Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's individual cross country

The men's individual cross country event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was the third and last appearance of this event. The competition was held on Saturday, July 12, 1924. Thirty-eight runners from ten nations competed.[1]

Men's individual cross country
at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
1924 individual cross country race. The left trio is Edvin Wide, Ville Ritola and Paavo Nurmi
VenueStade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
DateJuly 12
Competitors38 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Paavo Nurmi
 Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ville Ritola
 Finland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Earl Johnson
 United States
← 1920

Results

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The first three runners for each nation to finish this event also counted towards the cross country team result.

The course was 10,650 metres (6.62 mi) in length.[2]

The course was unusually difficult, including stone paths that were covered in knee-high thistles and weeds. This, combined with extreme weather conditions of over 40 °C and noxious fumes emitted from a power plant near the course, resulted in only 15 of the 38 starters crossing the finish line.[3] After the event, both the Red Cross and local police spent hours searching for runners who had passed out on the course.[3]

Place Athlete Time
1   Paavo Nurmi (FIN) 32:54.8
2   Ville Ritola (FIN) 34:19.4
3   Earl Johnson (USA) 35:21.0
4   Ernie Harper (GBR) 35:45.4
5   Henri Lauvaux (FRA) 36:44.8
6   Arthur Studenroth (USA) 36:45.4
7   Carlo Martinenghi (ITA) 37:01.0
8   August Fager (USA) 37:40.6
9   Len Richardson (RSA) 37:46.0
10   Gaston Heuet (FRA) 37:52.0
11   James Henigan (USA) 38:00.0
12   Heikki Liimatainen (FIN) 38:18.0
13   Fabián Velasco (ESP) 39:07.6
14   Miguel Peña (ESP) 41:34.0
15   Maurice Norland (FRA) 41:48.3
  José Andía (ESP) DNF
  Arthur Sewell (GBR) DNF
  John Gray (USA) DNF
  Robert Marchal (FRA) DNF
  Edvin Wide (SWE) DNF
  Väinö Sipilä (FIN) DNF
  Sven Thuresson (SWE) DNF
  John Benham (GBR) DNF
  Verne Booth (USA) DNF
  John Ryan (IRL) DNF
  Sidon Ebeling (SWE) DNF
  Gösta Bergström (SWE) DNF
  Eino Rastas (FIN) DNF
  André Lauseig (FRA) DNF
  Jesús Diéguez (ESP) DNF
  Carlo Speroni (ITA) DNF
  Amador Palma (ESP) DNF
  Eero Berg (FIN) DNF
  Eddie Webster (GBR) DNF
  Lucien Dolquès (FRA) DNF
  Joseph Williams (GBR) DNF
  Alfredo Gomes (BRA) DNF
  Miguel Palau (ESP) DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1924 Paris Games: Men's Cross-Country, Individual". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ Hutchinson, Andrew Boyd (7 January 2020). "The 1924 Olympic Cross Country Course — Colombes, France". Medium.
  3. ^ a b Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of The Olympics. United States: Penguin Books. p. 118. ISBN 0140066322.
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