L'équipe américaine à la cérémonie d'ouverture des Jeux Interalliés de 1919

US Army Band marching in opening ceremonies of the Inter Allied Games - Pershing stadium Paris France 22 June 1919

The Inter-Allied Games was a one-off multi-sport event held from 22 June to 6 July 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

following the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The host stadium had been built near the

Bois de Vincennes The Bois de Vincennes (), located on the eastern edge of Paris, is the largest public park in the city. It was created between 1855 and 1866 by Emperor Napoleon III. The park is next to the Château de Vincennes, a former residence of the King ...

by the U.S. Military in cooperation with the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. The event was only open to participation by military personnel who were currently serving or had formerly served in the armed forces during the War. Around 1500 athletes from a total of eighteen nations participated in the proceedings which featured nineteen sports. Following the conclusion of the games, Pershing Stadium was presented as a gift to the people of France from the United States of America. The area, still known as Le Stade Pershing, continues to be used as an open air recreation park to this day.

Sports

A total of nineteen sports were contested at the games. A number of military-oriented events was initially planned, but only

hand-grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

throwing and shooting made it on to the final programme.

Participating nations

A total of twenty-eight nations from the

Allies of World War I The Allies of World War I, Entente Powers, or Allied Powers were a coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Em ...

were invited to the competition and eighteen nations accepted the invitation.

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

aimed to compete, but ultimately was unable to send any athletes to the games within the timescale. It did, however, provide medals and trophies in support of the games. The Kingdom of Hejaz sent a delegation but with no athletes, choosing to demonstrate the skills of their Arabian horsemen instead. A full list of participants was made by the organisers.

Gold medalists

These athletes competed in and won gold medals at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games: *

Ralph Parcaut Ralph Edward Parcaut (December 3, 1896 – June 25, 1957) was an American professional wrestler in the early part of the 20th century. He served in the U.S. Marines in World War I and won gold medals at the A.E.F. Games in Germany following the W ...

- Gold Medal, Light Heavyweight Division, Catch as Catch Can Wrestling *

Paul Prehn Paul Henry Prehn (September 5, 1892 – May 7, 1973) was a wrestler from Mason City, Iowa, in the early part of the 20th century. He served in the Iowa National Guard during the Border War (1910–19) (as a hand-to-hand combat instructor). In 191 ...

- Gold Medal, Middleweight Division, Catch as Catch Can Wrestling *

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1 ...

- Gold Medal, Boxing * Max Friedman - Gold medal, Basketball *

Norman Ross Norman DeMille Ross (May 2, 1895 – June 19, 1953) was an American competition swimmer who won five events at the Inter-Allied Games in June 1919, held at Joinville-Le-Pont near Paris, and three gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antw ...

- 5 Gold Medals, Swimming *Carl F. Haas, William Clinton Gray, Floyd F. Campbell, and Lawrence M. Shields - Medley Relay Race *United States of America, First Place, Rifle Shooting Team, Team Members include - Brigadier General Paul A. Wolf

References

*Bell, Daniel (2003). ''Encyclopedia of International Games''. McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. .
Full text of ''The inter-allied games, Paris, 22nd June to 6th July, 1919''
Albert R Mann, Cornell University Library.

External links

A description of the basketball tournament
{{multi-sport events Multi-sport events in France Sports competitions in Paris 1919 in multi-sport events 1919 in French sport World War I International sports competitions hosted by France Defunct multi-sport events 1919 in European sport June 1919 events July 1919 events 1919 in Paris