ALTON - The Olympics has been held in Paris, France, three times now: 1900, 1924 and 2024. In 1924, athletes from the United States won 99 medals in all, 45 of them gold. Finland came second in the medal count, with 37 total, 14 gold. Americans picked up gold medals in boxing, rugby, shooting, swimming, diving, track and field (including a gold in the long jump by William DeHart Hubbard, the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event), rowing and gymnastics. But they swept gold in tennis. The winner of the women’s singles match was Helen Wills of California, and Altonians were completely enamored by her. Wills had been a tennis phenomenon for years at this point, and an article in the Alton Evening Telegraph in 1922 described her playing and personality. “This is NOT a flapper story, though the heroine, Helen Wills, is just 16 years old, the approved flapper age. This young person is very un-Scott Fitzgerald. She doesn’t wear her
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