Great Britain at the 1896 Summer Olympics

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Great Britain at the
1896 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
IOC code GBR
NOC British Olympic Association
in Athens, Greece
April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896
Competitors10 in 7 sports and 19 events
Medals
Gold
2
Silver
3
Bronze
2
Total
7
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

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.

Contents

Two tennis players (one English, one Irish) also played in mixed team squads, contributing to a gold and a bronze medal. These medals are not counted as part of the Great Britain total.

Medallists

The following competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded. Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC teams are represented in italics. These medals are not counted towards the individual NOC medal tally.

MedalNameSportEventDate
Gold medal icon.svg Gold John Pius Boland Tennis Singles April 11
Gold medal icon.svg Gold John Pius Boland Tennis Doubles April 11
Gold medal icon.svg Gold Launceston Elliot Weightlifting One hand lift April 7
Silver medal icon.svg Silver Grantley Goulding Athletics 110 m hurdles April 10
Silver medal icon.svg Silver Frederick Keeping Cycling 12 hour race April 13
Silver medal icon.svg Silver Launceston Elliot Weightlifting Two hand lift April 7
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze Charles Gmelin Athletics 400 m April 7
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze Edward Battell Cycling Road race April 12
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze George S. Robertson Tennis Doubles April 9
Medals by sport
SportGold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svgTotal
Athletics 0112
Cycling 0112
Tennis 1001
Weightlifting 1102
Total2327

Multiple medalists

The following competitors won multiple medals at the 1896 Olympic Games.

NameMedalSportEvent
Launceston Elliot Gold medal icon.svg Gold
Silver medal icon.svg Silver
Weightlifting Men's one hand lift
Men's two hand lift

Competitors

Athletics

Track & road events

AthleteEventHeatFinal
TimeRankTimeRank
Launceston Elliot 100 m 12.93Did not advance
Charles Gmelin 12.93Did not advance
George Marshall Unknown5Did not advance
Launceston Elliot 400 m DNSDid not advance
Charles Gmelin 1:00.52 Q56.7Bronze medal icon.svg
Grantley Goulding DNSDid not advance
George Marshall DNSDid not advance
George Marshall 800 m Unknown4Did not advance
George Marshall 1500 m DNS
Grantley Goulding 110 m hurdles 18.41 Q17.7Silver medal icon.svg

Field events

AthleteEventFinal
DistancePosition
George S. Robertson Men's shot put DNS
George S. Robertson Men's discus throw 25.204

Cycling


Track

AthleteEventTime / DistanceRank
Edward Battell Men's time trial 26.24
Frederick Keeping 27.0=5
Edward Battell 100 km DNF
Frederick Keeping Men's 12 hour race 294.946 kmSilver medal icon.svg

Road

AthleteEventTimeRank
Edward Battell Men's road race UnknownBronze medal icon.svg
Frederick Keeping DNS

Gymnastics

Individual
AthleteEventResultRank
Launceston Elliot Men's rope climbing Unknown5

Fencing

AthleteEventRecordTouchesRank
WinsLossesForAgainst
Edgar Seligman Sabre DNS

Shooting

Merlin and Machonet were unable to win any medals in the shooting events.

AthleteEventFinal
ScoreRank
Machonet Men's 200 m military rifle Unknown14-41
Sidney Merlin 115610
Sidney Merlin Men's 300 m free rifle Unknown6-18
Sidney Merlin Men's 25 m military pistol DNF
Sidney Merlin Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol DNF

Swimming

AthleteEventFinal
TimeRank
H.F Suter 100 m freestyle DNS
H.F Suter 500 m freestyle DNS

Tennis

Boland (later best known as an Irish nationalist politician) was by far the best player in the tennis competition, amassing a 6-0 record over both events and two gold medals, though one of them was as part of a mixed team. He defeated Traun in the first round of the singles competition, then teamed up with him for the doubles competition. Robertson was much less successful, losing both of the matches he played, though he was awarded a retroactive bronze medal by the International Olympic Committee as his bye in the doubles quarterfinals put him in third place in that event. Like Boland's doubles gold medal, Robertson's bronze is not counted as part of the British total because the two played on mixed teams. Some sources include George Marshall and his brother Frank; the two were entered but appear to have not competed.

AthleteEventFirst roundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
John Boland Singles Flag of the German Empire.svg  Traun  (GER)
W 6–0, 2–6, 6–2
Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Rallis  (GRE)
W
Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Paspatis  (GRE)
W
Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Kasdaglis  (GRE)
W 6-3, 6,1
Gold medal icon.svg
George S. Robertson Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Paspatis  (GRE)
L
Did not advance
Frank MarshallDNS
George Marshall DNS
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  John Boland  (GBR)
Flag of the German Empire.svg  Friedrich Traun  (GER)
Doubles Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Akratopoulos /
Akratopoulos  (GRE)W
ByeFlag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Kasdaglis /
Petrokokkinos  (GRE)
W 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Gold medal icon.svg
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  George S. Robertson  (GBR)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Edwin Flack  (AUS)
ByeFlag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Kasdaglis /
Petrokokkinos  (GRE)
L
Did not advanceBronze medal icon.svg

Weightlifting

Elliot (born in British India of Scottish ancestry) lifted the same amount as Viggo Jensen in the two handed lift, but was declared by Prince George of Greece to have taken second place based on lifting form. In the one handed lift, he easily defeated Jensen, who lifted only 57 kilograms.

AthleteEventResultRank
Launceston Elliot Men's one hand lift 71.0Gold medal icon.svg
Launceston Elliot Men's two hand lift 111.5Silver medal icon.svg

Wrestling

Elliot was defeated by eventual champion Carl Schuhmann in the first round of the wrestling competition, tying for 4th and last place.

AthleteEventQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Launceston Elliot Men's Greco-Roman Flag of the German Empire.svg  Schuhmann  (GER)
L
Did not advance=4

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