Games of two eras

After a century, the Summer Games are returning to Paris. The world has changed significantly in the intervening years, with the emergence of new countries and a more diverse group of competitors taking part across a wide array of sporting disciplines.

This visual explainer will explore the most remarkable changes in sports disciplines and athletes competing at the Games over the past hundred years.

The seventh Summer Games of the modern era took place just six years after the end of the First World War, despite the lingering economic and social turmoil in Europe. Paris hosted the Olympics for a second time, the first having been in 1900. In 1924, it welcomed more than 2,000 athletes from 44 countries; this year, over 8,000 athletes from 206 countries will attend the Games.

As the host of the 1924 Summer Games, the city cemented its status as a premier stage for the world's greatest athletic competition.

Paris Olympics venue locations

The 1924 Olympics were hosted in 21 venues (all within the city), with 12 of those still in use today. This year’s edition will feature a total of 35 venues - 13 in Paris, 12 in the Île-de-France region, and 10 located in the rest of the country, including Tahupoo in Tahiti.

The Olympic Sports

Honouring the past, embracing the future

In 1924, athletics was the flagship event, featuring sprinting, jumping and throwing disciplines. Swimming, featuring freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke, also featured prominently.

The athletic outfit is one of the most significant changes since 1924. Back then, clothes were often tailored with traditional materials not always suitable for high-level competition, without the advanced technological features found in modern sportswear.

Over the past century, athletic apparel has undergone a dramatic transformation. Today's outfits are designed with cutting-edge materials and technologies to enhance athlete performance, comfort, and mobility.

The thrilling rivalry between American and British sprinters was a highlight of the track and field events in that era. In the subsequent years, advancements in athlete training methodologies and the development of more sophisticated equipment have enabled significant improvements in the record times for running disciplines.

The swimming events took place in an outdoor 50-metre pool. This pool length was the standard used for major international competitions at the time.

The average speed record in 1924 was 29.58 km/h, while the current record speed has almost doubled to 56.02 km/h.

Heavy wooden racquets and tight strings stood in stark contrast to modern equipment. Players relied more on power than precision, and the pace of play was slower than now.

From the equipment to the scoring protocols, Olympic boxing has undergone substantial technological and regulatory changes since its 1924 event, reflecting the evolution of the sport over the past century.

Heavier, less manoeuvrable foils and épées were used, compared to the lighter, more responsive weapons used in modern competitions. Scoring was often a subjective assessment by judges, lacking electronic scoring and technological support.

In the 1920s, gymnasts performed relatively simple vaults, focusing primarily on a straight-body entry and limited twisting or rotation. This stood in stark contrast to the complex, high-flying vaults seen in modern gymnastics competitions.

Both games in numbers

Events by year