| Host City: | Athens, Greece |
| Nations: | 14 |
| Athletes: | 241 (all men) |
| Events: | 43 in 9 sports (10 disciplines) |
| Opening: | Gregorian Calendar 6 April 1896 |
| Closing: | Gregorian Calendar 15 April 1896 |
| Opened By: | King George I[1] |
| Stadium: | Panathenaic Stadium |
| Next: | Paris 1900 |
The 1896 Summer Olympics (el|Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896|Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad (el|Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας|Agónes tis 1is Olympiádas) and commonly known as Athens 1896 (el|Αθήνα 1896), were the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had been created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, the event was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.
Fourteen nations (according to the IOC, though the number is subject to interpretation) and 241 athletes (all males; this number is also disputed) took part in the games.[2] Participants were all European or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team, and over 65% of the competing athletes were Greek. Winners were given a silver medal, while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC has converted these to gold and silver, respectively, and awarded bronze medals to third-placed athletes. Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals. On April 6, 1896, American James Connolly became the first Olympic medalist in more than 1,500 years, competing in the triple jump. The United States won the most gold medals, 11, while host nation Greece won the most medals overall, 47. The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events.
Athens had been unanimously chosen to stage the inaugural modern Games during a congress organised by Coubertin in Paris on 23 June 1894 (during which the IOC was also created) because Greece was the birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games. The main venue was the Panathenaic Stadium, where athletics and wrestling took place; other venues included the Neo Phaliron Velodrome for cycling and the Zappeion for fencing. The opening ceremony was held in the Panathenaic Stadium on 6 April, during which most of the competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organising committee, Crown Prince Constantine, his father officially opened the Games. Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn, composed by Spyridon Samaras and written by Kostis Palamas.
The 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The Panathenaic Stadium overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event.[3] After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures, including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris, and, with the exception of the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics, 108 years later.
During the 19th century, several small-scale sports festivals across Europe were named after the Ancient Olympic Games. The 1870 Olympics at the Panathenaic stadium, which had been refurbished for the occasion, had an audience of 30,000 people. Pierre de Coubertin, a French pedagogue and historian, adopted William Penny Brookes' idea to establish a multi-national and multi-sport event—the ancient games only allowed male athletes of Greek origin to participate.[4] [5] In 1890, Coubertin wrote an article in La Revue Athlétique, which espoused the importance of Much Wenlock, a rural market town in the English county of Shropshire. It was here that, in October 1850, the local physician William Penny Brookes founded the Wenlock Olympian Games, a festival of sports and recreations that included athletics and team sports, such as cricket, football and quoits.[6] Coubertin also took inspiration from the earlier Greek games organised under the name of Olympics by businessman and philanthropist Evangelis Zappas in 1859, 1870 and 1875.[7] The 1896 Athens Games were funded by the legacies of Evangelis Zappas and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas[8] [9] and by George Averoff who had been specifically requested by the Greek government, through crown prince Constantine, to sponsor the second refurbishment of the Panathenaic Stadium. The Greek government did this despite the cost of refurbishing the stadium in marble already being funded in full by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier.
On 18 June 1894, Coubertin organised a congress at the Sorbonne, Paris, to present his plans to representatives of sports societies from 11 countries. Following his proposal's acceptance by the congress, a date for the first modern Olympic Games needed to be chosen. Coubertin suggested that the Games be held concurrently with the 1900 Universal Exposition of Paris. Concerned that a six-year waiting period might lessen public interest, congress members opted instead to hold the inaugural Games in 1896. With a date established, members of the congress turned their attention to the selection of a host city. It remains a mystery how Athens was finally chosen to host the inaugural Games. In the following years, both Coubertin and Demetrius Vikelas would offer recollections of the selection process that contradicted the official minutes of the congress. Most accounts hold that several congressmen first proposed London as the location, but Coubertin dissented. After a brief discussion with Vikelas, who represented Greece, Coubertin suggested Athens. Vikelas made the Athens proposal official on 23 June, and since Greece had been the original home of the Olympics, the congress unanimously approved the decision. Vikelas was then elected the first president of the newly established International Olympic Committee (IOC).
News that the Olympic Games would return to Greece was well received by the Greek public, media, and royal family. According to Coubertin, "the Crown Prince Constantine learned with great pleasure that the Games will be inaugurated in Athens." Coubertin went on to confirm that, "the King and the Crown Prince will confer their patronage on the holding of these games." Constantine later conferred more than that; he eagerly assumed the presidency of the 1896 organising committee.
However, the country had financial troubles and was in political turmoil. The job of prime minister alternated between Charilaos Trikoupis and Theodoros Deligiannis frequently during the last years of the 19th century. Because of this financial and political instability, both prime minister Trikoupis and Stephanos Dragoumis, the president of the Zappas Olympic Committee, which had attempted to organise a series of national Olympiads, believed that Greece could not host the event. In late 1894, the organising committee under Stephanos Skouloudis presented a report that the cost of the Games would be three times higher than originally estimated by Coubertin. They concluded the Games could not be held and offered their resignation. The total cost of the Games was 3,740,000 gold drachmas.[10]
With the prospect of reviving the Olympic games very much in doubt, Coubertin and Vikelas commenced a campaign to keep the Olympic movement alive. Their efforts culminated on 7 January 1895 when Vikelas announced that crown prince Constantine would assume the presidency of the organising committee. His first responsibility was to raise the funds necessary to host the Games. He relied on the patriotism of the Greek people to motivate them to provide the required finances.[11] Constantine's enthusiasm sparked a wave of contributions from the Greek public. This grassroots effort raised 330,000 drachmas. A special set of postage stamps was commissioned; the sale of which raised 400,000 drachmas. Ticket sales added 200,000 drachmas. At the request of Constantine, businessman George Averoff agreed to pay for the restoration of the Panathenaic Stadium. Averoff would donate 920,000 drachmas to this project.[12] As a tribute to his generosity, a statue of Averoff was constructed and unveiled on 5 April 1896 outside the stadium. It stands there to this day.[13]
Some of the athletes would take part in the Games because they happened to be in Athens at the time the Games were held, either on holiday or for work (e.g., some of the British competitors worked for the British embassy). A designated Olympic Village for the athletes did not appear until the 1932 Summer Olympics. Consequently, the athletes had to provide their own lodging.
The first regulation voted on by the new IOC in 1894 was to allow only amateur athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.[14] The various contests were thus held under amateur regulations with the exception of fencing matches.[15] The rules and regulations were not uniform, so the Organising Committee had to choose among the codes of the various national athletic associations. The jury, the referees and the game director bore the same names as in antiquity (Ephor, Helanodic and Alitarc). Prince George acted as final referee; according to Coubertin, "his presence gave weight and authority to the decisions of the ephors".[16]
Women were not entitled to compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics, because de Coubertin felt that their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and incorrect".[17]
Seven venues were used for the 1896 Summer Olympics. Panathenaic Stadium was the main venue, hosting four of the nine sports contested. The town of Marathon served as host to the marathon event and the individual road race events. Swimming was held in the Bay of Zea, fencing at the Zappeion, sport shooting at Kallithea, and tennis at the Athens Lawn Tennis Club. Tennis was a sport unfamiliar to Greeks at the time of the 1896 Games.
The Bay of Zea is a seaport and marina in the Athens area;[18] it was used as the swimming venue because the organizers of the Games wanted to avoid spending money on constructing a special purpose swimming venue.[19]
Four of the 1896 venues were reused as competition venues for the 2004 Games. The velodrome would be renovated into a football stadium in 1964 and was known as Karaiskakis Stadium.[20] This venue was renovated in 2003 for use as a football venue for the 2004 Games.[21] During the 2004 Games, Panathinaiko Stadium served as host for archery competitions and was the finish line for the athletic marathon event. The city of Marathon itself served as the starting point for both marathon events during the 2004 Games. The Zappeion served as the first home of the organizing committee (ATHOC) for the 2004 Games from 1998 to 1999, and served as the main communications center during those Games.[22]
| width=40% | Venue | Sports | width=10% | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed. | [23] | ||||
| Not listed. | [24] | ||||
| Not listed. | [25] | ||||
| Athletics (Marathon), Cycling (Individual road race). | Not listed. | ||||
| Cycling (track) | Not listed. | ||||
| 80,000 | |||||
| Not listed. | [26] |
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| style=width:18%; colspan=2 | April 1896 | style=width:4%; | 6th Mon | style=width:4%; | 7th Tue | style=width:4%; | 8th Wed | style=width:4%; | 9th Thu | style=width:4%; | 10th Fri | style=width:4%; | 11th Sat | style=width:4%; | 12th Sun | style=width:4%; | 13th Mon | style=width:4%; | 14th Tue | style=width:4%; | 15th Wed | style=width:6%; | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OC | CC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Athletics< | --6--> | 2< | --7--> | 4< | --8--> | 1< | -- 10 --> | 5< | -- 11 --> | 12 | |||||||||||||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Cycling | < | --6--> | 1< | --13--> | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| < | --6--> | 1< | --9--> | 3< | --12--> | 1< | --14 --> | ||||||||||||||||
| Fencing< | --6--> | 2< | --8--> | 1< | -- 10 --> | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics< | --6--> | 6< | -- 10 --> | 2< | -- 11 --> | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Shooting< | --6--> | ● < | --9--> | 1< | -- 10 --> | 1< | -- 11 --> | 2< | --12--> | 1< | --13--> | 5 | |||||||||||
| Swimming< | --6--> | 4< | --12--> | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tennis< | --6--> | ● < | --9--> | ● < | -- 10 --> | ● < | -- 11 --> | 2< | --12--> | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Weightlifting< | --6--> | 2< | --8--> | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Wrestling< | --6--> | ● < | -- 11 --> | 1< | --12--> | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Daily final events | 2 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | ||||||||||||
| Cumulative total | 2 | 10 | 11 | 20 | 28 | 40 | 42 | 43 | 43 | 43 | |||||||||||||
| style=width:18%; colspan=2 | April 1896 | style=width:4%; | 6th Mon | style=width:4%; | 7th Tue | style=width:4%; | 8th Wed | style=width:4%; | 9th Thu | style=width:4%; | 10th Fri | style=width:4%; | 11th Sat | style=width:4%; | 12th Sun | style=width:4%; | 13th Mon | style=width:4%; | 14th Tue | style=width:4%; | 15th Wed | Total events | |
Note: Silver medals were awarded to the winners, with copper medals given to the runners-up, and no prizes were given to those who came in 3rd place in any events.
On Easter Monday 6 April (25 March according to the Julian calendar used in Greece until 1923),[27] the games of the First Olympiad were officially opened.[28] The Panathenaic Stadium was filled with an estimated 80,000 spectators, including King George I of Greece, his wife Olga, and their sons. Most of the competing athletes were aligned on the infield, grouped by nation. After a speech by the president of the organising committee, Crown Prince Constantine, his father officially opened the Games with the words (in Greek):[29]
Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn, composed by Spyridon Samaras, with words by poet Kostis Palamas. Thereafter, a variety of musical offerings provided the backgrounds to the Opening Ceremonies until 1960, since which time the Samaras/Palamas composition has become the official Olympic Anthem (decision taken by the IOC Session in 1958). Other elements of current Olympic opening ceremonies were initiated later: the Olympic flame was first lit in 1928, the first athletes' oath was sworn at the 1920 Summer Olympics, and the first officials' oath was taken at the 1972 Olympic Games.
At the 1894 Sorbonne Congress, a large roster of sports was suggested for the program in Athens.
The first official announcements regarding the sporting events to be held featured sports such as football and cricket,[30] but these plans were not finalised, and these sports did not make the final program for the Games.[31] Rowing and sailing events were also scheduled but were cancelled on the planned days of competition: sailing due to a lack of special boats in Greece and no foreign entries, and rowing due to poor weather.[32]
As a result, the 1896 Summer Olympics programme featured 9 sports encompassing 10 disciplines and 43 events. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.
See main article: Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics.
The athletics events had the most international field of any of the sports. The major highlight was the marathon, held for the first time in international competition. Spyridon Louis, a previously unrecognised water carrier, won the event to become the only Greek athletics champion and a national hero. Although Greece had been favoured to win the discus and the shot put, the best Greek athletes finished just behind the American Robert Garrett in both events.
No world records were set, as few top international competitors had elected to compete. In addition, the curves of the track were very tight, making fast times in the running events virtually impossible. Despite this, Thomas Burke, of the United States, won the 100-meter race in 12.0 seconds and the 400-meter race in 54.2 seconds. Burke was the only one who used the "crouch start" (putting his knee on soil), confusing the jury. Eventually, he was allowed to start from this "uncomfortable position".[33]
Chile claims one athlete, Luis Subercaseaux, who 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 winners and Subercaseaux won no medals.[34] Some sources claim that he was entered to compete in the 100m, 400m and 800m events but did not start.[35] An appraisal of a famous photo of series 2 of the 100 meters sprint, performed by facial recognition experts of the Chilean forensic police, concluded that Subercaseaux was one of the participants.[36]
The day after the official marathon, Stamata Revithi ran the 40-kilometer course in 5 hours 30 minutes, finishing outside Panathinaiko Stadium.[37] However, some of the authors, who believe that "Melpomene" and Revithi are the same person, attribute to the latter the more favorable time of hours.[38] She was denied entry into the official race as the 1896 Olympics excluded women from competition.[39]