Faster, higher, stronger – but don’t try too hard

The 1924 Olympics in Paris are best known to many British people through the ‘Chariots of Fire’ film from the early 1980s. The film touches on some of the political and social attitudes prevalent in the 1920s and Steve Illingworth explores these issues further in this article. It is argued that the values of the British class system made a significant contribution to the ethos and style of this international event.