Olympic Games
Events > Olympics > Summer > Hosts > Athens
Athens 1896
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Host country Greece won the most medals (47) at the first Olympic Summer Games in 1896. -
James B. 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.
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At the first games, silver medals were awarded to the winners and bronze to the second place getters
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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.
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The youngest ever Olympian is Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who competed in the 1896 Games when he was 10 years old.
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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.
Related Pages
- complete list of Olympic host cities
- Athens Intercalated Games 1906
- Athens Olympic Games 2004.
- Greece at the Olympic Games
