About Athens Olympics 1896
From April 06th to 15th of 1896, Athens Olympics games occurred for the first time with the modern Olympic games. These games were said to be the first athletic festival which was held in Athens. About 241 athletes and out of that all were said to be male and that too were from fourteen countries that participated in the inauguration of the modern olympic games. Most of the participants were from European countries. The United States was the country to win maximum medals in the first modern Olympics in Athens. The modern olympic games was initially organised by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin.This article explains the interesting facts, sports events, medal tally and other results are given in detail.
Events Conducted In Athens Olympics 1896
About 43 events were conducted in the Athens Olympics. The list of events includes wrestling, fencing, athletics, swimming, cycling, weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting, and tennis. While initiating the event, they created a festival atmosphere by inviting many foreign athletes and celebrating with parades and banquets. More than 60000 people attended the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics. The royal members from Greece have played an important role in organizing the games. They also did management for the whole in 10 days for the Olympics 1896. Only one team has represented Hungary during the Olympics 1896. The creation of the Olympic games has attracted most of the foreign athletes who were college students or members of athletic clubs. The total amount spent to conduct this event was about 3,740,000 gold drachmas.
Important Facts About Athens Olympics 1896
After Steve Mesler, Justin Olsen, and Curtis Tomasevicz, the former US Army world-class athlete program bobsledder Steven Holcomb won the first Olympic bobsleigh gold medal in 62 years and represented Team USA. The first modern Olympics in Athens events were held at the Panathenaic stadium. This stadium was originally built in 330 BCE, later it was unearthed and rebuilt in 1870 for conducting the Greek Olympics. A wealthy Egyptian Greek person, Georgios Averoff has provided all the direction and financial support for modelling the stadium with white marble.
The tracks in the ancient stadium had an unusually elongated shape with sharp turns, which slowed down the speed of the runners and made them stay in their lands. Most of the athletes from the United States have dominated track and field competitions. They have won about 9 events out of 12 events. The swimming event of the first modern Olympics in Athens was conducted in the cold currents of the Bay of Zea. Out of four swimming races, two races were won by the Hungary participant Alfréd Hajós. The France participant, Paul Masson has won three events out of the six cycling events.
The marathon was conducted for the first time in the Olympics 1896. Frenchman Michel Bréal initiated and conducted this event for the first time. The Legendary route of Pheidippides was a train sent to participate in the plain of Marathon of Athens. Because he was defeated by invading the Persian army in 490 BCE. At last, an athlete from Greece, Spyridon Louis, won the race and became the highlight of the Games. His victory earned the admiration of the nation.
Which Famous Sporting Event Began In Athens In 1896?
For conducting the Summer Olympics 1896, they mainly utilised seven venues around the country. In that, Panathenaic Stadium was the main venue, here about four events were hosted out of nine events. The marathon event was hosted in the City of Marathon. Fencing event was organised at Zappeion. The sport shooting event was organised at Kallithea. The Athens Lawn tennis club organised the Tennis match. During that time, tennis was an unfamiliar sport among sportspeople. As the organiser hesitated to spend money for constructing a special venue for swimming, the swimming events were conducted at the Bay of Zea.
The below table shows the famous sport even conducted in Athens Olympics 1896 and the venue of the games in detail.
Medal Tally of Olympics 1896
The below table shows the name of athletes who participated in the Olympics 1896 and their native countries with the number of medals they won in the Olympics sports event are given in detail.
Conclusion
Therefore, this article explained the important events conducted in the Athens Olympics 1896 and interesting facts related to it. This article also describes the medal tally whereas we also came to know that during that time only male sports persons participated in these events and that too from only a few countries but nowadays both males and females can participate and represent their country.
FAQs on Athens Olympics
1. Who won the 1896 Olympics?
In the 1896 Athens Olympics, the United States has won about 11 gold medals. Overall the United States have won about 47 medals. The importance of the Athens Olympics was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis.
2. Did Athens start the Olympics?
In 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece. For the first time, many countries joined together and started to have modern games in 1900. Nearly 34 countries had shown interest in the Athens Olympics and participated in the first Olympic games, which was in Athens.
3. Why did the Olympics start again in 1896?
During the 19th century, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin had revived the modern Olympics. He learned about the ancient Greek Olympics and was interested in restarting the games. He mainly believed that the Olympics games could contribute to global peace and help to maintain international relationships.
