Greece first competed at the Olympic Games in 1896 and has appeared at every Summer Games since. They are one of only five countries to have been represented at all Summer Olympic Games (the others are Great Britain, France, Switzerland and Australia), and the only one of the five to have done so under its own flag – the other four marched under the Olympic flag at the boycott-hit Moscow Games of 1980.

As home of the Ancient Olympic Games, Greece was a natural choice to host the first-ever modern Olympics, which they did in Athens in 1896. That year they finished second on the gold medal count and won more medals than any other nation, 47 in all. Across the 30 Summer Games up to and including Paris 2024, Greece has won a total of 129 medals – 36 gold, 46 silver and 47 bronze – placing them around 35th on the all-time medal tally.

Greece indeed has a perfect attendance record in the Summer Olympics, but their performance is far from perfect. Other than in 1896, Greece has never ranked better than 8th overall (in 1904), and there are nine Games at which they were not able to win a single Olympic medal (1900, 1924 – 1952, 1964, and 1976). The dry-spell that ran from 1924 to 1952 was one of the longest in history for a country of its Olympic stature: 36 years passed between the silver won in Antwerp in 1920 and the bronze that Georgios Roubanis won in the men's pole vault on November 26, 1956.

The modern revival began in Barcelona in 1992, where Voula Patoulidou's win in the 100m hurdles gave Greece its first Olympic athletics title in 80 years and weightlifter Pyrros Dimas claimed the first of three straight golds. The run peaked on home soil at Athens 2004, where 16 medals (six of them gold) made it their best modern showing. After lean Games in Beijing and London, Greece rebounded at Rio 2016 with three golds, took four medals in Tokyo, and came away from Paris 2024 with eight – one gold, one silver and six bronze – their largest haul since 2004.

For the Winter Games, Greece first participated by sending alpine skier Dimitrios Negrepontis to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in 1936. Since then, they have had an almost perfect attendance record, missing only the 1960 Winter Games held in Squaw Valley, California. Since their debut in the Winter Olympics, Greece is yet to win a single medal. At the Milano Cortina 2026, they were represented by five athletes in alpine and cross-country skiing.

Alfred Hajos of Hungary Alfred Hajos of Hungary, winner of the
first Olympic Games Swimming Gold medal
in Athens in 1896
(credit: public domain)

Trivia

  • Greece has hosted the modern summer Olympic Games twice, each time in Athens – in 1896 and 2004. The Intercalated Games were also held in Athens in 1906.
  • One of the Greek Islands, Crete, competed as an independent nation at the 1906 Games, before Crete was united with Greece.
  • Greece leads the Parade of Nations at every opening ceremony, in recognition of being the birthplace of the Games. The Greek flag is also hoisted at the end of every Summer Games, together with those of the host country and the next host nation.
  • Greece is one of the few countries that flew their own flag at the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow even though its government supported the US-led boycott of those Games.
  • The Olympic flame is lit at Ancient Olympia in Greece ahead of every Games, summer and winter, before beginning its relay to the host city.

Notable Athletes and Performances

  • Spyridon Louis, a water carrier from the village of Marousi, won the first modern Olympic marathon in Athens in 1896 and was made a national hero on the spot.
  • Greek runner Charilaos Vasilakos won the first-ever marathon race (a trial for the Olympic event), which was conducted a month before the Olympic Marathon. In the Olympic Marathon itself, he came second behind Louis.
  • The youngest ever Olympian is Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who competed in the 1896 Athens Olympics. He was 10 years old, and took a bronze in the team parallel bars.
  • Konstantinos Tsiklitiras won four medals in the standing jumps across the 1908 and 1912 Games, including the standing long jump title in Stockholm.
  • Weightlifter, Pyrros Dimas is Greece's most decorated Olympian, with gold medals in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and a bronze in 2004.
  • Shooter Anna Korakaki won the 25m pistol in Rio in 2016, adding a bronze in the 10m air pistol at the same Games.
  • Gymnast Lefteris Petrounias has medalled on the rings at three consecutive Games – gold in 2016, then bronze in 2020 and 2024.
  • Long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou won gold in Tokyo and again in Paris, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis to retain the Olympic long jump title.