USC is about to celebrate a 100-year Summer Olympics anniversary in Paris

The 2024 Summer Olympics start later this July in Paris. It was 100 years ago that the 1924 Summer Olympics were held in Paris. USC made history in the person of Charley Paddock. The 100-year anniversary of his special Olympic moment will be celebrated. Here’s what Trojans of all ages will be celebrating in a few weeks in France:

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Charley Paddock ran against (Eric) Liddell in the men’s 200 meter final. Paddock didn’t win the gold medal — United States teammate Jackson Scholz did — but Paddock beat out Liddell for the silver medal. Liddell claimed a bronze in that race before winning the 400 meter gold medal, a supreme triumph which lent weight and resonance to the story portrayed in “Chariots of Fire.”

(Harold) Abrahams joined Liddell as an Olympic champion by winning the men’s 100 meters at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Paddock, trying to defend his 1920 gold medal from the Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium, moved through the preliminary, quarterfinal, and semifinal heats to return to the final, but Abrahams beat him and the rest of the field to claim Olympic glory.

Paddock added to his medal count at the 1924 Olympics. He gained the distinction of having medaled in two separate Olympic Games, a fact which separates him from numerous Olympians in the larger scope of Olympic history.

Charley Paddock competed — and medaled — against the two athletes at the center of the story which became the movie “Chariots Of Fire.” This will certainly be discussed at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

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