He was Tennessee's first Olympic gold medalist — and he did it 100 years ago in Paris

When you think of Nashville and the Olympics, you might think of Wilma Rudolph and the TSU Tigerbelles track athletes of the 1960s, or of Nashville swimmer Tracy Caulkins' big wins in 1984.

This year, folks around here are excited to see what world-class swimmers and sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh , recent graduates of Nashville's Harpeth Hall, will do at the Paris Olympics.

Turns out that Tennessee's first-ever Olympics champion won his gold medal in Paris — exactly 100 years ago. But it wasn't in a pool or on a track.

Instead, well-known Nashville businessman and lawyer John H. Noel, an avid sportsman, shot his way into state history as part of the 1924 U.S. Clay Pigeon Shooting Team.

"The games were wonderful and were a real inspiration," Noel, then 36, told the Nashville Banner when he got back to the states.

"They make one prouder of his country and I am very proud that I had the privilege of representing my country on a winning team."

To mark the 100th anniversary of that win, Noel's grandsons donated the gold medal and the single-barrel trap shotgun their grandfather used to help the U.S. win to the Tennessee State Museum, which will display them later this week.

The grandsons, John Noel III, 80, and Lee Noel, 77, both Nashville real estate and investment businessmen, sat down with The Tennessean to talk about their grandfather's accomplishments and legacy in their family. Their information comes second hand — both grandsons were born after their Olympian grandfather died.

Who was John H. Noel Sr.?

Born in 1888 into a well-to-do Nashville family, Noel attended the Culver Military Academy, an Indiana boarding school that later would count country artist Dierks Bentley and late Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams as graduates.

Noel became a lawyer and started managing his family's trust. He also became an excellent shot with rifles and shotguns, often winning state and regional trap shooting contests.

In 1924, organizers of the U.S. Clay Pigeon Shooting Team were looking for geographic diversity among its six shooters, and Noel represented the South, Tennessee State Museum curator Matthew Gailani said.

Noel didn't meet the other five members of the team assembled for the Olympics until they gathered in New York in late May 1924 for the steamboat trip to Europe.

Noel's wife, Frances, went with him to Europe.

A few years after returning from the Olympics, Noel and his brother, Oscar, built and operated the luxury Noel Hotel at Fourth and Church, part of a 1930 boom of hotels and department stores going up in downtown Nashville. That hotel is the precursor to the current Noelle Hotel.

The Noels had one child, a son, John H. Noel Jr., who became a businessman and a track star who still holds the Vanderbilt University record in the 440 yard (quarter mile) dash at 47.8 seconds, John Noel III said. (The world record is 44.5 seconds.)

John Noel Sr. died in 1939 at age 51.

The trip to Paris

Noel and the other shooting team members rode with the entire U.S. Olympics team, one of 40 that competed in Paris that year, up from 29 countries in the 1920 Olympics.

During the 10-day Atlantic Ocean trip on the English ship Minniewasha, Noel organized clay target practice off the back of the ship for himself and his new teammates, newspaper archive stories reveal.

"The scores were uncertain at times due to the movement of the boat," he told the Nashville Banner, "but we got in some very good work."

The Americans landed in London, and on the first day there, the U.S. shooting team was outshot by the Canadian in a practice match. "John Noel helps beat Canucks in London," The Tennessean's headline declared. Noel broke 46 out of 50 targets.

"Our boys all had their alibis, and I suppose the sudden change from the ship to shore did have something to do with the misses we had," he told the Banner.

The U.S. team stayed in London for about two weeks, practicing shooting every other day, Noel said. Then the team practiced against other nations' teams in Paris before the Olympics started.

The win at the 1924 Paris games

Even 100 years ago, there was controversy in the Olympics. There were several reports of French spectators booing and harassing non-French teams. But Noel said later those reports were exaggerated.

"There was some display of ill feeling and some things happened that we thought unfair," he told the Nashville Banner. "but on the whole, the games were a great success and were a splendid thing for the nations participating."

Due to some confusion and different numbers of participants on the nations' shooting teams, only four shooters' scores were used on the six-man U.S. team, Gailani said.

In the final medal round, Noel finished fifth among the U.S. shooters, so his score wasn't used, and records indicate Noel as "a non-scoring member." But all team members, including Noel, were awarded gold medals.

The U.S. score: 363.

The Canadians got the silver with 360 points, and Finland, also with 360 points, won a bronze medal after losing a tie breaker to Canada.

What Noel's grandsons say

John Noel III said that he and his brothers, as boys, didn't hear much about their Olympian grandfather and didn't really pay attention to what they were told.

"But in our teens, when we began to connect with what the Olympics were," he said, "then our own grandfather winning an Olympic gold medal became a remarkable achievement in our eyes."

His younger brother Lee Noel said, "Once I got old enough to understand, I was in absolute awe of him. It’s unbelievable. It’s something that’s really amazing."

Their youngest brother, Arthur, died last month. His daughter, Brittany Jade Noel, said she remembers when she first learned of her gold medal-winning ancestor.

"When my father sat me down as a young girl in middle school to tell me that my great grandfather had won a gold medal in the Olympics for trap shooting," she said, "I remember thinking how great it was. I felt so proud to be a Noel!"

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: He was Tennessee's first Olympic gold medalist — and he did it 100 years ago in Paris