Mika Nurmi, a descendant of The Flying Finn Paavo Nurmi, attends the " D'or, d'argent, de bronze - Une histoire de la médaille Olympique " exhibition. GETTY IMAGES

World Athletics Heritage and Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) is celebrating Paris 2024 by showcasing a selection of competition artefacts from the MOWA Olympic Athletics Collection, which have been worn or used in the Olympic Games. The “Paris 1924 to Paris 2024” collection will be on display during the fortnight of the Games in the centre of Paris a the Westin Paris – Vendome.

The historic collection will feature artefacts from more than 30 Olympic medallists, including a singlet and bib number worn by Herb Elliott in Rome 1960 when he sped to the 1500m title in a world record; the pair of spikes which took Alberto Juantorena to his 400m and 800m double, the latter in a world record, in Montreal 1976; and one of Michael Johnson's Atlanta 1996 gold spikes in which he won the 200m and 400m double, the former in a world record.



The London 1948 Olympic accreditation card of Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold medals in those Games, will also be on show, as will the spikes which Irena Szewinska wore when sprinting to the 400m world record and Olympic title in Montreal 1976.

The Flying Finn Paavo Nurmi, the most successful Olympic track and field athlete in history with nine gold and three silver medals, is central to the Paris celebrations. A bronze bust given to Nurmi by a multi-millionaire American admirer to honour Nurmi’s five Olympic victories in Paris 1924 —the most ever won by an athlete in one edition— will also be included in the exhibit and  Nurmi’s five Paris 1924 golds return to France after a century. Nurmi’s golds were manufactured by the Monnaie de Paris. The dies from which the medals were cast, which form part of the permanent collection of the museum, are also on display in the exhibition.


A view of the mold used to create the five Olympic gold medals won by Paavo 'The Flying Finn' Nurmi at the 1924 Paris Olympics. GETTY IMAGES
A view of the mold used to create the five Olympic gold medals won by Paavo 'The Flying Finn' Nurmi at the 1924 Paris Olympics. GETTY IMAGES


This year, World Athletics Heritage has also sponsored a series of monumental athletics sculptures which have been temporarily installed in public locations across the French capital. Among others, these artworks celebrate the first 6.00m pole vault in history which was achieved by Olympic champion Sergey Bubka in Paris in 1985.

In addition, five more MOWA Collector’s Cards will be published to mark Paris 2024, bringing the individually numbered card series up to 60. Michael Johnson, Carolina Kluft, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Mutaz Barshim and Eliud Kipchoge are the latest Olympic champions to be featured on the collector’s cards. The five new designs will join the previous 55 cards on the MOWA 3D platform where they can all be ordered free of charge from the start of this year’s Olympic Games.