Annex: Athletics at the 1896 Athens Olympics

At the 1896 Athens Olympic Games, twelve athletic events were competed. All the tests with the exception of the marathon (in which only the finish was held in the stadium) were held at the Panathenaic Stadium. The competition was held on April 6, 7, 9 and 10 and 64 athletes representing 10 nations took part in it.

James Connolly, winner of the triple jump and first Olympic champion of athletics and first Olympic champion of history.

Tom Burke, winner of the 100-400-metre smooth.

Athletes from the United States were the big winners, winning 9 of the 12 events.

The first tests disputed were the eliminatory ones of the 100 smooth meters.

James B. Connolly of the United States and a Harvard student won the triple jump on April 6, 1896 becoming the first Olympic Champion in 1503 years. He also finished second in the high jump and third in the long jump. The trip to Athens he made by cargo ship and train.

In the discus throw, Robert S. Garrett of the United States won. Garrett had trained with a very heavy puck and when he arrived at the competition he realized that the puck used in the Olympic joust would be lighter. Garrett also won in the shot put and was second in the high jump (tied with Connolly) and long jump.

Tom Burke of the United States, won the 100m and 400m races. Australian Teddy Flack won the 800m and 1500m . Ellery Clark of the United States won the high jump and long jump.

For the Greek organizers the most important competition was the marathon, due to its historical significance. Spiridon Louis took the lead with four kilometers to go and won the race seven minutes ahead of the 100,000 spectators for these games.

Results

Masculine

These medals were later assigned by the International Olympic Committee. At that time, the winners received a silver medal and the runners-up a copper medal. The athletes who occupied the third position did not receive a prize.

Event
100 meters Detail	Tom Burke United States 12.0 RORO	Fritz Hoffmann Germany 12.2	Szokoly Hungary 12.6 Francis Lane United States 12.6
400 meters Detail	Tom Burke United States 54.2 RORO	Herbert Jamison United States 55.2	Charles Gmelin United Kingdom 55.6
800 meters Detail	Edwin Flack Australia 2:11.0 RORO	Nándor Dáni Hungary 2:11.8	Dimitrios Golemis Greece 2:28.0
1,500 meters Detail	Edwin Flack Australia 4:33.2 RORO	Arthur Blake United States 4:34.0	Albin Lermusiaux France 4:36.0
Marathon Detail	Spiridon Louis Greece 2h58:50 RORO	Kharilaos Vasilakos Greece 3h06:03	Gyula Kellner Hungary 3h06:35
110 meters fence Detail	Thomas Curtis United States 17.6 RORO	Grantley Goulding United Kingdom 17.7	No award
Height balance Detail	Ellery Clark United States 1.81 RORO	Robert S. Garrett United States 1.65 James B. Connolly United States 1.65	No award
Powdered jump Detail	Welles Hoyt United States 3.30 RORO	Albert Tyler United States 3.20	Evangelos Damaskos Greece 2.60 Ioannis Theodoropoulos Greece 2.60
Length balance Detail	Ellery Clark United States 6.35 RORO	Robert S. Garrett United States 6.18	James B. Connolly United States 6.11
Triple jump Detail	James B. Connolly United States 13.71 RORO	Alexandre Tuffèri France 12.70	Ioannis Persakis Greece 12.52
Weight launch Detail	Robert S. Garrett United States 11.22 RORO	Miltiades Gouskos Greece 11.03	Georgios Papasideris Greece 10.36
Disco launch Detail	Robert S. Garrett United States 29.15 RORO	Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos Greece 28.95	Socirios Versis Greece 27.78

RO-Olympic record.

Medal table

No.	Country				Total
1	United States (USA)	9	6	2	17
2	Australia (AUS)	2	0	0	2
3	Greece (GRE)	1	3	6	10
4	Hungary (HUN)	0	1	2	3
5	France (FRA)	0	1	1	2
5	United Kingdom (GBR)	0	1	1	2
7	Germany (GER)	0	1	0	1
Total		12	13	12	37

Participating countries

64 athletes representing 10 nations participated:

• Germany(GER) (5 athletes)
• Australia(AUS) (1 athlete)
• Chile(CHI) (1 athlete)
• Denmark(DEN) (3 athletes)
• United States(USA) (10 athletes)
• France(FRA) (5 athletes)
• Greece(GRE) (30 athletes)
• Hungary(HUN) (3 athletes)
• United Kingdom(GBR) (5 athletes)
• Sweden(SWE) (1 athlete)