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Athens 1896

  • dizzyHost 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.

  • 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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