Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the Games of the I Olympiad | |
---|---|
Panathinaiko Stadium | |
Dates | 6–10 April 1896 |
No. of events | 12 (12 men, 0 women) |
Competitors | 63 from 9 nations |
Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics | |
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Track events | |
100 m | men |
400 m | men |
800 m | men |
1500 m | men |
110 m hurdles | men |
Road events | |
Marathon | men |
Field events | |
Long jump | men |
Triple jump | men |
High jump | men |
Pole vault | men |
Shot put | men |
Discus throw | men |
At the
Summary of events
The American team of 11, which featured only one national champion, was dominant, taking 9 of the 12 titles. No world records were set, because few international top competitors had participated. In addition, the curves of the track were very tight, making fast times in the running events virtually impossible.[2]
The heats of the 100 metres were the first Olympic event to be conducted, and the winner of the first heat,
Many other athletes were versatile as well. Thomas Burke won both the 100 metres and 400 metres, a feat not since repeated, while London-based Australian Edwin Flack won the 800 and 1500 metres races. Robert Garrett, a Princeton student, won two first and two second places. His first title was in the discus throw, 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".[3]
A second event held for the first time in international competition was the marathon foot race. It was conceived by
The exploits of Louis, Garrett, Connolly, and Flack would be chronicled in the 1984 NBC miniseries, The First Olympics: Athens, 1896.
The day after the official marathon
Schedule
P | Preliminary round | Q | Qualification | H | Heats | ½ | Semifinals | F | Final |
Men's | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Apr 6 | Apr 7 | Apr 8 | Apr 9 | Apr 10 | |||||
Event | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E |
100 m | H | F | ||||||||
400 m | H | F | ||||||||
800 m | H | F | ||||||||
1500 m | F | |||||||||
110 m | H | F | ||||||||
Marathon | F | |||||||||
High jump | F | |||||||||
Pole vault | F | |||||||||
Long jump | F | |||||||||
Triple jump | F | |||||||||
Shot put | F | |||||||||
Discus throw | F |
Medal summary
These medals were retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and runners-up bronze medals. Athletes coming third received no award.
Medal table
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States (USA) | 9 | 6 | 2 | 17 |
2 | Australia (AUS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
3 | Greece (GRE) | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
4 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
5 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
7 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Totals (7 entries) | 12 | 13 | 12 | 37 |
Participating nations
A total of 63 athletes from 9 nations competed at the Athens Games.[2] Due to the nature of participation at the Games of the time not being fully through National Olympic Committees, there is a lack of clarity on which nations competed. For instance, Olympedia lists 1 athlete from Cyprus and 2 from Smyrna in counting 11 nations, but also notes the participation of "Cyprus and Smyrna as part of the Greek team".[2] Further, Chile claims to have had a competitor participate,[7] which would increase the total to 64 athletes from 10 nations, but other sources list Luis Subercaseaux as not having started.[1][2]
- Australia (1)
- Denmark (3)
- France (5)
- Germany (5)
- Great Britain (5)
- Greece (29)
- Hungary (3)
- Sweden (1)
- United States (10)
See also
References
- ^ a b "Athens 1896 Athletics Results". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Discus Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ Martin & Gynn, Running through the Ages, 22; Tarasouleas, Stamata Revithi, "Alias Melpomeni", 55; Tarasouleas, The Female Spiridon Loues, 12. However, some of the authors who believe that "Melpomene" and Revithi are the same person attribute to the latter the more favorable time of 4½ hours. E.g. Miragaya, The Female Olympian, 314, who cites DeFrantz, A. (1997). "The Changing Role of Women in the Olympic Games". 37th International Session for Young Participants – IOA Report. Ancient Olympia: International Olympic Academy.
- ^ Greek participants had been chosen through two trial national races, which had taken place on 10 [O.S. 27 February] and 24 March [O.S. 12 March]. Another athlete, Carlo Airoldi, was also not allowed to run because he was a professional (Martin–Gynn, Running through the Ages, 12, 21).
- ^ Comité Olímpico de Chile. "La Presencia de Chile en los Juegos Olimpicos" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
- International Olympic Committee results database
- Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
- Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
- Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.