifle 3x40: Morris Fisher, USA 300m Free Rifle Team: United States Trap: Mark Arie, USA Trap Team: United States SWIMMING M\100m Freestyle: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, USA M\400m Freestyle: Norman Ross, USA M\1500m Freestyle: Norman Ross, USA M\100m Backstroke: Warren Paoa Kealoha, USA M\200m Breaststroke: Hakan Malmroth, Sweden M\400m Breaststroke: Hakan Malmroth, Sweden M\4x200m Freestyle Relay: United States M\3m Springboard: Louis Kuehn, USA M\10m Platform: Clarence Pinkston, USA M\Plain High Diving: Arvid Wallman, Sweden M\WATER POLO: Great Britain/Ireland W\100m Freestyle: Ethelda Bleibtrey, USA W\300m Freestyle: Ethelda Bleibtrey, USA W\4x100m Freestyle Relay: United States W\3m Springboard: Aileen Riggin, USA W\10m Platform: Stefani Fryland-Clausen, Denmark TENNIS M/Singles: Louis Raymond, South Africa M/Doubles: Noel Turnbull & Max Woosnam, GBR W/Singles: Suzanne Lenglen, France W/Doubles: Winifred McNair & Kitty McKane, GBR Mixed Doubles: Max Decugis & Suzanne Lenglen, France WEIGHTLIFTING 60kg: Francois de Haes, Belgium 67.5kg: Alfred Neuland, Estonia 75kg: Henri Gance, France 82.5kg: Ernest Cadine, France 82.5kg+: Filippo Bottino, Italy WRESTLING, FREESTYLE 60kg: Charles Edwin Ackerly, USA 67.5kg: Kaarlo Anttila, Finland 75kg: Eino Augusti Leino, Finland 82.5kg: Anders Larsson, Sweden 82.5kg+: Robert Roth, Switzerland WRESTLING, GRECO-ROMAN  62kg: Oskar David Friman, Finland 67.5kg: Emil Vare, Finland 75kg: Carl Oscar Westergren, Sweden 82.5kg: Claes Johanson, Sweden 82.5kg+: Adolf Valentin Lindfors, Finland