At the
1896 Summer OlympicsThe 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
, twelve
athleticsTrack and field athletics is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing, jumping and walking. Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the member clubs of the International Association of Athletics...
events were contested. All of the events except the marathon were held in the
Panathinaiko StadiumThe Panathinaiko or Panathenaic Stadium , also known as the Kallimarmaro in Athens is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble...
, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896 (all dates are according to the
Gregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius, and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, on 24 February 1582 by the papal bull Inter gravissimas...
). 64 athletes, all men, from ten nations competed. This made athletics the most international of the nine sports at the 1896 Games.
The American team of 10, which featured only one national champion, was dominant, taking 9 of the 12 titles.
At the
1896 Summer OlympicsThe 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
, twelve
athleticsTrack and field athletics is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing, jumping and walking. Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the member clubs of the International Association of Athletics...
events were contested. All of the events except the marathon were held in the
Panathinaiko StadiumThe Panathinaiko or Panathenaic Stadium , also known as the Kallimarmaro in Athens is the only major stadium in the world built entirely of white marble...
, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896 (all dates are according to the
Gregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius, and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, on 24 February 1582 by the papal bull Inter gravissimas...
). 64 athletes, all men, from ten nations competed. This made athletics the most international of the nine sports at the 1896 Games.
The American team of 10, which featured only one national champion, was dominant, taking 9 of the 12 titles. No
world recordA world record is usually the best international performance ever recorded in a specific skill or sport. The world famous book, the Guinness World Records, collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and...
s were set, as few international top competitors had turned up. In addition, the curves of the track were very tight, making fast times in the running events virtually impossible.
The heats of the 100 metres were the first Olympic event to be conducted, and the winner of the first heat,
Francis LaneFrancis Adonijah Lane was an American athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Greece.Lane competed in the 100 metres, winning his heat with a time of 12.2 seconds. In the final, Lane finished in a dead heat for third place with Alojz Sokol of Hungary at 12.6 seconds, just barely ahead...
, can thus be considered the first Olympic winner. The first Olympic champion was crowned in the
triple jumpThe triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, step and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a step and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...
,
HarvardHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
student
James ConnollyJames Brendan Bennet Connolly was an American athlete and author. In 1896, he became the first modern Olympic champion.- Early life :...
. Connolly also did well in the other jumping events, placing second in the
high jumpThe high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of any devices. It has been contested since the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. Over the centuries since, competitors have introduced increasingly more...
and third in the
long jumpThe long jump is an athletics event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far from the take-off point as possible....
.
Many other athletes were versatile as well. Tom Burke won both the 100 metres and 400 metres, a feat not since repeated, while London-based
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n Edwin Flack won the 800 and 1500 metres races.
Robert GarrettRobert S. Garrett was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw and shot put....
, a
PrincetonPrinceton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
student, won two first and two second places. His first title was in the
discus throwThe discus throw is an event in track and field competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc — called a discus — in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...
, an event originating from the Ancient Olympics, but never before held at an international event. Garrett had attempted to train for the event with a 10 kilogram replica of a discus, but had given up as it was too heavy. When he learned the actual competition discus weighed only 2 kilograms, he entered the event after all, and won it, to the dismay of the Greek public, who considered their throwers "unbeatable".
A second event held for the first time in international competition was the marathon foot race. It was conceived by
Michel Bréal"Breal" redirects here. For the Rapper see B-RealMichel Jules Alfred Bréal , French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Bavaria, of French-Jewish parents. He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics....
, a friend of De Coubertin, based on the legend of
PheidippidesPheidippides , hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story which was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.-The story:...
. This Athenian soldier first completed a two-day run to seek Spartan help against the invading Persians in the
Battle of MarathonThe Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. It was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate...
, and then ran from the town of
MarathonMarathon is an ancient Greek city-state, a contemporary town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. The tumulus or burial mound Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, Marathónas; Attic/ Katharevousa: , ) is an...
to Athens days later to announce the victory, dying as a result of his heroic efforts. The race started in Marathon, and ran for 40 kilometres over dusty roads to Athens. The Greek public, disappointed as there had not yet been a Greek victor in athletics, was overjoyed when it was announced during the race that a Greek runner had taken the lead. When
Spiridon LouisSpyridon "Spyros" Louis was a Greek water-carrier who won the first modern-day marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics, thereby becoming a national hero....
, a water carrier from Maroussi, arrived in the stadium he was accompanied by the Greek
Crown PrinceConstantine I, King of the Hellenes was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, in which Greece captured...
on his final lap. Louis would never again compete in a race, but his victory made him a national hero.
Medal summary
These medals were retroactively assigned by the
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees....
; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and subsequent places received no award.
100 metres
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rowspan=2|om Burke (athlete) |
Fritz Hoffmann Fritz Hoffmann was a German athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Hoffmann competed in the 100 metres. In the heats, he came in second out of five runners, qualifying for the final...
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Francis Lane Francis Adonijah Lane was an American athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Greece.Lane competed in the 100 metres, winning his heat with a time of 12.2 seconds. In the final, Lane finished in a dead heat for third place with Alojz Sokol of Hungary at 12.6 seconds, just barely ahead...
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| Alojz Sokol Alajos Szokolyi or Alajos Szokoly was a Slovak/Hungarian athlete from the Kingdom of Hungary. He competed in the 1896 Summer Olympics....
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om Burke (athlete) |
Herbert Jamison Herbert Brotherson Jamison was an American track and field athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
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Charles Gmelin Charles Henry Stuart Gmelin was a British athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.- Personal life :...
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Edwin Flack |
Nándor Dáni Nándor Dáni was a Hungarian athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
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Dimitrios Golemis Dimitrios P. Golemis was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
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Edwin Flack |
Arthur Blake For the American blues musician, see Blind BlakeCharles Arthur Blake was an American athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
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Albin Lermusiaux Albin Lermusiaux was a French athlete and shooter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Lermusiaux won his preliminary heat of the 800 metres with a time of 2:16.6. This qualified him to compete in the final, but Lermusiaux chose not to do so.In the 1,500 metres, which was run in a...
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Thomas Curtis Thomas Pelham "Tom" Curtis was an American athlete and the winner of the 110 metres hurdles at the 1896 Summer Olympics....
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Grantley Goulding Grantley Thomas Smart Goulding was a British athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.- Personal life :...
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none awarded |
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Spiridon Louis Spyridon "Spyros" Louis was a Greek water-carrier who won the first modern-day marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics, thereby becoming a national hero....
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Kharilaos Vasilakos Kharilaos Vasilakos was a Greek athlete, and the first man to win a marathon race. He also won a silver metal at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.He was born in Tripoli.On March 10, 1896, Greece held the first modern Panhellenic Games...
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Gyula Kellner Gyula Kellner was a Hungarian athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Kellner was one of 17 athletes to start the marathon race...
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High jump
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Ellery Clark Ellery Harding Clark was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in high jump and long jump.-Biography:...
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ames Connolly (athlete) |
none awarded |
Robert GarrettRobert S. Garrett was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw and shot put....
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Pole vault
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Welles Hoyt William Welles Hoyt was an American athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.He competed in the pole vault, winning the event with a height of 3.30 metres.Hoyt also ran the 110 metres hurdles...
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rowspan=2|lbert Tyler (athlete) |
Evangelos Damaskos Evangelos Damaskos was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Damaskos competed in the pole vault. He tied with fellow Greek Ioannis Theodoropoulos for third place in the event, with a height of 2.60 metres....
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| Ioannis Theodoropoulos Ioannis Theodoropoulos was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.He was born in Evrytania.Theodoropoulos competed in the pole vault. He tied with fellow Greek Evangelos Damaskos for third place in the event, with a height of 2.60 metres.-External links:*...
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Ellery Clark Ellery Harding Clark was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in high jump and long jump.-Biography:...
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Robert GarrettRobert S. Garrett was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw and shot put....
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ames Connolly (athlete) |
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ames Connolly (athlete) |
Alexandre Tuffèri Alexandre Tuffèri was a French athlete. Though Tuffèri was a French national, he was born in Athens. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in his hometown, as well as setting several national records in Greece.He placed second in the triple jump, a full metre behind the winner Alexandre Tuffèri...
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Ioannis Persakis Ioannis Persakis was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.He was born in Athens.Persakis competed in the triple jump, taking third place. His best jump was 12.52 metres.-External links:*...
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Robert GarrettRobert S. Garrett was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw and shot put....
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Miltiades Gouskos Miltiades Gouskos was a Greek athlete.He was born in Zakynthos and died in the British Indian Empire from food poisoning.He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens....
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Georgios Papasideris Georgios Papasideris was a Greek athlete and weightlifter.He was born in Koropi.Papasideris competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He competed in the shot put, placing third...
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Robert GarrettRobert S. Garrett was an American athlete. He was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw and shot put....
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Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos was a Greek athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.He was born in Gortynia and died in Corfu....
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Sotirios Versis Sotirios Versis was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Versis competed in the discus throw. He placed third behind American Robert Garrett and fellow Greek Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos...
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Medal table
| 1 |
USA |
9 |
6 |
2 |
17 |
| 2 |
AUS |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 3 |
GRE |
1 |
3 |
6 |
10 |
| 4 |
HUN |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| 5 |
FRA |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| GBR |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| 7 |
GER |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
ChileChile claims one athlete, Luis Subercaseaux, competed for the nation at the 1896 Summer Olympics. This makes Chile one of the 14 nations to appear at the inaugural Summer Olympic Games. Subercaseaux's results are not listed in the Official Report, though that Report typically includes only...
,
DenmarkThree athletes from Denmark competed in five sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Two of the three combined to win a gold medal, two silvers, and three bronzes, while Eugen Schmidt earned no medals. Viggo Jensen contributed one of each color, while Holger Nielsen earned the second silver...
and
SwedenOne competitor from Sweden was present at the 1896 Summer Olympics. He competed in athletics and gymnastics, with 5 entries in as many events. Sweden was one of four nations present that won no medals; Italy, Chile and Bulgaria were the others....
had athletes compete, but won no medals.
See also
- List of Olympic medalists in athletics (men)
- List of Olympic medalists in athletics (women)