Athens 1896

Host country Greece won the most medals (47) at the first Olympic Summer Games in 1896.
James Brendan Connolly of United States, the winner of the triple jump (the first final event in the 1896 Olympics), was the first Olympic champion of the modern Olympic Games.
At the first games, silver medals were awarded to the winners and bronze to the second place getters.
The first modern Games were hardly an international competition. Only 13 nations took part (14? see quiz answer), represented by about 245 men, competing in 43 events. More than two-thirds of the competitors were Greek.
The youngest ever Olympian is Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who competed in the 1896 Games when he was 10 years old.
No women competed in 1896, as de Coubertin felt that their inclusion would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and incorrect."
Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Games, but had to be cancelled due to bad weather.

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