1896 Summer Olympics medal table

Last updated

1896 Summer Olympics medals
Location Athens, Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece
Highlights
Most gold medalsUS flag 44 stars.svg  United States  (11)
Most total medalsFlag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece  (47)
Medalling NOCs11
Olympics medal tables ·  1900  
A silver medal was awarded to the winner of each event during the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. 1896 Olympic medal.jpg
A silver medal was awarded to the winner of each event during the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Athens, the capital of Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896, and were the first Olympic Games of the Modern era.

Contents

A total of 241 athletes from 14 nations participated in 43 events in nine sports at these games. [1]

Ten of the fourteen participating nations earned medals, in addition to three medals won by mixed teams, i.e. teams made up of athletes from multiple nations. The United States won the most gold medals (11) with 14 athletes participating, while host nation, Greece with 169 athletes participating, won the most medals overall (47) as well as the most silver (18) and bronze (19) medals, finishing with one less gold medal than the United States, having 155 athletes more than the U.S. [2]

Background and rules

In the early Olympic Games, several team events were contested by athletes from multiple nations. [3] Retroactively, the IOC created the designation "Mixed team" (with the country code ZZX) to refer to these group of athletes. Some athletes won medals both individually and as part of a mixed team, so these medals are tabulated under different nations in the official counts. Dionysios Kasdaglis, an athlete of Greek origins living in Alexandria, Egypt, is listed by the IOC as Greek during both his competition in the singles tennis competition and the doubles tennis competition along with his teammate, the Greek athlete Demetrios Petrokokkinos. [4]

During these inaugural Olympics, winners were given a silver medal and an olive branch, while runners-up received a copper medal and a laurel branch. [5] The IOC has retroactively assigned gold, silver and bronze medals to the three best placed athletes in each event to comport with more recent traditions. [2]

Three ties resulted in medals being shared between athletes, increasing the medal count of various nations. These include ties between Francis Lane of the United States and Alajos Szokolyi of Hungary, for the third place in the 100 metres, and between Evangelos Damaskos and Ioannis Theodoropoulos of Greece in the pole vault, and well as bronze medals awarded to both losing semi-finalists, Konstantinos Paspatis of Greece and Momcsilló Tapavicza of Hungary, in singles tennis. In addition, five of the bronze medalists at the Games are unknown - two in swimming and three in gymnastics - and a number of events had no third-place finisher. [5] [6]

Medal count

James Connolly of the United States won the triple jump event at the 1896 Summer Olympics. BASA-3K-7-422-18-1896 Summer Olympics.jpg
James Connolly of the United States won the triple jump event at the 1896 Summer Olympics.

This is the full table of the medal count of the 1896 Summer Olympics, based on the medal count of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). There are sources, besides the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that display variations in the medal totals, but as the governing body of the Olympic Games, the IOC is considered the most authoritative source for the purposes of this article. These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This information is provided by the IOC; however, the IOC does not recognise or endorse any ranking system. [2]

  Host nation (Greece)

1896 Summer Olympics medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1US flag 44 stars.svg  United States 117220
2Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece*10181947
3Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 65213
4Flag of France.svg  France 54211
5Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2327
6Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary 2136
7Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Austria 2125
8Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Australia 2002
9Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1236
10Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1203
11Olympic flag.svg  Mixed team 1012
Totals (11 entries)434336122

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Olympic Games</span> Major international multi-sport event

The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and the most recent was held in 2024 in Paris, France. This was the first international multi-sport event of its kind, organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founded by Pierre de Coubertin. The tradition of awarding medals began in 1904; in each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals for second place, and bronze medals for third place. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympic Games, which are regarded as the largest and most prestigious multi-sport international event in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1896 Summer Olympics</span> Multi-sport event in Athens, Greece

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad and commonly known as Athens 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.

At the 1896 Summer Olympics, two tennis events were contested, both for men. They began on 8 April and continued on 9 April, 10 April, and 11 April. 13 or 15 competitors from six nations, including seven Greeks, took part in the tennis competition. Many of the doubles teams were of mixed nationality, including all three medalist pairs. None of the leading players of the time such as Wimbledon champion Harold Mahony, U.S champion Robert Wrenn, William Larned or Wilfred Baddeley participated. To strengthen the field, the organization added sportsmen from other Olympic events, including weightlifter Momčilo Tapavica, hammer thrower George S. Robertson and 800-metres runners Edwin Flack and Friedrich Traun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Summer Olympics</span> Multi-sport event in Athens, Greece

The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and officially branded as Athens 2004, were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries, with 301 medal events in 28 different sports. The 2004 Games marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance, and also marked the first time Athens hosted the Games since their first modern incarnation in 1896 as well as the return of the Olympic games to its birthplace. Athens became one of only four cities at the time to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two occasions. A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since 1928. The new design features the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens rectifying the long-running mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1906 Intercalated Games</span> International multi-sport event in Greece

The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games in Athens" by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, the medals that were distributed to the participants during these games were later not officially recognised by the IOC and are not displayed with the collection of Olympic medals at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Summer Paralympics</span> Multi-parasport event in Athens, Greece

The 2004 Summer Paralympics, the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece from 17 to 28 September 2004. 3,808 athletes from 136 countries participated. During these games 304 World Records were broken with 448 Paralympic Games Records being broken across 19 different sports. 8,863 volunteers worked along the Organizing Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic medal</span> Award given to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games

An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid out in detail in the Olympic protocols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Summer Olympics medal table</span> Award

The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Athens, the capital city of Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. A total of 10,625 athletes from 201 countries represented by National Olympic Committees participated in these games, competing in 301 events in 28 sports. Kiribati and Timor Leste competed for the first time in these Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw</span> Olympic athletics event

The men's hammer throw competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens was held at the Olympic Stadium on 20–22 August. There were 35 competitors from 24 nations. After a series of doping-related disqualifications, the event was won by Koji Murofushi of Japan, the nation's first medal in the event. All distances are given in metres.

The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union from 19 July to 3 August. A total of 5,179 athletes representing 80 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 203 events in 22 sports. They were the first Games to be staged in a communist nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1904 Summer Olympics medal table</span> Award

The 1904 Summer Olympics were held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States from July 1 to November 23, 1904, as part of the St. Louis World's Fair.

The 1900 Summer Olympics were held in Paris, France, from May 14 to October 28, 1900, as part of the 1900 World's Fair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belarus at the Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Athletes from Belarus began their Olympic participation at the 1952 Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland, as part of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991, Belarus, along with four of the other fourteen former Soviet republics, competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics as the Unified Team. Later in 1992, Belarus joined eleven republics to compete as the Unified Team at the Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain. Two years later, Belarus competed for the first time as an independent nation in the 1994 Winter Olympics, held in Lillehammer, Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia at the 1896 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Australia competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. One athlete from Victoria, a British colony which later formed part of Australia, competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Edwin Flack was born in the United Kingdom and was resident in London in 1896, but spent most of his life in Australia and so is considered an Australian athlete by the International Olympic Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Britain at the Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games. By end of the 2024 Summer Olympics, it is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by overall number of medals, and fourth in number of gold medals won. London hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greece at the Olympics</span> Performance of Hellas at the Olympic Games

Greece has competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of five countries to have done so, and most of the Winter Olympic Games. Greece has hosted the modern Olympic Games twice, both in Athens for the Summer Olympic Games, in 1896 and 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada at the Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Canada has competed at 28 Summer Olympic Games, missing only the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics. This count includes the 1906 Olympic Games, deemed unofficial 43 years after they were held. The nation made its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Canada competes under the IOC country code CAN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All-time Olympic Games medal table</span> List of medals won by Olympic delegations

The all-time medal table for all Olympic Games from 1896 to 2024, including Summer Olympic Games, Winter Olympic Games, and a combined total of both, is tabulated below. These Olympic medal counts do not include the 1906 Intercalated Games which are no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as official Games. The IOC itself does not publish all-time tables, and publishes unofficial tables only per single Games. This table was thus compiled by adding up single entries from the IOC database.

The Olympic medal table is a method of sorting the medal placements of countries in the modern-day Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not officially recognize a ranking of participating countries at the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, the IOC does publish medal tallies for information purposes, showing the total number of Olympic medals earned by athletes representing each country's respective National Olympic Committee. The convention used by the IOC is to sort by the number of gold medals the athletes from a country have earned. In the event of a tie in the number of gold medals, the number of silver medals is taken into consideration, and then the number of bronze medals. If two countries have an equal number of gold, silver, and bronze medals, they are ordered in the table alphabetically by their IOC country code.

References

  1. "Athens 1896–Games of the I Olympiad". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "Athens 1896–Medal Table". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 8 May 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
  3. "1896 – Summer Olympics I (Athens, Greece)". TSN. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  4. "Doubles Tennis competition". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  5. 1 2 De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, Timoleon; Politis, N.G.; Charalambos, Anninos (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776–AD 1896 (PDF). Athens: LA84 Foundation. pp. 232–4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  6. "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2008.