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, eight gymnastics events, all for men, were contested in Panathinaiko Stadium. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Wrestling and Gymnastics. Events took place on April 9, April 10, and April 11, 1896. There were 71 competitors from 9 nations that took part in gymnastics.
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.
Charles Champaud, also spelled Sharl Shampov, was a Swiss gymnast. He represented Bulgaria at the First 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, vault, and pommel horse events. Although the rest of his placings in each competition are unknown, he occupies the prestigious fifth place on vault and earned the first two points for Bulgaria.
Three competitors from Switzerland competed in two sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Swiss won one championship and placed second in two more events, for a total of three medals. They had 8 entries in 5 events.
Switzerland has sent athletes to compete in every Games since it first participated at the Olympic Games at the inaugural 1896 Games. Switzerland only boycotted the 1956 Summer Olympics events held in Melbourne, but not the equestrian events for those Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden earlier that year,the Swiss dressage team won the bronze medal.
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 parallel bars was one of eight gymnastics events on the Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The parallel bars event was held on 10 April, the seventh gymnastics event to be held. 18 gymnasts from six nations competed, with the judges announcing Alfred Flatow as the winner and Louis Zutter as the runner-up.
The men's vault was one of the eight gymnastics events on the Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The third event, it was held on 9 April. 15 athletes from five nations competed. The Germans captured the gold and bronze medals, while Zutter won the silver for Switzerland.
Bulgaria competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, with 24 athletes competing in 4 sports. It was the first official appearance of the nation at the modern Olympic Games, although some sources claim that Charles Champaud represented Bulgaria in the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics.
Bulgaria competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. The nation returned to the Olympic Games after having missed the 1932 Summer Olympics due to high travel costs. 26 competitors, all men, took part in 22 events in 7 sports.
The men's rings competition was one of eight events for male competitors of the artistic gymnastics discipline contested in the gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 14 and August 22 at the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall. There were 77 competitors from 28 nations, with nations competing in the team event having up to 5 gymnasts and other nations having up to 2 gymnasts. The event was won by Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece, the nation's first victory in the rings since 1896 and second overall. Yordan Yovchev of Bulgaria took silver, while Jury Chechi of Italy earned bronze. All three men had previously won a medal in the event; they were the 9th, 10th, and 11th men to win multiple rings medals.
The men's vault event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was one of nine gymnastics events and it was contested for the third time after 1896 and 1904. The competition was held on Monday, July 21, 1924. Seventy gymnasts from nine nations competed. The eight members of each nation's gymnastics team all competed; Czechoslovakia only had six competitors start the vault. The event was won by Frank Kriz of the United States, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event. Jan Koutný and Bohumil Mořkovský of Czechoslovakia took silver and bronze, respectively, the nation's first medals in the event.
Bulgaria has established traditions in a great variety of sports.
The men's pommel horse competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 20, 22 and 28th at the Georgia Dome. There were 102 competitors from 31 nations, with nations in the team event having up to 7 gymnasts and other nations having up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Li Donghua of Switzerland, the nation's first victory in the men's pommel horse since 1928. It was the first time since 1980 that the pommel horse did not have a tie for first place. Marius Urzică earned Romania's first pommel horse medal with his silver, while Alexei Nemov earned Russia's first as a nation separate from the Soviet Union with his bronze.
The men's rings competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 20, 22 and 28th at the Georgia Dome. There were 102 competitors from 31 nations, with nations in the team event having up to 7 gymnasts and other nations having up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Jury Chechi of Italy, the nation's first victory in the men's rings since 1924 and first medal in the event since 1964. There was a tie for silver, between Szilveszter Csollány of Hungary and Dan Burincă of Romania. It was the best result so far for either nation; Romania had previously had a bronze medalist but this was Hungary's first trip to the podium in the rings.
The men's pommel horse competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The qualification and final rounds took place on September 18, 20 and 24th at the Olympic Gymnastics Hall. There were 89 competitors from 23 nations, with nations competing in the team event having 6 gymnasts and other nations having up to 3 gymnasts. For the second time, the event ended in a three-way tie for first place. Dmitry Bilozerchev of the Soviet Union, Zsolt Borkai of Hungary, and Lubomir Geraskov of Bulgaria each received a gold medal. It was Bulgaria's first medal in the pommel horse. Hungary had its third gold medal in four Games, with Zoltán Magyar winning in 1976 and 1980 before the nation joined the Soviet-led boycott in 1984. The Soviets had had an eight-Games medal streak in the event snapped by that boycott; Bilozerchev's medal put the nation back on the podium after that one-Games absence.
Bulgaria competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Bulgaria made their official debut at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Bulgarian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1924, except for three occasions: the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of Bulgaria's actions in WW2, the worldwide Great Depression and the Soviet boycott, respectively.
The men's artistic individual all-around competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics was held at the Waldbühne on 10 and 11 August. It was the ninth appearance of the event. There were 111 competitors from 14 nations, with each nation sending up to 8 competitors. The event was won by Alfred Schwarzmann of Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's individual all-around. Germany also received bronze, with Konrad Frey taking third. Silver went to Switzerland's Eugen Mack.
