The port town of Antwerp, Belgium's second biggest city, was in no real state to stage a sports festival after the ravages of World War One.
The Americans travelled in a rusty old freighter and the competitors were accommodated in school buildings. Persistent rain meant the track was generally unsatisfactory.
With all these problems the Games still featured some great athletes and wonderful performances. Kolehmainen won the marathon but it was another Finn, Paavo Nurmi, who stole the plaudits.
Nurmi lost the 10,000 but went on to win the cross country, gaining a second gold as a member of the winning Finnish team.
Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen, who foreshadowed the iconoclasm of the jazz age with her contempt for convention, lost only nine games while winning the women's tennis title.