The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad and commonly known as Athens 1896, was 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, it was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.
At the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympiad, twelve athletics events were contested. A total of 25 medals were awarded. The medals were later denoted as 37 modern medals. All of the events except the marathon were held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896. Altogether, 63 athletes, all men, from nine nations competed. This made athletics the most international of the nine sports at the 1896 Games.
Launceston Elliot was a Scottish weightlifter, and the first British Olympic champion.
Alexander Viggo Jensen was a Danish weightlifter, sport shooter, gymnast, and athlete. He was the first Danish and Nordic Olympic champion, at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics one gymnastics event for men was contested. The competition was held on Sunday, 29 July 1900, and on Monday, 30 July 1900. There were 135 competitors from 8 nations. The top 18 places were taken by French gymnasts, of which there were more than 100. The event was won by Gustave Sandras, with Noël Bas finishing second and Lucien Démanet third. The highest-placing foreign gymnast was Jules Ducret of Switzerland, in a tie for 19th place.
Sotirios Versis was a Greek athlete and weightlifter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris.
Holger Louis Nielsen was a Danish fencer, sport shooter, and athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He is probably best known for drawing up the first modern set of rules for the game of handball.
Germany competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The Germans were the third most successful nation in terms of both gold medals and total medals (13). Gymnastics was the sport in which Germany excelled. The German team had 19 athletes. The Germans had 75 entries in 26 events, taking 13 medals.
Ten athletes from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland competed in seven sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Great Britain athletes were the fifth most successful in terms of overall medals (7) and tied for fifth in gold medals (2). The 7 medals came on 23 entries in 14 events.
Greece was the host nation of the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens. The number of Greek contestants is commonly cited as 169, but as many as 176 Greeks contested events in all nine sports. The Greeks were by far the most successful nation in terms of total medals with 47, 27 more than the United States of America. Nevertheless, their number of first-place finishes (10) was one fewer than the Americans' 11. The Greeks had 172 entries in 39 events. Only 4 events had no Greek entrants—the 400 metres and the high jump in athletics and the vault and the team horizontal bar in gymnastics.
Ioannis Frangoudis was a Greek soldier, athlete and Hellenic Army officer who reached the rank of Colonel. He also competed in the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens as a shooter. Frangoudis is the only Greek athlete who has won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in a single Olympic.
Greece has a long presence at the Olympic Games, as they have competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of only five countries to have done so, and most of the Winter Olympic Games. Greece has hosted the Games twice, both in Athens. As the home of the Ancient Olympic Games it was a natural choice as host nation for the revival of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, while Greece has also hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. During the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Greece always enters the stadium first and leads the parade to honor its status as the birthplace of the Olympics, with the notable exception of 2004 when Greece entered last as the host nation. Before the Games the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games, in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals and initiates the Olympic torch relay. The flag of Greece is always hoisted in the closing ceremony, along with the flags of the current and the next host country.
Denmark first participated at the Olympic Games at the inaugural 1896 Games, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the sparsely attended 1904 Games. Denmark has also participated in the Winter Olympic Games several times since 1948, including every Games since 1988.
The men's sabre was one of three fencing events on the Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on 9 April, the fourth day of competition. The event was won by Ioannis Georgiadis of Greece, with his countryman Telemachos Karakalos. Holger Nielsen of Denmark finished third.
The men's rope climbing was one of eight gymnastics events on the Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The final event in the gymnastics competition, rope climbing was held on 10 April. The rope was 14 metres long, suspended from a frame. Time and style were considered in placing the competitors who reached the top and distance climbed separating those who did not make it all the way up. Five competitors entered, with the two Greeks taking top honors by being the only two to complete the climb. The German Fritz Hofmann won the bronze medal, while the weightlifting champions Viggo Jensen and Launceston Elliot finished fourth and fifth.
The men's one hand lift, an event similar to the modern snatch, was one of two weightlifting events in the weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.
The men's two hand lift was one of two weightlifting events held as part of the Weightlifting at the 1896 Summer Olympics program. The two-handed lift was the first weightlifting event on 7 April. Six athletes took part. Viggo Jensen of Denmark and Launceston Elliot of the United Kingdom both lifted 111.5 kilograms, and the tie was broken by a determination by Prince George that Jensen had performed the lift with better form than had Elliot. A protest by the British delegation resulted in each athlete being given further attempts to improve their scores. Neither did, and the results stood as originally declared with Jensen taking the gold medal. Jensen had, however, suffered from the extra lifts in that he experienced a slight injury in trying to lift more than he was able.
Denmark competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 152 competitors, 151 men and 1 woman, took part in 46 events in 13 sports.
Denmark competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 154 competitors, 150 men and 4 women, took part in 66 events in 14 sports.
Events from the year 1896 in Denmark.
