Nurmi

The Flying Finns Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola dominated middle-and long-distance racing, and long-jumper William de Hart-Hubbard was the first black man to win an event.

An astonishing performer, Nurmi added another three gold medals to his tally in the individual cross country, team cross country and the 3,000m team event.

Nurmi was already a three-time Olympic champion when he arrived in Paris in 1924, having won gold in the 10,000m, individual cross country and team cross country in Antwerp in 1920.

The athlete who most closely challenged Nurmi’s greatness in Paris was his compatriot Ville Ritola, who won gold in the 10,000m by half a lap and broke his own world record by more than 12 seconds.

Ritola added gold medals in the 3,000m steeplechase, 3,000m team event and the team cross country, also taking silver in the individual cross country and 5,000m, finishing 0.2 seconds behind Nurmi in the latter.