Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid

One of the benefits of being an avid volunteer sports historian, is that friends and mates often give me sporting items that have spent years gathering dust in cupboards.

One such example is a rare 1950 Ranfurly Shield program, when rugby minnows Wairarapa defeated Canterbury 3-0, to take the ‘Log o Wood’ home for a single defence before handing the prize to South Canterbury.

Another highly valued gift is the doorstop of the 2008 edition of “The Complete Book of the Olympics”, being some 1181 pages in length.

The book kicks-off chronicling the Ancient Olympic Games, which began around 776BC, then moves on to the start of the Modern Olympics in 1896.

Paris 2024 is the third time that the pinnacle event in world sport has been held in the French capital, following on from 1900 and 1924. The book tells us plenty about the two previous Paris Olympics.

After the success of the 1986 Games in Greece, there was much anticipation shown for the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, held as part of the Paris World's Fair.

Unfortunately, the exposition organisers took control of the Olympics.

The events were spread over five months, with little Olympic recognition, with the World's Fair taking centre stage.

Women made their first appearance in the Modern Games. Charlotte Cooper from Great Britain, who would win Wimbledon five times, won the women's singles and mixed doubles to become the first Olympic Women's champion.

The swimming events, held in the River Seine and swum with the current, produced exceptionally fast times.

The 1900 Games included some unusual one-time events. The most notable being the equestrian high jump and long jump and the swimming obstacle race.

The 1900 Games came to an ignominious end on October 28, without a closing ceremony.

By contrast, the 1924 Paris Olympics were well organised and went smoothly.

The number of participating nations jumped from 29 to 44, signaling widespread acceptance of the Olympics as a major event, as did the presence of 1000 journalists.

This was the second Olympics that New Zealand attended as a separate country, previously competing as part of an Australasian team.

New Zealand won its first Olympic medal, when Arthur Porritt grabbed a bronze medal in the glamour event of the 100 metre dash on the track. (Sir) Arthur Porritt would later go on to become Governor General of New Zealand.

The greatest hero of the 1924 Games was Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, who would win five gold medals to accompany the three he had won in 1920. His most spectacular performance took place on July 10.

First Paavo Nurmi easily won the 1500 metres. Then a mere 55 minutes later, he returned to the track to win the 5000 metres.

In 1924, the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius (Swifter, Higher, Faster) was introduced.

Another introduction was the Closing Ceremony of raising three flags; the flag of the International Olympic Committee, the flag of the host nation and the flag of the next host nation.